Evening star., 1929-06-28
The Chain That Binds.

AHC Oud1u 4HaL olHuS'
:, WIN you please explain the psychology
Ss sSrosd Trsn dopg rasp'e The FI%
aiT.- and send It within three days to nine n
World If did this 'I Would 6afss receive an an
unexpected blessing upon the ninth day: il
Names Of psrsons we're given ~ Who had f'a or
sss ef.. r'ssvff ss 4. naS tipn say M sS5
hadn't lost his home by fire. broke the
f moi of the Of
ninth ninth day; m urious to see what It would would
Rent s of yfsss sction sne she
am gad SqS S had @ the cOu5sFs to break the
IN Them ia and ns6 t6nf FSesre
puisasnaee. i sla since the mere perpetuaticn %, Of
being in existence. it strikes me there arc
some queer phases of psychology involved.
Reply.
There may be several bits of psy-
chology in the cult of the chain letter.
There is. first. the psychology of the
originator of the endless chain" Ap-
parently it Is not a money-making
scheme. as you were not invited to send
40 cents in stamps or silver" There
was no religious appeal. as you were
not asked to say a prayer or follow a
ritual. Perhaps the sufficient motive
was bit of the longing in all Of us to
spread ourselves or little will TO pow
err; to start something. to influence
others BY forging the links of this
human chain, one person projects his
personality halfway around the world: !:
the idea intrigues his or her sense of
self importance Whether the origi-
nator really believed in it. or how he
got that way, is another speculation.
Quite as engaging is the psychology
of those who receive the letter. Those
who just send it in on its nine times
nine round Cf everybody in turn with
out exception sent the letter on to an
other nine. in 10 such expanding rounds
It would reach three times the popu-
1ation of the United States) without
much thought. or for the fun or Gu
riosity of the thing, or just to feel safe
or In real hope that the good fortune
will come. or in dread of disaster. all
those may be put down as having
enough of a superstitious trait in their
group. But those who. though annoyed,
hesitate TO break the chain, belong to
the large and often intelligent class OF
those who are not superstitious but
.; while the '1conoclast" who
smashed the idol yet had little Curl
Gus feeling nine days after. shows a
faint radiation of the same feeling
GIlOukn IL Olu d1CCb
All OF which shows that the large
majority of intelligent citizens to which
we and our friends and their friends
and so on in an endless chain belong
look at most things in rational sort
of way but harbor an emotional residue
in the bottom of our minds. that has
not been aSSimilated in the general
mass of nationality. And the belief
here touched upon that there Is some
weird primitive power-Which the
Greeks poetized as a Nemesis. pur-
suing fate-that the "goblins will gel
you II you don't watch out"-still has q
little tinkle of q reverberation or ar
actual echo; we heed the voice though
recognizing that 1t doesn't speak II
rational tones.
Is this altogether harmless? Well
no! IT'S q lowering of the standard
of thinking of the better minds to thu
level OF the less mentally Mt. We
needn't be too serious or vindictivt
about It but the nationality Of the peo
pie at large is an important concern
Those who foisted the endless chain
cult upon a none too rational public
should be brought to public attention
long enough to be classed among tn
nuissnces in that little list" of person
selected by the Lord High Executioner
"who never would be miSsed-no the.
never would be missed" 1t would b
better to form an endless chain OF thos'
who toss the thing into the waste pasKe
of outgrown beliefs and go calmly abou
their business in a progressive world
with each broken link the chain woul'
soon fall to pieces. The world is to
full OF worthwhile things to start ant
help along to leave much room for thl
type of superStitious foolery.