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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a296940 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66496 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66496) diff --git a/old/66496-0.txt b/old/66496-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 31aa66f..0000000 --- a/old/66496-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3592 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The omnipotent self, a study in -self-deception and self-cure, by Paul Bousfield - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The omnipotent self, a study in self-deception and self-cure - -Author: Paul Bousfield - -Release Date: October 8, 2021 [eBook #66496] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Turgut Dincer, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OMNIPOTENT SELF, A STUDY IN -SELF-DECEPTION AND SELF-CURE *** - -+-------------------------------------------------+ -|Transcriber’s note: | -| | -|Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | -| | -+-------------------------------------------------+ - - -THE OMNIPOTENT SELF - -A Study in Self-Deception and Self-Cure - - -BY -PAUL BOUSFIELD -M.R.C.S. (ENG.), L.R.C.P. (LOND.) - -_Physician to the London Neurological Clinic (Ministry of Pensions), -Late Demonstrator of Morbid Anatomy, St. George’s Hospital, Late -M.O. American Women’s Hospital for Officers, etc., etc._ - -Author of _The Elements of Practical Psycho-Analysis_. - - -LONDON -KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD., -BROADWAY HOUSE, 68-74 CARTER LANE, E.C. -1923 - - -PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY THE DEVONSHIRE PRESS, TORQUAY. - - - - -PREFACE - -“_Nature has granted to all to be happy if we but knew how to use her -gifts._”--CLAUDIUS. - - -Many people, while not considering themselves as suffering from any -nervous ailment, nor desiring the services of a physician, are yet far -from being perfectly happy in their mental outlook and temperament. -Either their feelings are too easily roused, or they are inclined to -worry, to be depressed, irritable, nervous, or over-sensitive. Trifles -which to them seem no trifles interfere with the smooth course of their -daily lives, or this slight abnormality may manifest itself in an -over-sensitiveness to physical pain or to mental or moral difficulties -and conflicts. It is with the hope of helping a few such individuals -to a better understanding of themselves, and through this to a more -equable temperament and greater happiness, that this little book is -written. - -There is no hard and fast line between the normal and the abnormal -person, and indeed a very real difficulty exists in even defining a -normal person. If we take our definition of normal as being “average -or conforming to type or standard,” then the majority of people -are normal. If, on the other hand, we take its other meaning, that -of “performing the proper functions,” then there are few people -approaching the normal under modern civilized conditions. A tendency -to undue irritability or depression is a mild and very common form of -abnormality. Hysterias, obsessions, and unreasonable fears are greater -abnormalities, and fortunately of less frequent occurrence, while -certain forms of insanity are still greater deviations from the normal. -A similar combination of causes, however, may form the basis of all -these abnormalities, and these various deviations from the normal are -more of degree than of kind. But whereas in cases of obsessions and -unreasonable fears or in such other abnormalities as homo-sexuality or -sexual impotence, etc., the causes are deeply hidden and the forces at -work somewhat complicated, in the lesser abnormalities there are causes -frequently lying less deeply. - -In the case of obsessions, phobias, hysterias, sexual abnormalities, -and so forth, we can only hope to effect an improvement by a thorough -analysis of the unconscious causes and conflicts by a competent -psycho-analyst. In the lesser troubles of the mind, however, -considerable improvement can often be effected by means of a somewhat -superficial self-analysis. This will be directed towards investigating -one in particular of the primary causes which play an important part in -all the minor unpleasant temperamental faults. - -In order to teach the patient to help himself, it will first of all be -necessary to enlighten him to a considerable extent as to the general -evolution of his character; at any rate in as far as one important -mental complex known as “Narcissism” is concerned. In doing this, many -other mental complexes will have to be superficially touched upon; but -in order to simplify the work for the uninitiated, they will not be -specifically named when they appear; for, although this would make the -work more technically accurate, it would, at the same time, make it -less clear, and in a book of this type this would be very undesirable. -The first object I have in mind is that the work shall be lucid, -concise, and readily understood by any person of ordinary education, -so that he may gain an insight into the essential causes and growth -of some of his abnormal characteristics without undue complication -of ideas. It is further hoped that this small work may be of some -assistance in suggesting to parents a few of the many things to be -avoided in the early training of the child. - -PAUL BOUSFIELD - -_7, Harley Street, W._ - - - - -CONTENTS - -PART I: THE OMNIPOTENT SELF - -CHAP. PAGE - I THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND 3 - - II REPRESSION 19 - - III THE FORCES SHAPING CHARACTER 27 - - IV DETERMINISM AND WILL POWER 41 - - V NARCISSISM 49 - - VI FACT AND PHANTASY 64 - - VII IDENTIFICATION 74 - -VIII THE IRRITABLE TEMPERAMENT 87 - - IX RATIONALIZATION 98 - - -PART II: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS - - X SELF ANALYSIS 111 - - XI READJUSTMENT OF OBJECTIVES 121 - - XII READJUSTMENT OF THOUGHT 138 - -XIII AUTO-SUGGESTION 157 - - XIV CONCLUSION 165 - - - - -PART I - -THE OMNIPOTENT SELF - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND - - -§1 - -In considering the question of character, with its various -irregularities and idiosyncracies, we shall have to accustom ourselves -to dealing with factors which do not exist in consciousness at all. -Strange as it may seem to the uninitiated, many of our thoughts, ideas, -and motives are quite outside our normal consciousness, and of them -only the resulting emotions and actions appear on the surface. This -may be taken as an absolute and indisputable fact, and one which the -reader should try to appreciate at the outset, although it is somewhat -difficult to realise, for we always find it hard to apprehend and -understand something which we can neither see nor touch. - -If one were to tell the ordinary labourer that water is composed of -two gases which when combined form a liquid, he would probably be -quite incredulous, and possibly in his ignorance might even deny -emphatically any such possibility, on the grounds that it was against -all common-sense and experience; he failing to realise, of course, how -very limited were both his sense and his experience. In spite of his -feelings of absolute certainty, and in spite of complete faith in the -unshakable logic behind his belief, he would be wrong. - -While it is not to be expected that many readers of this book will deny -the existence of the unconscious part of the mind, it may well be that -many will fail to realise that it is of more than theoretical value. -It therefore becomes necessary for us to examine the matter somewhat -carefully, and to familiarise ourselves with the ideas of the working -of this unconscious mind. - -Without going into the further sub-divisions recognised in psychology, -we will confine ourselves to dividing the mind into two parts--the -conscious and the unconscious. _And of these, at any given moment, the -conscious is by far the smaller part._ We are actually conscious at -any moment of but very few things, such as the book we are reading, -the chair we are sitting on, and dimly of our immediate surroundings. -A thousand memories which we might conjure up of our childhood and -our past are, for the time being, far from consciousness. Yet these -matters exist somewhere in the mind, for we are able, if we choose, -to search about in it, and bring them into consciousness, even though -we may not have thought of them for many years. This leads us at once -to a striking fact, namely, that while many things can be remembered -at will, others which we feel we ought to remember, cannot be brought -to mind at all. It is an extremely common experience to find that one -has forgotten a name completely, and that no effort will bring it into -consciousness, yet later on, apparently without effort, the name will -“come back to us,” as we say. In fact, the very phrase we use--“come -back to us”--implies that it has been somewhere away from us, that it -has been lodged in some place that is foreign and unknown to us, yet -which we are aware is somewhere within us. - -It is also common knowledge that a great many events and scenes of -considerable importance to us at the time of action are forgotten, and -that they can only be recollected if some sort of stimulus or reminder -be given. For instance, a person may have forgotten completely where -and how he spent a holiday ten years ago. No amount of racking his -brain brings anything to light. But having been reminded of a single -incident that occurred during that holiday, the whole of the rest may -come up from the unconscious in full detail. - -There is a third kind of memory more important still, if one may -be permitted to call it memory, and that is the memory of facts -which no _ordinary_ stimulus of this sort will ever bring up into -consciousness again. The term “memory” is used here because we have -every reason to believe that somewhere in the unconscious all facts -have been registered, and in many cases may be partially brought into -consciousness again by suitable means, such for instance, as hypnotism -or psycho-analysis, (two very different methods, by the way). Yet, -though these impressions have been made on the mind, and though there -is this unconscious memory still in existence, in the ordinary course -of events we should never again be conscious of them. - -_We may, however, be very conscious of actions and emotions emanating -from the unconscious memory._ Thus, suppose that as a child one had -lived in the country, and on several very happy occasions a bonfire -had been lighted at a picnic, and that later on one lived in a town, -and that this picnic which happened at the age of three or four years -had become completely forgotten, so much so that even photographs of -the scenes or conversations on the subject carried on by other people -brought no memory to light and seemed to touch no chord; it would still -be quite likely that the mere smell of a bon-fire in the distance or -any smell resembling this would be enough to cause a considerable -feeling of elation and happiness in the person, a feeling that -something pleasant was taking place, an idea that if only one could -remember, a pleasant picture could be called up. This is because it is -associated in the unconscious mind with these previous happy occasions. - -Or again, suppose a child at the age of two or three years has been -dropped into a pond and nearly drowned. Although the incident may -in later years be completely forgotten, the horror of deep water -and all its associations may vividly persist. It seems probable, -and a considerable amount of work has been done on this subject in -psycho-analysis, that every action, thought, or idea that has ever -been registered in the mind, even to some extent before birth, is -permanently fixed; and that although much of this cannot be brought -into consciousness by present methods, yet all the feelings and -emotions, however slight, which attended these thoughts, ideas, and -actions are perpetually being called forth by slight stimuli of which -we are unaware, and these are playing their part in moulding our -thoughts, feelings and actions in the present time. - -I had an interesting patient a short time ago who, owing to certain -experiences in the war, was suffering from complete loss of memory; so -complete that he did not know his own wife nor even his parents. Under -hypnosis, the whole of his memory was rapidly brought back; and when it -appeared to be normal and both he and his parents were quite confident -that it was as good as it had ever been, I suggested that we might try -an experiment to see if we could improve it still further. I asked him, -amongst other things, if he could voluntarily remember the first time -he wore knickerbockers. He had not the faintest recollection of the -matter. I then hypnotised him, and told him to give me the details. He -described the knickerbockers minutely, the number of buttons on them, -the fact that he wore them on his third birthday, that his father had -given him a penny, and told him that “now he was a little man, he must -have money in his pocket,” together with a very large number of other -details. I enquired of his father and mother and sisters, and they -corroborated the details in every particular. - -I have tried several similar experiments with him and with one or two -other patients under hypnosis with considerable success, and have even -tried to take them back to the memory of their own birth. They have -frequently produced many memories of events that occurred before the -age of one year, but previous to that could only give reproductions of -movements and pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Whether these latter -are memories or not one has unfortunately no means of proving. But the -fact that under hypnosis both educated and uneducated people alike -exhibit extremely similar ideas as to types of movements, expressions, -and feelings at the various stages of their very early life, inclines -one to think that these reproductions may be memories. One