Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1920-05-01
SIR OLIVER LODGE ON LIFE AFTER
DEATH

dead still live; when crowds of men and
women flock to his lectures and mediums of
all sorts do a thriving trade with the cur
ious and heart-hungry, it is time for reason
able men to take thought about their atti-
tude toward "psychic" phenomena
The first thing they need to do is to be
on their guard against their own emotional
bias Many people are instinctively repealed
by the thought Of seeking to enter into COM
muncation with the dead It SENS to them
profane intrusion upon the peace of the
grave. They cannot imagine that they them
selves should want to communicate after
death, even were it possible The NEGRO
nancy of the professional medium disgusts
them. They shrink from the morbidity of
automatic utterances in frances
1t is well to realize at once that Sir Oliver
Lodge stands at the opposite Of these feel
ings. TO him there is nothing antecedently
improbable about the survival It's reality
has been an age-old human belief. It is
wholly and simply question of evidence
Why not then, thy to find out?
There is nothing of bad taste about such
attempts All that is necessary is an open
minded willingness to explore what looks
like hitherto neglected human faculty.
There are phenomena which claim to be evil
Dental. Why not test and verify that claim
not, if the results are positive, seek to en-
large the scope of this faculty and to develop
it's technique? It is no question Of disturb
ing the peace of the dead Why not as
sumo, as working hypothesis, that they are
as eager to communicate with us as we are
with them? 1t is practical problem to be
solved and we have to set about it in
business-like, scientific way. We shall only
hamper ourselves if we think Of the spirit
world as either heaven or a hell, and of
the spirits of the departed as like the sug-
airy angels of conventional piety. No, the
whole atmosphere of the relationship is pure
ly and intensely human, sometimes all-too-
human. At it's best, it has much of the
intimacy of affection-recollect the Voice in
j. M. Barrie's little war-play; at it's worst,
it is like casual conversation over a tele-
Phone broken by buzzings and disconnec-
TONS There is nothing specifically religious,
MYSTICAL or exalted about it.
But in so far as the investigation is sue
cessful, science is once again proving herself
benefactress to humanity, turning blind
faith into reasoned assurance, robbing grief
of it's sting.
But if there is no valid moral or religious
objection to such researches, is there perhaps
a scientific one? The vast ma jority of Sir
divers scientific brethren think there is.
To them it is unscientifc to investigate these
phenomena and doubly unscientifc to enter
tain the survival-hypothesis as worthy Of
being tested at all. Such critics have a
simple and sweeping formula. All mediums
are frauds. All their customers are dupes.
Sir Oliver himself is a lf-deluded prophet,
blind leader of the blind But is the case
quite so simple? Granted that many profess
sional mediums have been detected in fraud
ulent practices, is it quite safe to generalize?
You might as well argue that because many
antiques are fakes therefore none are gen
uine. The problem, surely, is to sort out the
genuine phenomena from the counterfeit.
Nor is it only question of guarding
oneself against conjuring tricks. Recent
study of the "subconscious, - especially in
cases of so-called "dissociation Of personal
ity," have abundantly shown that the sub
conscious may manifest itself in behavior of
which the moral consciousness is utterly
unaware. The psychical researcher should
certainly be an expert in psycharity, even
moro tha,o ~, in DhVSicS Meanwhile