Evening star., 1928-05-22
Thought Transference.

have lately been given some old
magazine, in which read with pleas
ure your article on psychology. Your
mention of Sir Conan Doyle recalls to
me his piracy of subiects-his phrases.
his arrangement Of wonderful talks oi
his characters and even to his placing
of his people in the same places that
were. first used by the author from
whom he had his psychic piracy. $50
had very nice psychical visit with
william T, Stead up in Poland ana
Russia When / asked him If he be-
lieted all the stuff" he wrote to Lon
don, his answer was always: DO you
think would publish 1t If l did not be-
lieve it?" May hear from you?
MRS. E. II, l..
Reply.
This letter Is from a woman aged 30
years, woh uses the capital letters OF
the typewriter so that she may read as
she runs.
There is more to her letter touching
on other out-of-the-way subjects. we
may all be we'll content. when we are
80, to find ourselves interested in many
things and writing letters about them.
The belief that the mind, or that some
rare minds, have ways OF working Whlch
fall outside the laws of psychology IS
an ancient one. But about half CEN
tury ago q movement was started and
called "psychicel research" which pro-
posed to investigate these strange pow
ers of the mind and see what truth
there is in them
The most widespread of these beliefs
Is that of thought transference, or tele-
patlly. the ability to read peoples minds
at a distance. This in turn was called
upon to explain the powers of me
diums" to communicate with the dead
as we'll as with the living under circum-
stances that go beyond the ordinary
ways by which one mind gets in touch
with another. Telling the future,
dreaming of what lateE comes true hav-
ing sudden strong impression of an
absent friend at time which later is
found to pe the moment of his death
throughout all these beliefs runs this
common thread that the recognized
ways of the mind do not tell the whole
story: that beyond these. or by wav of
exception to them. stands great mass
OF experiences which won't fit in with
the ordinary scheme. 1t suggests
glimpse or q revelation of another
world, occasionally making contact
with this world, but obeying quite diff
ferent laws.
In all this there are several quite dis
tinct questions: Why the widespre ad
tendency to believe in such powers and
happenings? What real evidence have
we that they exist? How can the many
varieties OF beliefs and experiences be
explained?
Books have been written on all three
issues, and there are all varieties of
conclusions. What seems to me best es-
tablished is first. that these beliefs arise
and persist because they are interesting.
because they refer to matters that have
large personal value and because one
can't expect people to be altogether
rational when their emotions are
strongly involved. Second that when
such OF these powers as can be tested
land that applies only TO a small por-
tior OF them) have been carefully
weighed, they have been found want
ing; the results are negative. Third.
the actual explanation. always partial
only, is complicated being made I'D of
large dose of bad observation, false
memory, wrong Interpretation. over
looked sources of error. deception and
self-deception, and weak handling of
uncertain evidence.
Just how strong Mrs. E. II. J.. believes
In these powers is not clear She men
tions Conan Doyle and W. T. Stead as
examples of men of distinction who be-
lieved in them strongly, and speaks of
psychic piracy" which may mean that
the author took his plots from other
books and didn't know 1t, or that the