has, -however, to beware of the fact that observation and knowledge acquired -in later periods of their lives might be the real factor underlying -their apparent reproductions. Further evidence of a different nature -will be given on this point, however, at a later stage in the book. - - -§2 - -So far, we have shown that there is an unconscious part of the mind -which acts as a store-house for memories, ideas, and emotions of the -past. We have not, however, shown that it is anything more than a -store-house. But if we look into it from other points of view, we -shall see that it is a great deal more than a mere store-house, for -it thinks, reasons, comes to conclusions, and in fact assists in -controlling our acts at every turn; indeed this unconscious part of our -mind wields driving forces of the utmost potency in moulding our lives. - -Let us examine first the _reasoning_ faculty of the unconscious mind. - -Maeder gives a good example of this. A house-surgeon at a hospital -wished particularly to keep a certain appointment, but he was not -allowed to leave the hospital until his chief, who was out, should -return later in the evening. As his appointment was of considerable -importance, he decided to brave the anger of his chief. He therefore -kept his appointment, but when he returned later, he found to his -astonishment that he had left a light in his room, a thing he had -never done before, although he had occupied that room for two years. -He thought the matter over, and soon realised why he had done this. -The chief, on going to his own house, would pass the window and would -see the light burning within, and imagine that his house-surgeon was -at home. The unconscious mind had rapidly reasoned this out and had -determined that the conscious mind should forget to turn off the light. - -Another illustration of the persistent way in which the unconscious -mind will reason and act can be given from my own experience. I had to -attend a lecture given by a man, with whose views I totally disagreed. -I had no wish to attend the lecture, but felt compelled to do so in -an official capacity. Consciously, I determined to go; unconsciously -when I made the note of the lecture, I wrote down the time of it in -my engagement-book a week late. On discovering this, I consciously -endeavoured to rectify the matter, but my unconscious mind wrote -Tuesday instead of Thursday in my engagement-book, so it went down -wrong once again. Later, having been forced to see my mistake by a -friend mentioning the matter, I omitted for a short time to rectify it -in my engagement-book, feeling sure that I should remember to do so a -little later. But alas! for the determination of my conscious mind. I -forthwith made an appointment for a patient at the real time appointed -for the lecture, and so could not in the end attend it. Now, these -lectures were held regularly on a particular day of the week, and I -had generally looked forward to them, and attended them without any -difficulty. It was only in this one case that I did not wish to go. My -conscious mind decided to attend; but my unconscious mind played trick -after trick in order that my real desires should be satisfied. Such -examples could be multiplied indefinitely. It is possible that many -would say that they do not actually prove unconscious reasoning nor -power of thought. Let me, therefore, give one or two simple examples of -a different nature. - -A friend of mine once told me that he had spent several days in trying -to work out a chess problem without success. One morning, he woke -up with a picture in his mind of the exact moves that he must make. -The problem had been solved in his sleep unconsciously, and with no -recollection on waking of any conscious effort at reaching the solution. - -In my own experience, as a school-boy, I failed to solve a problem in -Euclid during an examination. On the morning afterwards, the solution -flashed through my brain suddenly, as I lay in bed. Whether I had -solved it in my sleep, or whether it was solved in bed as I lay awake, -I am not prepared to say. Of this much, however, I am certain. I made -no conscious effort; my mind merely wandered lazily in the direction -of the previous day’s failure, and almost instantaneously the right -solution appeared without effort. - -Let us now take another example of work which the unconscious mind is -called upon to perform; an example which we are accustomed to view -without question or thought, which is comparatively commonplace, -and which we dismiss summarily by referring to it as “habit.” The -accomplished pianist reads the music in front of him consciously, but -he is not conscious of the extremely rapid translation which takes -place from the brain to the fingers, so as to produce complicated -movements on the key-board. And if we examine it carefully, we shall -find that something very wonderful has actually taken place outside -his consciousness. When he was first learning to play, he looked at -the note on his music, and said to himself “That is C.” He looked at -the key on the piano, and repeated “That is C.” He was taught that a -particular finger must be placed on that particular note when playing -in a certain key. He was taught that it had to be hit in a particular -way and held down for a particular time, according to the size and -shape of the note he was reading on the sheet of music in front of him. -He was further taught that in order to modify any sound in a particular -manner, he could use his feet on one or other of the pedals, and must -be extremely careful to put his feet down and lift his feet up again -at exactly the right moment. He was taught that when certain symbols, -known as sharps and flats, preceded the notes at the beginning of his -piece of music, the whole scheme of fingering would be different. And, -at first, he had laboriously to go through the process of watching -first the music and then the key-board, and of _thinking_ at each -point what he should do with his fingers and with his feet, and how he -should do it, and for what period he should keep on doing it. Now, the -whole process is gone through with half-a-million notes which he has -never seen before, many of them played simultaneously, and with an -exactitude which he never attained when he was consciously thinking. -Whatever may be the nature of the unconscious action which is taking -place, all he has in consciousness is the music in front of him, and -the final sound that he is producing, together with the emotions which -these called forth in him as a result of the whole. - -Can there be any doubt left that a complicated unconscious process of -the same kind is taking place? - -Or again, let us examine our own personal likes and dislikes. -Frequently one can assign no reason whatsoever for these. They may -exist, in fact, against what we call our better judgment. We may -love a person in spite of certain faults, or dislike him in spite -of his virtues. If the matter be examined further, however, we not -infrequently find the reasons for our emotions towards him. Either -his manner, dress, or tone of voice, or some other trivial feature -may resemble someone we have liked before, or on the contrary, some -mannerism may call to mind a similar mannerism which we associate -either in ourselves or in some other person, with unpleasant -characteristics. Our unconscious mind has rapidly sized up all these -points, appraised them, and presented our conscious mind with the -resulting emotions alone. - -So-called intuition is, to a large extent, merely rapid unconscious -reasoning, in which minute details are taken into consideration by the -unconscious, and only the final opinion presented to consciousness. -One should beware of trusting intuition too much, however, in spite of -popular prejudice to the contrary, for unconscious reasoning is just -as liable to be wrong in its conclusions as is conscious reasoning; -and it is just as liable to reach the conclusion which best serves its -immediate purpose, and to suppress truth where it is unpleasant.[1] - -Some psychologists think that the unconscious mind is _infallible_ -in purely _deductive_ reasoning from the _premises_ from which it -starts. But it provides its own premises from a secret store and also -accepts any suggested premises which are not repugnant. The premises -may therefore be wrong but the deductive reasoning is accurate. In this -case the conclusions will only be wrong because the premises are wrong. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] Unconscious reasoning or intuition is found chiefly in those who -have not been trained in subjects which induce and train logical -conscious reasoning. It is not a prerogative of sex, but on the whole -is found more amongst women, merely because of their method of training -from childhood upwards. In children and savages intuition is found -equally present in both sexes. The loss of intuition merely means -that the training of the conscious mind has caused us to mistrust -conclusions for which we cannot consciously see the reasons. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -REPRESSION - - -§1 - -One other faculty of the unconscious mind requires special mention, and -that is its power of obliterating memories from the conscious mind, -or as it is better termed, of _repressing_, since this word not only -implies pushing out of consciousness, but also preventing from coming -into consciousness. It is found that all persons have formed a regular -habit of forgetting or partially forgetting, (and so disguising), -things which are unpleasant to them. This especially refers to those -things which are unpleasant to their self-respect, their moral beliefs -and ideas, and their general pride in themselves. The primitive -immoralities and thoughts and actions of early childhood which would -now offend their æsthetic and moral susceptibilities, are, more or -less, completely put out of sight, together with a host of unpleasant -ideas and thoughts which have cropped up from childhood onwards. -Indeed, there is a general tendency for anything of an unpleasant -nature to be pushed out of sight. - -Darwin, in his autobiography, states, “I had, during many years, -followed a golden rule, namely that whenever a published fact, a new -observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general -results, to make a memorandum of it without fail, and at once, for I -had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt -to escape from the memory than favourable ones.” - -We had a further example in the case of the house-surgeon who “forgot” -to put out his light, and examples are extremely common in everyday -life. We forget to post letters entrusted to us against our will, but -we do not forget to post our own love-letters. We mislay bills very -readily, but rarely do we mislay a cheque. - -Amongst my patients suffering from shell-shock, I have had very many -hundreds who have completely forgotten some of the most unpleasant -and terrifying experiences which occurred to them out at the front. -Others unconsciously had found the easiest method of dealing with -the unpleasant past to be that of blotting the whole of it out, -dissociating it completely from their conscious mind, and then stating -that they remembered nothing of their lives until they woke up in -hospital. It is not only memories, however, which are repressed and -remain dormant in the unconscious mind. Most of our primitive instincts -handed on from our savage forefathers before even the evolution of man -in his present form, lie similarly buried in this unconscious part of -the mind, and we are wont to deny emphatically that we possess these -unpleasant instincts. Nevertheless, just as _in utero_ we repeat more -or less in detail the history of our physical evolution, so do we at -that period and in childhood repeat to a great extent the history of -our psychic evolution; and just as during this early period we possess -the physical attributes of many of our ancestors, such as the gills -of the fish or the tail of the lower vertebrates, so psychically do -we at a somewhat later period, possess the instincts and desires of -our progenitors, and utilise them as the hidden foundation stones -in building our adult mental constitution. These various primitive -instincts include all kinds of desires which would consciously be -regarded as sexual perversions and moral crimes of different kinds, and -they are present in all of us without exception. Our upbringing and -conscious outlook upon them, however, causes them to be so abhorrent to -us, that we successfully keep the majority of such ideas and feelings -_from ever coming out of the unconscious in their primitive form_. -In other words, we repress them. Occasionally, however, there is a -tendency for these ancestral instincts to become conscious, and in -our further efforts to prevent this we may develop instead hysterias, -obsessions and unreasonable fears, together with many other nervous -and abnormal signs and symptoms, into the nature of which it is not -my intention to inquire further in this present volume. Those who -are interested in pursuing this line of investigation will find an -elementary account of it in a previous work of mine, “The Elements -of Practical Psycho-Analysis.” All that I wish to emphasise here -is that we do push out from the conscious mind unpleasant thoughts -and memories, that we do repress and keep in the unconscious mind -unpleasant desires and instincts, and that we do, as a result of this, -have many unconscious or semi-conscious conflicts within ourselves, -which may lead to unpleasant feelings of depression, irritability, -fear, or in more pronounced cases hysterias, obsessions, and even -permanent mental derangement. - - -§2 - -A further and somewhat important result of our possessing so much -which is unconscious and of having so many feelings and ideas in -consciousness of which we do not know the origin, or of whose -origins we have but the vaguest and haziest notion is known as -_rationalization_. This word signifies that we find reasons