The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1920-02-19

fectiy, III inc great WAX. DcdLH SCdlh-
ed into many homes, and religious
emotions were stirred and intellectual
speculation aroused.
A superstition, or belief in the &C.
cult, is belief or conviction held
without reasonable foundation, OF
ground. 1t is true that Superstition
is a relative term and that what may
be deemed a reasonable belief in one
age may become a superstition in the
next. But while we should be as char
liable as possible and give the holder
of a belief the benefit of the doubt,
still there is line drawn by common
sense and by science that is fairly
clear. What only one person can ex-
perience and what cannot be verified
or demonstrated in some reasonable
way to others is mere romanticism,
and the result of the subjective bias,
wish, or mental working of him alone
who claims to have the experience.
There are two classes Of people es-
pecially prone to occult, or supersti-
tious beliefs: ~ the uneducateds and
sordidly practical and ~ the high
ly speculative and theoretical.
The former easily accepts all kinds
of foolish beliefs bearing upon events
of great practical import to them
events and phenomena surrounding
birth, fortune, marriage, health, and
death. The latter weaves all kinds Of
fine-spun theories and systems and
then become possessed of them and
worships them Everything is made
to fit into the theory because the the
cry is made to cover everything; and
being up in the sky, no one on earth
can refute it. People otherwise per-
fectly sensible may hold such the
cry and play with it as toy or as a
solace.
In fact an academic education does
not seem to be much Of an antidote
against all kinds Of vagaries and SUI
perstitious speculations. A hundred
years ago intellectualism took the
form, in many countries, Of deep
seated and widespread skepticism i'll
regard to everything that could: not
be apprehended by the senses; there
was great wave of materialisna and
naturalism. Today there is wave OF
credulity, claiming that supernatural
phenomena are in evidence every
where, and that it is only obduracy
and a shutting of ones eyes to the
light which will not accept, as yerita-
BILE science, telepathy, the communica
ton with spirits, reincarnation, and
scores of what we here call occult be-
Hefs. We have no evidence, under
conditions that preclude external and
internal deception, that such phenonl-
ena occur and recur.
FNl,o Eo1A of <vro iS thn
fable. If believe in the seeming oc-
currence, to me, of certain phenon1-
ena, and can not make any one else
participate in the evidence such be-
lief can never be scientific. Even If
it recur over and over to me, the be-
lief is still subjective, for it may be
psychological projection; and hence as
far as others are concerned it does
not exist. Unless they can be made
to experience it under scientific con-
ditions, it is for them an occult belief.
The experience that may be shared by
many does not necessarily have to be
concrete; the ratio between the radius
and circumference is as inexperienc-
able a fact as if it could be detected
by the microscope.
Much of the present recrudescence
of superstition is due to the fact that
it does not rest on facts. The phe-
nomena which give rise to these be-
hefs are colored or created. If they
could be investigated they would
prove to be three black crow stories.
If the so-called 'facts" could be sub
jected to the camera or to the dicta-
phone or could be otherwise guarded
from external coloring and from sub
jective distortion, they would be
found to disappear OF to deliver to-
tally different message. They are al
ways somebody's say-so or hear-say. !
The apparitions said to have been !
seen over the battle-felds on the wes-
tern front by highly emotional crowds
would have been transformed into
cloud formations or other natural
phenomena by a scientific investiga-
ton could it have been secured at the
time. |
It is no wonder that witchcraft was
prevalent two or three hundred years
ago; modern science and psychology
had not. yet appeared. But it is a
wonder and shame today that, in
the midst of exact knowledge on ev-
cry sHdIAu, lHeie lS So lHuCl 1bOiiSt i
thinking and SO much of occult belief
and that too among so-called high
ly educated people. There is at pres
ent a great output Of occult litera-
ture; and thru reverence for great
names, men like Sir Oliver Lodge will
lead hosts of people on foolish, wild
goose chases ending nowhere. :
Those who teach can render no
greater service to children, pupils, or
students than to develop in them the
desire and the ability to see things
just as they are, to discriminate tru-
", and to judge accordingly without
fear or favor. The possibilities Of err
ror and even Of self-deception are in
Honesty, vigilance, and
are the price Of freedom
from occult beliefs of all kinds Near
" every one has an occult problem
which he propounds at once. The first |