I shall next touch briefly upon other diverse yet allied interests
in Psychical Research, which may serve to illustrate further the
various avenues of approach to this heterogeneous group of problems.
I shall speak of these as the explanatory, the investigative, and
the anthropological interests. The first is satisfied with finding
out how alleged marvels are really performed; it takes up the
physical phenomena of spiritualism or theosophy; it investigates
conjuring tricks; it discovers the origin of noises in haunted
houses; it ferrets out the means whereby mediums obtain knowledge
of their sitters' private affairs. This is proper work for experts
in prestidigitation and for detectives,--not for all such, for to
be successful, the conjurer and the detective must have special
knowledge and fitness for this branch of the trade. While the
facts thus gathered may be useful as illustrative material to the
psychologist, they form no essential part of his profession; nor is
there any special reason why he should be best suited to determine
the technical _modus operandi_ of such manifestations. That some
psychologists with a strong interest in this type of phenomena might
properly coöperate in such an investigation, if they chose, is too
obvious to merit remark; but to trace out and expose trickery cannot
be imposed upon the burdensome duties of the psychologist.
With a certain type of "psychical researcher" this explanatory
interest is the dominant one; and by dispelling error and replacing
false notions by true ones he may perform a useful service to
the community. The explanatory interest is quite certain to be
supplemented by the investigative, and that because the latter soon
becomes necessary to the former. While the one is concerned with the
explanation and description of the actual marvels accomplished, the
other must consider also what is reported and what is believed to
have been accomplished. The mechanism of a trick, whether brought
forward as evidence of spiritualism or not, when clearly exhibited,
explains the trick; a loose board under the roof, or the reflection
from a lustrous surface, may at once reveal how mysterious noises
and lights were really produced. But one must go farther to account
for the recognition of relatives in the form of the medium covered
with flimsy drapery, for the automatic spelling out of messages,
or for the successes of guessing experiments. These two interests
thus proceed hand in hand and furnish valuable material which the
psychologist is ready to interpret and to utilize; for the study
of how false beliefs spread, of how deception proceeds, teems with
points of psychological significance. This, however, is by no means
a unique characteristic of Psychical Research; there are also
interesting psychological points in such diverse occupations as the
actor's profession, in juggling and tricks of skill, in advertising,
in religions revivals, etc. It is highly desirable that the materials
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account