for doing -or believing things which are of a pleasant nature and agreeable to us, -and _vice versa_. - -Following on this rationalisation comes also a certain conservatism, -which tends to retard progress of any sort, which dislikes looking at -new ideas, and this for a very obvious reason. Looking at new ideas, -examining ourselves or our work very closely, has a tendency to bring -to light, from time to time, the very primitive instincts and feelings -which we have been at so much pains to repress. And rather than submit -to the indignity of discovering how really imperfect we are, and having -our pride in our divinely constituted natures shaken, we have acquired -a habit of denying and fighting strenuously against discovering truths -connected with either our moral or physical evolution which would be -unpleasant to us. In the light of our upbringing, such new truths are -often unpleasant, therefore we rationalise that they must be untrue. -For having been educated to venerate logic and reason, we can only -be satisfied with any given conclusion we come to when we feel that -it is justifiable in the light of logic and reason. But the logic of -rationalisation is false logic. - -For many years, scientific and popular thought denied strenuously the -possibility of the now universally accepted theory of human evolution; -and on scientific grounds it was urged, with much plausible reasoning, -that it was not possible to develop a high type like man from any low -form of animal. On religious grounds it was argued equally passionately -that if evolution were true, the Bible was wrong, God disappeared, and -therefore the theory of evolution was untrue. The real reasons lying -behind those reasons advanced by both the scientist and the general -public, however, were not the reasons so carefully thought out by -them, but consisted largely in the fact that they did not wish to find -that the body, which they had hitherto thought a special and divine -creation partaking of the miraculous, to be merely a stage in the -evolution of life on this planet, and possibly not a final stage at -that. For in that case, no longer would man be able to flatter himself -that he was almost divine, he would have to relegate himself to the -possibility of being in a stage of semi-barbarism; he would no longer -be a final perfect product, but merely a half-finished article. It was -this blow to his pride that he could not stand. And it is the same -to-day. Whenever there is a likelihood that examination, particularly -through research work, has thrown light on his psychic evolution, -on the imperfections of his moral laws, or on the crudity of some -conventional custom, the process which takes place in him is much the -same. - -Firstly, dislike of the idea. Secondly, on further examination of it, -hatred of the idea. Thirdly, rationalisation directed against the idea. -Fourthly, contentment, in that he has proved by logic and reason that -the idea is wrong. Hence, it is that the truth takes long to emerge, -and that obsessions and hysterias, and even trivial abnormalities are -difficult to cure, for the cure involves seeing our own imperfections -naked and undisguised. - -In all these cases, we are trying to keep out of consciousness those -things which will distress us or cause us to have conflicts, or to have -to readjust our views of ourselves, or in fact cause us unpleasantness -in any form. It will be noticed that I have mentioned pride in the -belief that we have reached a condition of final development, and in -our superiority over the rest of nature, as being one of the important -factors in preventing our advance. It is to the development of this -pride, and its ramifications that I am devoting the major portion of -this book. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE FORCES SHAPING CHARACTER - - -It will be seen from the foregoing that evolution of the individual -character may be the result of a very large number of forces at -work, of which many are quite unconscious; and that any considerable -disturbance or variation of the unconscious factors will considerably -modify the character of the individual, in spite of conscious desires -in some other direction. The character of an individual is the sum of -his thoughts, ideas, capacities, desires, feelings and actions, and the -general forces moulding it may be briefly summarised as follows: - - - 1. The primitive instincts inherited from his ancestors, and held - back in the unconscious mind. - - 2. Environment and education. - - 3. That pride in his own greatness, to which we referred in - the last chapter, which modifies all the other forces at work, - according to the direction of its development. This force will - henceforth be called by the name of Narcissism, for a reason - shortly to be explained. - - -§2 - -Of the inherited instincts we have already said as much as is necessary -here. It suffices for us to recognise that they are for the most part -of a primitive erotic type, and that they are so repressed and modified -as to be unrecognisable in the normal adult. When they have been -ineffectually converted by environment and education, we have present -the basis of many neurotic and functional conditions, and this again is -a matter which is outside the scope of the present work. - - -§3 - -Environment and education are extremely comprehensive terms as used -in psychology. Environment does not merely refer to the home with its -visible surroundings, nor does education merely refer to the scholastic -side of it. Environment and education include the treatment of the -child by the nurse during the first week of life; for instance, -whether she leaves it alone when it cries, or whether she soothes it -and rocks it to sleep again. A trivial fact, the reader will think, -especially in the first week of the child’s life, yet experience -shows us that this environment and education of the first week is an -extremely important factor in its after-life. The thousand little -actions, the trivial chance words of anger or contempt, not merely -of the parent but of strangers or of other children, all make their -impressions on the infantile unconscious mind. They all belong, in the -strictest sense, to what we term its environment and education. Any -stimulus, in fact, however small, which is capable of reaching the -brain forms part of this environment and education which is reacting -on the child. Psychologists are now generally of the opinion that -the essential elements of the individual character have all been -definitely formed by the age of five, and that, important as training -in successive years may be, the environment and education during those -first five years are more important still. - -_It is the object of education and environment to modify and utilise -the force of the primitive instincts with which the child comes into -the world in the best possible way._ - -_Three things may happen to any particular instinct._ Firstly, it may -remain unchanged and unrepressed, in which case the individual will -be said, on reaching adult life, to be perverted in some way. Let us -take as an example that instinct which exists in some animals, and -which urges them at the mating season to exhibit their genital organs -to their fellows of the opposite sex, with the perfectly natural and -proper end in view of propagating the species. We occasionally find -adult human beings in whom this instinct has remained unchanged and -uncontrolled, and they generally find their way, sooner or later, -into prison. The psychological term for the offence they commit is -“exhibitionism.” In the small child, however, we have often seen this -instinct at work, without regarding it as objectionable in any way. -We have laughed at the little child who delights in running about -naked, or asks us to come and see it being bathed, or on occasion calls -even more obvious attention to its state of nakedness. It is quite -unconscious of the primitive instinct which it is displaying, and since -it is a child and cannot in any way fulfil the sexual objects of the -instinct, we pass the matter over, without further thought. - -Secondly, our primitive instincts may be _displaced_, and the -displacement must be such as to conceal them from our conscious -thoughts, in order that they may be tolerated by the conscious mind. -For instance, the normal adult will not be guilty of exhibiting his -nakedness in the way above referred to, nor will he display desires of -sexual exhibitionism in a conscious manner. But he, or more frequently -she, will _displace_ these ideas, and will only call attention to the -sex of her body indirectly by exhibiting the neck or arms, or more -indirectly still through the medium of clothes, designed to suggest, -(for the most part unconsciously) erotic ideas. - -Thirdly, a much higher state may be reached by some people in which the -primitive instinct has now lost entirely its erotic meaning, instead -of being merely disguised and displaced as in the last case. The force -and energy of it has all gone from the personal physical plane to -serve a useful social purpose of a non-sexual nature. This is known as -_sublimation_, and instead of the desire of our exhibitionist to show -himself or herself physically, the person may attain the desire by -showing a fine character, by designing a fine building, achieving some -high position, or anything in fact of an ideal or non-erotic nature. - -Exactly the same process takes place in the opposite of exhibitionism, -which in its primitive form we term observationism. “Peeping Tom” is a -celebrated example of this. We have a _displacement_ of observationism -in the fairly average young man, who likes to observe all that he can -of the charms of every woman he comes into contact with, who takes -an eager interest in her shoulders, breasts, underclothing, and any -part she may exhibit. And we have the third or _sublimated_ stage in -the scientist, who has turned most of his primitive sexual instinct -of “looking” in the sexual sense into looking down the microscope, or -searching for the secrets of Nature, and delving amidst her hidden -laws, instead of using the same primitive desire to look in an -unsublimated and rather more infantile manner. - -It is exactly the same with a large number of other primitive -instincts, which even did I mention them here would not be grasped -or understood at all by many without very much further explanation. -Suffice it to say, that many of our higher activities and desires -are sublimations of lower and more primitive instincts, which we are -learning to develop and control; _and that education and environment -have, as their object, the training of the child by turning the forces -at work in his primitive instincts through the stage of displacement -into the final one of sublimation_. - -It should be clearly grasped that the energy lying behind our primitive -instincts, whether it be repressed, displaced or sublimated, is a -very real force, comparable with the physical energy which we are -accustomed to deal with in everyday life. _And this energy must find -some outlet for its discharge._ Thus,[2]“We know as regards physical -energy that there are not several kinds of energy, but merely several -manifestations of it, and that it may be changed from one form of -manifestation to another, but that still the sum total of the original -energy remains without addition or loss.” - -Thus there is a given amount of energy stored in a ton of coal. This -energy can manifest itself as _heat_ in the furnace and boiler. By -means of an engine we can change the manifestation into that of -_motion_, then with a dynamo to _electricity_; the electricity we can -again change into _light_, or back again into _heat_ or _motion_. There -is _one_ energy, but by suitable means we can turn it to different -uses, and give different manifestations of it. Owing, however, to the -imperfection of the boiler, machinery, etc., we never transform the -_whole_ of our energy into another form. In transforming heat into -electricity, there is always some heat wasted; it is not destroyed, but -it remains as heat for a time, and is absorbed by surrounding objects. -A complete transference of energy does not take place, and the less -efficient the machinery the less is the transference. - -Now evidence tends to show a considerable similarity between psychic -and physical energy. In all probability there is only one ultimate -psychic energy which, like physical energy, can be directed into -different channels. Thus, the energy of erotic desire can be directed -to a large extent into the energy of desire for music, religion, -science, or sport; or the energy of the desire for sport may be changed -into the energy of the desire for mental exercise, such as chess, -mathematics, or science. For example, an individual feels “restless,” -he then desires to play tennis; the afternoon is wet: he plays chess -instead. His psychic energy has been diverted from one channel into -another with its accompanying excitement and satisfaction of desire: -with its final feeling of fatigue and repletion. - -Psychic energy, like physical energy, can never be entirely diverted -from one channel to another. There is always some, often a large -quantity, which is not altered in character. The amount of this depends -largely on the person concerned, just as the amount of physical energy, -changed from one form to another depends on the efficiency of the -engine or machinery. - -This possibility of transference of energy of desire from one form -to another is of the utmost importance to the psycho-analyst. By the -technique of psycho-analysis the energy of repressed desires is first -freed from deleterious objectives, and then transferred to legitimate -ones. The energy behind the conflicts which lead to alcoholism or -drug-taking may, under suitable conditions, be transferred to energy of -higher types of desire with more suitable outlets. These processes are -known as _transference_ and _sublimation_ respectively. - -It may be taken that every mind has a given amount of psychic energy -which _must_ find somewhere its suitable outlet in satisfying desire, -whether for accomplishment or for enjoyment. - -We may here again take the opportunity of stating that the efficiency -or lack of efficiency demonstrated in different individuals in their -attempts to transfer the energy of desire from a lower to a higher -channel depends not only on heredity and constitutional circumstances -but to an extraordinary degree on the individual’s environment and the -actions of the parents in the first three or four years of his life. -The reason why seemingly excellent parents produce sometimes execrable -progeny becomes clearer under psycho-analysis. The over-strict parent -produces one type of inefficient children, the parent who spoils -produces other inefficient types. The nurse, the nursery, the casual -visitor, the trivial conversations, the unconsidered sights and -experiences, all have a terrific influence in the first few years -of the child’s life. Parents do not realise that conventional or -arbitrary methods of education, whether in one direction or another, -are not going to effect the results they expected. The primitive -unconscious mind of the child understands and absorbs in a manner -that civilised man does not recognise. The bad father may by accident -or _neglect_ produce an excellent child--the good father with all -his designs may produce a bad one. This is not an attempt to show -that as the child grows up _all_ its actions are dependent on the -early environment; merely that we can never compare the good or bad -in individuals; that an apparent failure, owing to his inefficiency -of powers of sublimation, may yet be devoting more energy to ascent -than the successful saint whose early environment made for efficient -transference of energy of desire. Some of the commonest of errors made -by well-meaning parents will come to light at a later period. “_They -teach their children to repress erotic and other desires but they omit -at the same time to assist the development of that sublimation of them -which is absolutely essential._” - - -§4 - -We now come to the third great factor in character formation, and as -this particular factor is going to occupy the major portion of this -book, I will not do more here than indicate briefly the symbolic -meaning of the term Narcissism; the reason why this term is used in -connection with our primitive feelings of pride will then gradually -unfold itself. - -Narcissus was the son of the river god, Cephissus. In his mother’s -eyes he was extremely beautiful, and later in the eyes of all others, -including himself. It was his wont to walk abroad in solitary places -lost in admiration of the graceful form which he thought no eyes -worthy to behold, save his own. On one occasion, he wanted to drink -from a cool spring and catching sight of his face in the water for -the first time in his life, at once fell in love with it, not knowing -it to be his own likeness. On his knees at the edge of the pool, he -stretched himself, and looked down upon a face and form so entrancingly -beautiful, that he was ready to leap into the water beside it. - -“Who art thou, who hast been made so fair?” cried Narcissus. And the -lips of the image moved, yet there came no answer. He stretched out his -hand towards it, and the beautiful form beckoned to him. But when his -hand touched and broke the surface, it vanished like a dream, only to -return in all its enchantment when he was content to gaze motionless, -even then, again, growing dim beneath the tears of vexation he shed -into the water. Repeatedly, he tried to gather the lovely image in his -arms, but it always eluded him, but when he entreated and implored, it -imitated his gestures with unfeeling silence. - -Maddened by the strong allurement of his own likeness, he could not -tear himself away from the mirror which ever mocked his fancy. Hour -after hour, day after day, he leant over the pool’s brink, crying in -vain for that imaginary object of adoration. But at last from despair -his heart ceased to throb, and he lay still among the water-lilies that -made his shroud. - - * * * * * * * - -Before proceeding further and examining the development of Narcissism, -and those factors which come to preserve it, and make it forceful in -our unconscious mind, we must first briefly consider the subject of -determinism. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] “Elements of Practical Psycho-Analysis,” by Paul Bousfield. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -DETERMINISM AND WILL POWER - - -Determinism is the doctrine that all things, including the will, are -determined by causes. It is the antithesis of the doctrine of free -will. In its complete form, it holds that the individual has no direct -and voluntary control over his thoughts and actions but that every -thought and action is inevitably the result of a large number of -previous thoughts and actions which have gone before. - -There is a very large amount of evidence, and indeed, whether we admit -it or not, the evidence is quite irrefutable, that in regard to the -majority of our actions the doctrine of determinism holds good. But the -evidence is by no means sufficient to enable us to conclude that we -have no free will. - -[3]Freud in his book on the “Psychopathology of Everyday Life” and in -other works gives many convincing examples that much in our character, -that many of our actions, evil and good, are quite beyond our control -at any given moment. But there is one thing that appears to have been -overlooked, and that is, _that in all the examples given one could -not conceivably utilise free will in any case_. If I ask you to think -of a number what opportunity do you get of using your will power? -If you put the wrong latch-key into the door by accident, have you -made any effort to use will power? When a patient is suffering from -hysteria due to repressions of various kinds, in that particular matter -_the will power has already been lost_. When a chronic alcoholic is -unable to cease from drinking his will power in reference to this has -disappeared, therefore determinism holds the field completely. The -will has no opportunity of working then. In all the examples which -Freud gives one discovers on careful investigation that for some reason -or another there is no opportunity for the use of free will. Such -evidence as we have certainly does not prove the nonexistence of free -will, but merely shows that in a very large number of our thoughts and -actions we do not use any will at all, and that in other cases we are -unable to use our will effectively.[4] When determinism does rule we -may liken it physically to this: a patient sits down and crosses one -leg over the other and leaves the one leg hanging free. On tapping -it smartly beneath the patella the foot will kick; the knee jerk has -been elicited. If this be done fifty times the result will be the -same fifty times. There is movement of the leg, but this movement is -predetermined. On the other hand this does not prove that no other -movement of the leg is possible. Under the conditions just given the -man’s will, or the freedom of the leg, is merely _eliminated during -that period_. Or again, we may liken it to a locomotive standing at the -top of a hill; if the brake be taken off, the locomotive will run down -the hill, and will do it every time; but this will not prove that did -somebody happen to put the brake on half-way down the hill the engine -would still go on running. However, all actions which we may ascribe to -our will are no doubt strictly limited by other determined conditions. -The man on the engine may run it backwards or forwards, but only within -_the very much prescribed limits which the rails allow_. We may safely -accept this much determinism, that although the will exists, its -capabilities are strictly circumscribed by determinism. - -It is rather in his general direction than in any specific act that -a man has most control. We certainly have not the amount of free -will which we like to believe we have. For example, the reader of -this chapter may have returned home to-night and have said, “I will -not have a meal to-night, it is too hot.” What are the factors (or -determinants, as they are called) in this case? Perhaps external heat, -producing langour by various physiological processes, combined with -lack of appetite, in its turn produced by several causes, and added to -this, depression, produced by a bad business deal, and in its turn the -result of many other determinants outside the reader’s control. There -is no desire to eat, and these various determinants, added together, -prove stronger than the habit of eating the evening meal. Having, -however, read this chapter as far as this point, the reader desiring to -disprove my unpleasant suggestion, immediately says, “Ah! I will prove -that I have free will. I will eat my meal in spite of not wanting it.” - -Alas! this does not _prove_ free will, new determinants have merely -been added on the other side, and desire to prove strength of mind has -now out-weighed accumulated efforts which prevented you from eating. - -Since it has been shown that a man’s control is constantly being -limited by other determinants, it follows that the criminal whose -environment and determinants, conscious and unconscious, have been -manufactured for him from evil sources, yet who, on the whole, is -progressing upwards in spite of these, may be forming a far better -character than the arch-bishop whose environment from the beginning has -been such as never to give him criminal characteristics, yet whose -growth has been, on the whole, towards a more selfish position, even -though this be not noticeable to the eyes of others. - -_Now many of the determinants forming our characters lie in the -unconscious. They are unknown to us and only the results of their -activities are visible. Herein lies the difficulty of controlling -ourselves. How can we efficiently control that of which we do not know -the existence? Herein, also, lies the value of psycho-analysis, for it -brings many of these determinants to light, and we are thus able to -control them consciously._ Only a part of all this can be accomplished -by such self-analysis as may be indicated in this book. Yet even so, a -much greater degree of self-control may be obtained. - - -§2 - -Let us now consider briefly why persons who have not previously been -irritable, should suddenly become irritable; who have not previously -been hysterical, should suddenly become hysterical; who have not -previously been in the habit of weeping, should at some time after -reaching adult life, revert to that infantile habit. - -The explanation of mental troubles of various kinds involves two -factors. In the first place, any individual is capable of bearing a -certain amount of conflict and a certain amount of repression. It is -only when the accumulated force is more than he can control, _that is -when new determinants are added_, that the symptoms begin to appear. He -is like a steam engine in which as long as the steam is being used up -in doing work, or as long as the safety valve is working efficiently -when work is not being done, the boiler stands a pressure of 100lbs. -very comfortably. If the safety valve gets jammed, and the energy -cannot be transferred from the steam to the work, the pressure in the -boiler rises higher and higher until it bursts from the joints and -rivet-holes. - -The second factor which determines the mode of expression of this -out-burst of repressed energy is known as the _law of regression_. -This means that if the adult outlet of energy becomes dammed up or is -insufficient, _the energy will flow through an earlier channel which -has once been used_. The individual will, in fact, revert to some -method which he was wont to use in earlier years, or in infancy. It -is true that this may be disguised and not recognised as an infantile -mode of expression until it is looked into more closely. This question -of regression, however, need not be more than touched upon here. It -will be much more fully dealt with when we come to actual examples at a -later stage. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[3] “The Elements of Practical Psycho-Analysis,” by Paul Bousfield. - -[4] The doctrines of determinism and free-will respectively can be -brought entirely into line with one another if we include freewill -itself as one of the determinants. Thus, if in the formula - - S = a + b + c + d + etc. - -where S is the resultant action, and a, b, c, d, etc., are the several -determinants, it happens that d = 0. The presence of d does not -invalidate the formula. _But if_ d _does not happen to be zero, the -absence of_ d _would invalidate the formula_. If d represents the -“will” component there may be plenty, even a majority of cases in which -d = 0, but there may be cases in which the omission of d will render -the result erroneous. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -NARCISSISM - - -The term Narcissism has already been mentioned and some slight -indication of its importance in character development has been given. -We have also examined the derivation of the term, and found that it -implies self-interest, self-importance, self-worship; all of which -characteristics are in modified degrees possessed by everybody. There -are, however, many other manifestations of Narcissism, many tricks by -which it gets past our conscious intentions, many ways in which it -associates itself with other instincts, and unknown to us works our -undoing. We shall therefore, in this chapter, examine the development -of Narcissism from its very earliest stages, and trace out in some -detail whither it may lead. - -Most people were they asked at what moment the child’s mind first -began to register feelings, thoughts, and emotions, would probably at -once and without hesitation say, “At the moment of birth.” It seems -the obvious thing to say, but like many other obvious things such a -statement appears to have but little evidence in support of it and much -against it. - -The act of birth has performed no sudden or miraculous change upon the -growth and tissues of the body. It is true that oxygen is now absorbed -through the lungs instead of as originally through the mother’s blood, -but the essential tissues, the brain, the muscles and the bones have -undergone no sudden change. Before birth, they were living tissues, -and we know that the muscles were at work, for we had felt the baby’s -movements _in utero_; we know that the heart was at work, driving -the blood through the child’s arteries. We had learnt this also by -means of the stethoscope many weeks before the child was born. Why -then should we assume that the brain had registered nothing at birth? -We do indeed know that it must have been at work in part, for it was -learning to regulate the action of the child’s heart and the child’s -secretions, the blood pressure, and the motions of its limbs. We are -therefore justified in assuming that it must be capable of registering -impressions, even though it were incapable of reason or thought. - -It is true that at birth it commences to undergo many vivid new -experiences, but that is no reason for assuming that it has not -undergone any experiences _in utero_, and that these experiences have -not made some impressions on the brain. Let us see for a moment what -impressions it is likely to have received and registered. First of -all, it would most certainly hear sounds, the sounds of the blood -rushing through the mother’s arteries and the sounds from the outer -world, muffled and indistinct when they had penetrated the mother’s -body. All these sounds would be of a soft crooning nature, and those -caused by the blood in the mother’s arteries would be of a rhythmic, -humming, rising and falling nature, a kind of rhythmic lullaby very -similar in many respects to the lullaby the mother will hum to the -child when she wishes to put it to sleep at a later period. We should -expect these sounds to be registered on the child’s brain so that if -it ever heard their like again, some chord of _feeling-memory_ would -be struck, and some emotional association brought to mind. In the -second place, external movements would be registered on the child’s -mind as the mother walked about. There would be a swaying or swinging -movement. Again we should expect that when, in after life, the child -experienced a swaying or swinging movement, a chord of memory would be -touched again, and these earlier associations would be revived; not as -a conscious memory or fact, of course, but as a feeling. - -Again, conscious movements of its own limbs might be impressed upon it. -It would find, when it tried to move, that its movements were limited, -and that it attained more perfect peace by refraining from attempting -to struggle and change its position. It would be impressed by the -pleasantness of inertia as opposed to the unpleasantness of making -an effort. And finally, its general position with the knees drawn up -and the chin bent down would be firmly registered, so that when in -after-life it again assumed this position, once more the chord of -memory would be struck, and the old feeling of repose would be likely -to return. - -Now, we cannot assume that the child has any active mental state before -its birth, but we know that its condition (taken in conjunction with -its extremely limited experience) is one as near omnipotence (from its -standpoint) as may be. It breathes, or rather absorbs oxygen without -any effort of breathing. It is fed, it is kept warm and comfortable -without any effort whatsoever. It lives in a world entirely its own, -where everything works together for its comfort and well-being. It has -to make no struggle for existence. It has to deal with nothing _real_, -save perhaps that its voluntary movements are limited, and this perhaps -is bad for its education, since at that period of its life it learns -that it can be most comfortable by making least effort! And here we see -the beginning of that which we all possess in after-life, _inertia_, -the difficulty of making a beginning at anything, the objection which -we have to making efforts. - -Now let us see what happens to this omnipotent little creature at -birth. It goes through the probably painful process of having its -position roughly changed and being thrust into an atmosphere which is -cold and unusual to it. Moreover it has to make its first struggle for -breath, its first effort to sustain existence. And in its struggle for -breath it utters cries, which by experience it very soon finds to be -magic sounds which enable it to fulfil its wishes. But of this, more -later. - -After its first rude awakening, let us once more see what happens. It -is wrapped up in something warm; that is, it is returned to a semblance -of the womb, by having something round it which keeps out the cold. It -is gently rocked to and fro by the nurse or other attendant, and again -the semblance of the previous rocking in the womb is returned to it. -Crooning sounds are murmured over it, and the semblance is still more -complete. It frequently draws its knees up somewhat if it is placed in -such a position that it can do so with ease, and falls asleep. It has -attained as nearly as possible once more the semblance of its pre-birth -condition, where it has no cares, and is warm and comfortable again. -And though it has become acquainted with effort, it is quite obvious -that its feeling of omnipotence, if we may so term it for the moment, -is hardly yet disturbed, and the world it has come into differs but -slightly from the world which it has left; it is still a world in which -the infant is the centre and ruler, in which its every want is attended -to without an effort on its part, save that it may sometimes have to -call attention to its wants by means of that magical cry which it soon -learns how and when to use, and which acts in a truly magical manner in -accomplishing the fulfilment of all its desires. - -During the first few weeks of the infant’s life this delusion on the -part of the child is largely kept up. Few people think there is any -harm in attending to all a baby’s wants in the first month of its -life. They do not think it could possibly be wrong to spoil it at that -age, because its intellect has not developed. They forget entirely -that its mental condition and attitude towards life, apart from actual -thought, may inevitably be affected at this period. Hence, whenever -the baby cries, it is not uncommonly rocked to sleep, or fed, or if -it holds out its hand and shows its desire to possess anything, it is -immediately allowed to possess it, and to play with it. It has to make -but the faintest attempts to adjust itself to its environment, it has -to face but the slightest reality; all its desires are immediately -fulfilled, and kept in a condition of almost continual fulfilment. And -it may remain for a considerable period as near being an omnipotent -creature as it is possible for any living thing to be. Its omnipotence, -however, is really a fallacy, or as I prefer to term it at a slightly -later stage, a phantasy, for the world in which it lived before birth, -which seemed to it as a world, was not really a world at all, but a -very small and a very temporary abode, and the world in which it is -living for the first few months after birth is again not really a world -but a combination of extremely limited and carefully selected portions -of the world, in which every attempt is made to disguise from it the -realities of the actual world. - -Again let us emphasise the fact that the chief effort that the infant -has to make is the effort of crying. And it may learn very quickly -that this is so all-powerful as to practically efface the unpleasant -task of having to adjust itself to the realities of life. This process -is carried on with slight modifications for many months. The infant has -but to wave a magic wand, as it were, has but to emit a little magic -noise from its mouth, and all the world it knows is set in motion to -give it satisfaction and some semblance of its pre-birth omnipotence. - -_This cry which brings it gratification, if it has been really -effective over a too-prolonged period, will tend to fix permanently -in the child’s mind the fact that either weeping or making a magic -noise with the mouth will always attain for it gratification. And -although at a later stage the conscious mind will be obliged to accept -a considerable amount of reality and to reject the idea of omnipotence, -yet the unconscious mind will persist in the struggle and will make -futile efforts to forget reality, to change reality into phantasy, and -to regain its omnipotent state._ - -When a man uses expletives because some task of his has failed to -result in success, he is really repeating the infant’s cry. He is -really uttering a magic sound which his unconscious mind hopes may -somehow remedy the failure. He has not definitely accepted the reality -of failure as a commonplace hard fact of life at the moment at which he -utters his expletive. - -When a person weeps at some unpleasant happening or in anger at -something which has touched his pride, exactly the same is taking -place. He, or she, has failed to make a complete adaptation of -himself to the facts and realities of life. _He has obeyed the law -of regression_, to which I referred in a previous chapter, and has -returned to the infantile method of expression, namely weeping, with -the unconscious hope that a magic compensation will result; that -instead of his having to adapt himself to the facts of life, the facts -of life will somehow adapt themselves to his phantasy. - -Hence, the first piece of advice that one must give to parents is -that they should, from the earliest possible moment, train the -infant to understand that the magic cries will not at once produce -their expected result; and the first week in the infant’s life is -all-important in this matter. The choosing of the nurse who has charge -during that period should be done with great care, and what is required -of her should be insisted on. Too great emphasis cannot be laid upon -these points. - -The child should be fed at regular and proper intervals, and should -be kept warm. But if it cries, as it will do naturally, it should be -left to itself to cry. It should not be picked up, rocked to sleep, -given another meal nor petted. If it is left to cry, it will learn very -rapidly and at the right period of its life that the sounds which it -emits are not magical, and it will begin to adapt itself to the fact -that it lives in a real world which has not been built solely and only -for its own delight. - -It is curious to note how regression, this instinct to return to the -earlier mode of expression, to return apparently even to the pre-birth -state, persists in the unconscious mind. - -During the war, I knew a youth who was intensely agitated by the -air-raids. He felt perfectly safe, however, if he could crawl under -the bed or table, where he would curl himself into practically the same -position as that of a normal baby before birth. When questioned, he had -not, of course, the slightest conscious knowledge of why he felt safe -in such curious circumstances. But it does not seem improbable that -the association of ideas produced by his position and by the confined -space created a feeling akin to that feeling of safety which has been -his in his pre-birth omnipotent position where nothing could harm him. -A similar feeling of security was experienced by many normal persons in -cellars and other confined spaces and was probably of the same origin; -for there is no doubt that this safety was felt even though their -reason told them that a bomb was as likely to reach their confined -space as any other place in the neighbourhood. - -Again, I know of innumerable cases in which soldiers felt very much -safer from bombs which fell at night when they were under cover of a -canvas tent. Logically, of course, the thing was absurd; emotionally, -it was a fact. And all were equally unconscious of any possible -reasons for the feeling of security produced. An example of this same -tendency at an earlier age is seen in children who cover their heads -with the bedclothes when they are frightened. - -To return to our Narcissistic infant, we are now impressed with the -fact that one thing of the utmost importance in the first years of its -life is that it shall gradually come into contact with reality, shall -discover that all things do not belong to it, that its omnipotent -feelings are based purely upon phantasy and not upon reality; and upon -the method of its disillusionment and the age at which this begins -largely depend the future powers of adaptation of the child to its -surroundings. It has now become obvious that the new-born infant lives -in a world of phantasy, in which, the relative importance of itself to -things outside itself is not merely distorted but is entirely absent. -And if we can suppose a child kept artificially in this condition till -it reached adult life, every wish satisfied instantaneously, every -force it knows directed entirely towards gratifying its immediate -desires, we do not require much imagination to understand how -absolutely helpless and lost this omnipotent creature would be if -suddenly turned into the world to face life and reality. His one desire -would be to return to his omnipotent state, his one effort to keep at -bay reality and turn it into the pleasant phantasy of the previous -twenty years. For he would surely, before his disillusionment, have -really come to believe himself omnipotent, the only real thing in a -phantasy world of his own fashioning and dreaming. - -An extreme case of this kind is, of course, an impossibility. But there -are many and various degrees in which it is approached. Probably the -nearest approach to it may be found in cases where some sort of moral -or mental conflict has been too much for an extremely Narcissistic -mind, which has then completely regressed, refused to recognise the -outer world, and developed a certain form of insanity; and from this -stage of complete Narcissistic regression all degrees and kinds of -manifestations of it may be found, until we reach at the other end of -our list a person who expects everyone around to consult his wishes -and peculiarities or who is merely somewhat impatient, or inclined to -irritability, or merely over-sensitive to either mental or physical -pain. - -There is no more certain fact than that if an infant be allowed to -postpone its acquaintance with reality too long it becomes fixed in a -more or less degree in conditions in which phantasy plays too prominent -a part, and regression of some kind takes place as it meets with real -difficulties. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -FACT AND PHANTASY - - -In the last chapter we emphasised the fact that one of the first -products of Narcissism was the infantile difficulty of distinguishing -between fact and phantasy, of realising the world outside oneself. This -tendency to mix up fact with phantasy is by no means only to be found -in an abnormal mind. It is present in some degree in all persons; each -one feels himself to be the most real thing present, and in feeling -this he has a tendency to believe that others round him are in some way -less real, though, fortunately, very few carry it far enough to imagine -that all the others are merely part of a dream in which the dreamer is -the only real figure, as the Red King in “Alice Through the Looking -Glass” is supposed to have done, when the remark is made to Alice, -“You’re only a sort of thing in his dream! If that there king was to -wake you would go out bang--just like a candle!” - -And yet quite a large number of people find it difficult to realise -firstly, that they must die, and secondly that the rest of the world -will not die also when they die. They know, of course, that this -latter is not the case, yet they cannot look upon it as a commonplace -fact. Their Narcissism refuses to contemplate their own mortality. It -represses the fact and leaves the idea vague and unreal to them. - -In children, the difficulty of distinguishing between phantasy and -reality is quite normally much more accentuated than in adults. -And since they start in a world of phantasy and their training is -to lead them to a world of reality, it is obvious that the halfway -stages will be obscured by a strange mixture of the two. All children -go through the stage in which phantasy and reality are by no means -clearly differentiated, and most young children succeed, day by day, in -fulfilling impossible wishes in phantasies in a manner which a properly -developed adult can never do. - -A little boy desires to possess a pony; if this be impossible his -imagination gives life to a rocking-horse, and failing that he may -tie a piece of string to a chair, and with great pleasure and much -emotion urge on his fiery untamed steed across mountain and desert. -He fulfils his wishes immediately by means of a phantasy, which, for -the time being, successfully replaces reality. If this child grows up -normally, this possibility of phantastic fulfilment should gradually -disappear. How many adults, for instance, could take a bath-tub into -their dining-room, sit in it, and with the aid of a vivid imagination -thoroughly enjoy a pleasant sail at sea? We trust no one, at any -rate of our readers, for they would be of that type which has no -perspective, and they would most certainly fail in their vocation as -practical men and women. Yet remnants of phantasy thinking remain with -everyone, and in a moderate degree, so far as we know, such remnants do -but little harm if they are present in small measure only, and kept in -water-tight compartments. - -Adult phantasy thinking very largely consists in what is known as -identification, which may be either conscious or unconscious. Of this, -we shall have more to say shortly. At the moment let us trace out what -should happen to the normal child as it grows older. Education and -environment should be gradually convincing the child of the unreality -of its phantastic thoughts and of its early world, should be inducing -it to think in terms of facts and to adjust himself to these facts, -instead of attempting the impossible task of adjusting these facts to -suit his own phantastic conceptions of them. The method of thought -which he should develop in order thus to fit himself to meet the -world adequately has been conveniently termed “directive thinking.” -Directive thinking is controlled thought based upon facts seen in their -true perspective, and with a purpose in view which is both definite -and possible. It is the very opposite of phantasy thinking, which is -generally indefinite, based upon a lack of perspective, and attempts -continually to obtain the fulfilment of wishes impossible of fulfilment. - -In directive thinking, the purpose in view must be purposive to the -thinker, a change to be produced in the world, either in its happiness, -its morals, its commercial prosperity or in other forms of progress -or even of deterioration; or the purpose may be to effect changes in -the individual’s own happiness or prosperity, or it may be directed -towards a mental change in the thinker himself with no immediate idea -of changes in his external surroundings. - -Thus a man may wish to improve his own character by eradicating a bad -habit. He may do this by thinking carefully about it, by analysing the -causes of the habit, by giving himself auto-suggestion in opposition to -the habit. All this, even if the habit may not in the end be eradicated -must be classed as directive thinking. _Directive thinking is thus -obviously, controlled thinking requiring an effort of attention and -concentration as opposed to phantasy thinking which knows but little -control save that of desire, and little effort or concentration._ - -In all the business of everyday life, directive thinking must be -employed; whether we are merely using our minds to decide the most -trivial problem, such as the best way of eradicating weeds from the -garden, or whether we are deciding upon a policy to be pursued in some -great commercial or political enterprise. Every time we use our brains -in directive thinking we are establishing a habit which gradually gives -us power to produce changes in our environment and in the world in -general. Every time we indulge in phantasy thinking we encourage the -habit of living in a world of our own ideas, and we are destroying the -habit which enables us to create in reality. - -The two forms of thinking may, of course, overlap considerably. The -novelist or playwright, for instance, is very largely a phantasy -thinker. He may feel the emotions of the various phantasy characters -which he evolves, but in order to arrange the words and sentences, -and furthermore in having an idea to portray or in drawing attention -to evils which he thinks should be remedied, he is using considerable -energy in directive thought. So that it becomes obvious that directive -thought need not merely apply to the things of the immediate present -nor even the near future, and in trying to draw distinction between -the two, one is often confronted with a superficial criticism, that -certain ideas must pertain to phantasy thinking, because they can never -come to pass. That, however, is quite incorrect. The possibility that -an idea may come to fruition in two or three hundred years time, and -that the thoughts which have been given to the idea must assist its -growth and ripening, is sufficient to constitute these thoughts as -directive. - -We must now look at the second important element in the child’s early -education, which would follow logically upon the first one that it -should be made to face the facts around it; and that is, that in its -games and occupations it should be encouraged, as far as possible, to -take lines of directive thought, and not obtain its pleasures through -phantasies only. - -Thus, it would be much better to give him bricks to play with, so that -he may use directive thought in designing and building a house, than -to give him a ready-made toy, such as an engine wherewith he will -merely carry out the phantasy of being a driver or a passenger and of -travelling wheresoever he wishes. A toy wheel-barrow which he can take -into the garden and fill with real stones and earth is far better than -a doll which he will merely imagine to be something to be brought up -like himself, which he will endow with phantastic life and feelings -which are quite unreal. In fact, as far as possible, the child’s games -and occupations should involve his _doing_ something, rather than -merely imagining something. Of course, imagination and phantasy will -come into its games, and are bound to do so, but as much directive -thought as possible should be added. - -The ordinary fairy-tale should be swept from the nursery; here the -child does nothing but identify himself with the hero or heroine in -the most impossible of situations of a purely phantastic type. There -is plenty of scope for giving a child an interest in stories from the -fairy-land of science, or from the lives of famous persons in the -centuries that have passed; all of which, if properly selected and -dressed up, will assist the child’s directive thought. For though -the facts with which the stories may deal are as wonderful as any of -Grimm’s fairy-tales, _they are facts of which the child will never -have to be undeceived, and he will never have to have his faith shaken -in the stories which he has learnt_; thus the child will learn from the -outset to think directively. - -I know that many mothers, when they read this, will be inclined to -shake their heads and say to themselves, “Poor little darling, I could -never treat it so.” And that they will be inclined, as is shown very -early in this book, to say “These things cannot be true,” for they are -not the ideas they are accustomed to. Yet I can assure them that by -means of carrying out many of those actions and teachings which they -think are pleasant and harmless, they are really damning the child, -while many of these ideas which they might term cruel are really of -the greatest value and kindness to it. Moreover, experience has shown -that if diplomacy be used, the child will be as equally interested in -wonderful facts as in wonderful phantasies. The only difference is -that it is more trouble to the parent or educator to search out and -deal with facts himself. It is quite true that the child’s imagination -requires training, as part of its intellectual education. But there -is vast difference between encouraging it to imagine the possibility -of impossible things, and encouraging it to exercise its imagination -in realisation of facts, however far they may be removed from the -experience of everyday life. Many people have the idea that a child -should be encouraged to use its imagination; whereas in fact the -child’s imagination requires curbing, training, sublimating. Such -people do not realise that the early life of a child is lived almost -entirely in imagination, that it has no difficulty whatsoever in using -its imagination, and that the real difficulty is in preventing it from -using too much imagination directed into false channels and by-paths of -permanent unreality. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -IDENTIFICATION - - -We must now traverse another path through which Narcissism wanders. We -have emphasised the fact that when a child comes into the world, he is -to himself the only real thing; the rest of the world is merely seen -from his phantastic view point, and at this stage he accepts himself as -the one all-powerful centre of everything. Another important fact which -arises from this, however, we have not dealt with, and that is, that he -does not separate the outer world from himself as a separate entity. -His unconscious view point is that the world is subordinate to himself, -beneath his omnipotent control, if you like, that it is a dream of his -own imagining, that it is something which belongs to him in every sense -of the word. This, summed up, means that it is part of himself, that -his identity and the identity of the dream-world around him are part of -the same thing. - -Thus, the infant does not at first distinguish between himself and his -mother. When he is hungry, he cries, and he probably has almost as -ready access to his mother’s breasts as if they were part of his own -body. And such imagination is more than encouraged when he is allowed -the use of a rubber teat to suck in the intervals between his meals. - -It is generally a comparatively slow process through which the infant -passes, this one of separating himself in thought and feeling from -objects surrounding him. It is one which is hardly ever completely -accomplished. We have already mentioned the fairy-tale which encourages -the child’s phantasy thought. Let us now see how he really obtains -pleasure from that fairy-tale. It is by identification. In imagination -he is a fairy prince or princess, as the case may be; his pleasure in -the triumphs and progress of the central figure of the story is that -of performing his prodigious deeds by proxy; and if he thus identifies -himself with the hero of the story, he is also encouraged to believe -that he possesses the power and qualities of that hero. He is less able -to realise that he, unlike the hero, cannot perform magic deeds with a -mere wave of a wand. Indeed, when the story is over, he will probably -play at being a fairy, and in phantasy perform the magic deeds again. - -This demonstrates the force of his identification with the hero of the -story. _And it must be remembered that sooner or later the child will -have to wake up, will have to realise that it possesses no magic power, -and the struggle within it will be great._ It is obviously a mistaken -form of kindness to enhance such pleasures of the moment, when you are -merely accentuating the struggle which the child will have to make at -a later period to overcome his Narcissism. In passing, I may mention -that you have probably already done the child considerable damage by -allowing him to have his rubber teat at the beginning of this period of -identification, since he identifies it with the mother’s breast, and is -thus encouraged to think that the breast is always with him. - -Let us now see where this Narcissistic identification may come out -later in life. - -First of all, it is this which enables us to enjoy novels, just as -we enjoyed fairy-tales as children. We identify ourselves with the -hero or heroine of the book, and in phantasy perform their various -wonderful feats. Thus we satisfy our Narcissistic desire to be great -and powerful. If we lack cleverness, and the hero is clever, by -identification and imputation we may attain the pleasures of feeling -clever and superior. If the heroine is beautiful and everyone falls in -love with her, we may by proxy be the same. If the hero is a sailor, -and we have always desired to sail, yet have never been on the sea, -our ambition is now attained--and see how easily attained--in a truly -omnipotent fashion, without effort on our part, just by reading -about it. Exactly the same thing takes place at theatres, where the -Narcissist identifies himself with the actors on the stage. So far -so good; if a person can content himself with an occasional theatre -or occasional novel, wherewith to take a restful regression to an -infantile outlet of energy, no harm is done. There are times when we -must rest, and there are times when we must sleep, which also appears -to be Narcissistic regression to a condition somewhat resembling -our pre-birth state. But there are many who cannot control their -identification in this way, who cannot confine it to the stage and the -novel, who bring it into the affairs of life continuously. They may -unconsciously identify themselves with their father or mother, their -relations or friends, or even their enemies, and perhaps, in turn, with -everyone with whom they come into contact. Like a looking-glass, they -reflect everything that goes on around them. They feel the pleasures of -their friends, they also feel their pains. They are called sympathetic, -they are often ultra-sympathetic--they are a nuisance. - -I remember on one occasion I had asked a woman of strong Narcissistic -temperament to take a fly out of the corner of my eye. She absolutely -refused to do so under any consideration, as she was sure she would -hurt me too much. Inquiry showed that Narcissism had exaggerated her -own feelings, so that a speck of dust in her own eye was torture. Yet -her eye was so tender and important to herself that she could not bear -anyone to touch it even in order to get something out. _And she could -not imagine that anybody else could have feelings that differed from -hers_; and since she identified herself so much with other people, I -have no doubt it would have been a real agony to her, had she attempted -to extract the fly from my eye. - -Such people are by no means uncommon. We all know the person who cannot -bear to hurt us, even for our good. For instance, some cannot bear to -bandage a wound for us since they cannot bear to see pain in any form. -They state that it is almost as if they felt it themselves, and they -call themselves “sympathetic.” But in spite of popular belief to the -contrary, such sympathy is not a virtue, there is nothing altruistic -about it; it is an inconvenient fault of an entirely selfish kind. In -order to help one’s friend, one does not need to feel his feelings and -suffer his pains, one wants to understand them; the more one enters -into his feelings, the more one’s judgment is biased, and the less one -is able, as a rule, to be of assistance. Worse still, in connection -with these people, they not only pour out sympathy in this way, -but attribute it to themselves as a virtue, and they cannot bring -themselves to believe their friends to be really good, unless their -friends also can react in a similar way towards them. They call a -normal person unsympathetic, perhaps exaggerate the term and call him -brutal, wishing indeed that their friends who have climbed higher from -Narcissism should regress to their lower stand-point. - -I have given here but one type of Narcissistic identification with -other persons; it seems to me unnecessary to carry it further since -any reader who chooses to think the matter out for himself will find -endless modifications of such identifications. We all possess it in -part, and on the whole women are more Narcissistic than men. Let it -not be thought, however, that this is a reflection on women; it is a -reflection on the way they have been brought up, for from the earliest -times environment impresses them with the idea that “little boys are -made of slugs and snails and puppy-dogs’ tails, and little girls are -made of sugar and spice and all things nice!” And hence on such lines -as these, their Narcissism is encouraged, and their capabilities of -facing fact and reality discouraged from the very outset, until -differences of temperament are produced in the adults of the two sexes, -which in no way belong to Nature, but purely to our conventional and -somewhat barbaric stand-point. - -There are yet more important results of Narcissistic identification -than those already mentioned; Narcissism leads, in many instances, to -the choice of a particular love-object. Narcissism is, of course, by no -means the only or chief factor in the choice of love-objects, as anyone -who has studied psycho-analysis will at once realise. It is, however, -the only one I intend to touch on in this particular work. - -Just as the mythical Narcissus himself fell in love with his -reflection, so does his prototype of to-day. An infant is not only -the omnipotent centre of all, he is also the only interesting portion -of the universe in his early days. His interests are entirely -self-centred, and his joys and pleasures belong to himself alone; and -as he grows older, everything that is like him is identified with -himself. In the worst form of Narcissism in the adult, the individual -remains entirely selfish, and is incapable of loving anybody outside -himself at all. - -_By identification, however, he can love in a sense those attributes of -his own personality which he sees in other persons._ Thus, he may love -somebody for a facial similarity, for a voice which is like his, or for -tastes which are like his own, but most commonly he loves them for a -body like his own. And from this we see that he may fall in love with -somebody of his own sex. Hence, homo-sexuality,[5] as it is called, -is frequently one of the distressing results of an early Narcissistic -upbringing. But it need not be necessary for such homo-sexuality to -be of a grossly erotic type; such desires may be for the most part -repressed in the unconscious, or appear only in minor ways such as -the desire to kiss, fondle or touch favoured persons of the same sex. -On the other hand, frequently the early education and environment of -the Narcissistic person has been such as to leave him quite incapable -of complete repression; and we then have expressed more or less -open erotic desires and actions for persons of the same sex. Such -persons, however, should not be treated as criminals in this particular -matter; they are by this time as hopelessly incompetent to deal with -themselves, as is the kleptomaniac or a person having any other form -of so-called degenerate mentality. Here again, we see the reason why -homo-sexuality is so much more rife amongst women than amongst men. The -minor details of their early environment tend so much more to confirm -them in Narcissism. It is partially repressed and partially displaced -homo-sexuality which causes some women to kiss one another, to call one -another by affectionate names and so forth, to delight in taking hold -of one another’s hands on occasion; actions which normally, between -persons of opposite sex, would at once be taken to indicate some sort -of erotic affection, but which we are so used to seeing amongst women -that we do not realise their repressed and unconscious significance. - -Let it not be thought, however, that this subject of homo-sexuality is -based on this one simple problem; there are many other early infantile -fixations, which play a very large part in causing persons to become -homo-sexual. I only mention this one Narcissistic complex as being -another example of how identification takes place as one of the chief -results of the Narcissistic temperament, and to what lengths such -identification may, on occasion, lead. Of course, all degrees of such -identifications may be met with, and it is quite common to find persons -who can love hetero-sexually as well as homo-sexually; that is to say, -who can love persons of the opposite sex in the usual way, as well as -persons of their own sex. But such people, even in their hetero-sexual -love, tend to choose a love-object which resembles themselves in some -manner or the other. However, a certain amount of Narcissism (which -fortunately everyone still possesses), may be of value in this way, -for it is certainly good for a man and woman to have similar interests -when they marry; it is excessive Narcissism, excessive identification, -excessive sympathy, which is deleterious, just as in other -manifestations of Narcissism, with which we are going to deal shortly, -it is excessive impatience, excessive anger, excessive tears which are -really harmful, and lead to the greatest unhappiness. Although perhaps -in these latter instances, to be without impatience, anger, or tears -would be better still. - -Thirdly, there is yet another method of Narcissistic identification. -Just as a child identifies itself with its living surroundings, so -does it identify itself with its inanimate surroundings. As its mother -and nurse are treated as part of it in the early stages, so also are -its rubber teat, feeding bottle and toys treated. If you take away -the baby’s rattle, it will cry or stamp or weep with as much vigour -and display of emotion as if you had caused it bodily pain by means -of rigorous physical punishment. You have in fact taken away part -of itself from the little omnipotent person. In later stages in his -career, if his Narcissism has been allowed to remain, the adult will -still identify himself with his belongings. He will be absurdly upset -at the breaking of a tea-cup which belongs to him, at the theft of -some jewelry, at damage done to his clothing or property in some way, -however trifling. He cannot realise that these things which belong to -him are more or less unimportant trifles, which can be replaced, or -if they cannot be replaced, can be equally well done without, if he -has attained that philosophical attitude of mind which belongs to the -person who has thrown off this uncomfortable spirit of Narcissistic -identification. Moreover, the Narcissist who thinks himself to be the -best and most important of beings, will attach similar importance to -his property. If he drives an inferior motor-car, which breaks down on -every journey he makes, he will excuse it in all sorts of irrational -ways, he will praise it on every possible occasion as “the best car -on the market,” and what seems more absurd still, he will very likely -think it the best car on the market. It is the same with his house, -his books, with his relations, with everything that is even distantly -connected with him. He will speak in high praise of them all, and be -anxious, at all times, to show them off, and to uphold their virtues -to all comers. The Narcissist, indeed, rationalises about things in -general considerably more than most people. The fuller meaning of -rationalization and its methods of working, however, we shall leave -till later on. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[5] Homo-sexuality--sensual love for a person of the same sex as -oneself. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE IRRITABLE TEMPERAMENT - - -Irritability is not merely that quality in a person which makes his -friends carefully guard their every word, lest inadvertently they -should cause an outburst of temper, in its fullest sense it means -over-sensitiveness to unpleasant stimuli, followed by over-reaction of -any kind whatsoever. Thus, if a person by accident damage his clothing, -his over-sensitiveness and over-reaction might result in an oath, in -abusing the nail which tore his clothing or in abusing the workman who -put the nail in place originally. It might again result in a feeling of -depression, with anger displaced on to anyone who was present during -the next hour, on the smallest pretext; or in an over-sensitive woman, -it might result in an outburst of tears, or perhaps merely in volubly -deploring the accident for half-an-hour with the next visitor who -called; or she might merely “worry” about it, and keep turning the -memory of it over and over in her mind, refusing to allow the fact to -separate itself from her fancy. - -All these various results, with many others which may be imagined, -can be gathered together under the one term “irritability,” or the -term “over-sensitiveness” would do equally well. This irritability or -over-sensitiveness may apply to material things or to purely mental -ones. Narcissism may lead to an irritability of the body, and again it -may lead to irritability merely of the mind. When Narcissism leads to -an extremely sensitive body, it reacts to pain of every sort, however -mild, as though it were acute. The omnipotent mind cannot bear to have -its body disturbed. I gave an example a short while back of the lady -who could not take a fly out of my eye, because her own eyes were so -sensitive. Not only was this particular lady sensitive as regards her -eyes, but at that period she was as afraid of the dentist touching a -tooth as if it had been a serious abdominal operation. Pain of any sort -or even slight accidents involving practically no pain, were reacted -to as though they had been overwhelming misfortunes. Here we had -an excellent example of one in whom Narcissism had produced extreme -irritability of a physical nature.[6] - -On the other hand, one finds a mental sensitivity equally pronounced. -People who are always in fear lest somebody should find fault with -them, with their mode of behaviour, with their manner of dress, even -with their habit of thought. Unconsciously, to themselves they are the -acme of perfection, they are the centre of importance, and they are -inclined to think that people are paying very much more attention to -them than is actually the case. They may consciously realise that they -are not important at all, that other people do not give them a thought; -but their unconscious Narcissism will not accept this slight upon their -importance, and they remain miserably self-conscious in all their acts, -reacting with exaggerated feeling whenever some slight criticism of -their thoughts and actions appear even to be implied. - -Pride, vanity, and self importance are other manifestations of this -temperament. The person who feels slighted, or whose feelings are hurt -when other persons think too little of his opinions, or pay too little -attention to his actions, or, in fact, whose feelings are hurt easily -by anything whatsoever, is for the most part a Narcissist, in whom once -again the infantile omnipotence has been disturbed. - -Jealousy very often represents the Narcissistic idea. The -“dog-in-the-manger” attitude, which finding it cannot possess for -itself, cannot bear anybody else to possess, is largely the attitude -of unconscious phantasy, in which the individual cannot relinquish the -idea that somehow he will succeed by means of his omnipotent mind in -possessing the desired object, and his unconscious mind retains this -idea so long as the object has not become the property of somebody else -in such a definite and irrefutable manner as to prove in spite of his -unconscious phantasy that he cannot possibly possess it himself. - -The “dog-in-the-manger” attitude is one which simply refuses to -recognise the impossibility of possessing something, although the -desire for possession in any particular case may unconsciously mean -nothing except the desire to prove to oneself one’s own omnipotence. -And many a case of jealousy in love-affairs is nothing but this -unconscious desire to prove to oneself the possession of power; it is -the hatred of acknowledging the fact that one has not control where -one desires to have it most. Curious as it may seem jealousy is bred -mostly out of self-love rather than out of love for the other person, -although, of course, except in extreme cases, love for the other person -may also exist. - -The reaction which takes place whenever the Narcissistic element -is hurt, almost always takes the form of a regression. It will be -remembered that a regression implies a return to an infantile method -of expression. The Narcissist unfailingly hopes, in his unconscious -that his omnipotence will enable him to avoid an unpleasant fact, and -to controvert it magically. He therefore falls back on those acts of -infancy, which he found useful at that early period of his life as -magical means of attaining his ends. Let us assume, for example, that -our Narcissist has entered quietly into an argument with a friend, with -full faith in himself and his argument that he will convert his friend -to his own point of view. He finds, however, that he is getting the -worst of the argument. This is unbelievable to him, he cannot realise -it; his friend must be pig-headed. Rapidly his unconscious mind says to -itself, “What methods did I employ in my childhood, what magic formula -did I use then to obtain what I wished?” “Ah!” says the unconscious, “I -remember; I used abusive terms to my nurse, and the dear thing did what -I wanted at once.” Very soon he is using abusive terms to his friend, -who, however does not later on remark, “Oh! that man is a Narcissist.” -He merely says, “You know, So-and-So never can keep his temper in an -argument.” And the poor Narcissist all the time feels and thinks that -he has been hardly dealt with, that people do not understand him, that -they deliberately will not follow his arguments. - -Of course, the last is very likely to be right, for in argument there -is generally more rationalization than there is about most things in -life. Nevertheless, the fact remains that it is not really important -that his friend should understand either him or his argument as a -rule, and if he were not Narcissistic he would not over-react to this -stimulus. - -Other methods of reaction in a like manner are all regressions to -infancy. Some Narcissists, when they ask their unconscious memory, -“What magic did I employ as a child?” find that it was the magic of -words, and they use expletives of various kinds, which correspond -in every way to the magic words which a conjuror whispers over his -tricks when he performs the apparently impossible. Others remember in -their unconscious mind that they wept copiously, that when they wept -the feeding bottle was returned to their lips, or the toy to their -hands. Others go back a stage further. They withdraw in to themselves, -they refuse to speak, or they say, “I am so upset, I must go and lie -down.” They attempt to return, in fact, to the condition of isolation -and rest, if not of pre-birth, at least of that period immediately -following birth, when if they cried, they were rocked and crooned over -and put to sleep. - -Another form of regression largely due to Narcissism is that of -alcoholism. Here again, there are other causes at work in the -unconscious, but Narcissism is one of the most important of them. -The Narcissist does not like real responsibility; he certainly -thinks that he is always desiring responsible posts and positions, -but this is merely because to hold a responsible position or to have -responsibility signifies importance and power. As a matter of fact, -when responsibility is thrust upon him, he often has a strong tendency -to avoid it, because responsibility entails dealing with facts as -they are, and not with phantasies; and the responsibility which the -Narcissist seeks is largely that of phantasy. In spite, therefore, of -his statements to the contrary, we know that he wishes to run away from -responsible positions, and alcohol has a peculiar power of enabling -one to forget the responsibilities of the moment, and at the same time -to give one a feeling of potency and well-being. Consequently, when -the Narcissist comes up against an unpleasant fact, a responsibility -which he does not wish to take, anything in fact which disturbs his -sense of well-being, alcohol serves the purpose of allowing regression -to infancy. It returns him very swiftly to that early period when he -had no responsibility, when he need take no thought of the facts around -him, when he had a sense of well-being and omnipotence. This potency -is increased by the fact that it also removes, simultaneously, other -repressions, that is, it allows other forms of infantile energy to be -expressed without conscious criticism or hindrance. - -Exactly the same thing may be said of drug-taking. The drug-taker is -simply habitually seeking something to remove his responsibilities, to -lead him away from his conflicts which he does not wish to face, away -from the world of reality into an infantile world, where whatever his -surroundings, whatever the facts that exist, he is able to ignore them, -and feel himself in phantasy their master. - -But the curious thing about all these regressions is that, in a sense, -they serve to satisfy the individual. They comfort him with the -unconscious assurance at the moment they are performed, that all will, -somehow, be well, that these reactions will somehow bring about the -desired end, that the abuse will succeed where the argument did not, -that the tears will somehow perform their magic act, that a rest in bed -will bring about new life, and that the new life will succeed where the -old life failed. - -Never does the Narcissist realise facts as they are, deal with them as -facts, see them in their proper proportions, and leave them alone when -he cannot use them. - -Impatience of a different kind is also one of the common reactions. A -man may go into a restaurant; he finds it is full, and quite naturally -he is kept waiting a few minutes before the busy waiter can bring him -the menu. He refuses to recognise the fact that he is only one of a -hundred persons present, that the restaurant has to be run at a profit -to the proprietor, that innumerable waiters cannot therefore be kept -to serve his high omnipotence; he frets with impatience and he cannot -resign himself to the inevitable waiting. He will not understand that -_time_ is one of the factors over which he has no power. In fact, -this difficulty to realise the _factor of time_ is an extremely common -one with Narcissists. No sooner has a project entered their heads than -they expect to see it fulfilled. Such fulfilment can only take place in -phantasy, just as they did indeed attain their wishes in childhood. As -children they could instantaneously create a chariot and horses from an -arm-chair with complete neglect of the time-factor, and now as adults, -they hope instantaneously to create an omelet without waiting for it to -be cooked, to create a business or a character, or fame or happiness -in the same instantaneous way, without reference to time. They are -quite unable to see, completely and wholly, any difference between the -phantasy of childhood and facts of adult life; and one of the most -essential differences between the two is this _time factor_. - -It takes minutes for an omelet to be cooked, it takes years for a -business to be created, it takes a lifetime for a character to be -formed, fame they may never attain, but happiness lies within their -grasp at once, if only they could relinquish their Narcissism. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[6] It may be of interest to readers to know that this physical -over-sensitiveness has very largely disappeared from this particular -lady as the result of partial psycho-analysis. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -RATIONALIZATION - - -Having now briefly sketched the birth and some of the possible -developments of Narcissism, it may be well to revert to the subject -of rationalization, on which I have already touched briefly, before I -deal with some of the methods with which we may combat our Narcissistic -tendencies. The reason for reverting here to rationalization is this. -Already I know that there are few readers who will not have discovered -some material in this book which will have touched a tender spot in -themselves. And since we know that the great effort of Narcissism is -to cover up those tender spots, and to deceive ourselves in thinking -that either they are not there, or better still, that they are virtues -and really particularly healthy spots, it is as well to examine these -tendencies and observe one of the chief methods by which we do produce -such disguises successfully. Of these methods of disguise, our greatest -comforter, yet our worst enemy, is rationalization. The term means -“_finding apparently adequate reasons for things_.” - -One of the qualities which we highly cultured animals possess is that -of reason. We have discovered that logic is one of the essential -factors of law and order, and that the highest form of intellect -possesses reason in a large measure. Among our gods, the god of reason -and logic stands high, and our very Narcissism will not permit us to -do and accept things which are contrary to logical reasoning. For that -means in the first place, that they are contrary to what we have been -taught to revere highly as a good quality, and yet more still it means -that they are contrary to the magic of WORDS, for logic means words; -logic is words which follow one another in irrefutable sequence. And -we have already learnt that _the infant has early associated words and -sounds with magic, since by the persistent use of these he has got what -he wanted_. So that doubly are logic and reason revered. - -Now, the unhappy thing about life is that we are continually wishing -to do things or feel things or believe things which do not follow -logically upon other things which we have also had to feel or think or -believe at some time. Some of our wishes are logically incompatible -with other of our wishes. More over, we very often do not wish to -believe or think things which do follow logically on actual facts which -have gone before. How are we then, as reasonable people, to deal with -the situation? By rationalization, by finding a reason which suits our -purpose; and this can only be done, as a rule, by leaving out some -important factor, by ignoring some truth, and by arguing from false -premises. We do not do this consciously, that would be unworthy. Our -unconscious censor manages to delete from consciousness the unpleasant -truth, as we have already pointed out, and brings forth an array of -facts which appear irrefutable, and he succeeds in giving us most -plausible reasons so that we may believe that which is most convenient -to us. - -Let us consider for a moment such a subject as religion. The Roman -Catholic will adduce evidences of various kinds to show that his is -the only right and proper form of religion to be accepted by any -intellectual person. The Baptist will likewise do the same, and will -probably hold that Papal institutions, in many instances, spring not -from Heaven but from Hell. If you discuss it with either of them, you -may be flooded with reasons, logical evidences of the correctness of -their views. Obviously, they cannot both be right in so exclusive a -manner, and a very little insight will show that the reasons they -adduce have really very little to do with their beliefs, although they -think they have. Reverence for their parents, early environment, and -other factors of this kind, have really induced their present beliefs, -but these would not appear to them as logical reasons and so they -select others. - -So it is with any unpleasant theory which comes into being. At the -time of Darwin, a large number of facts were discovered which led -unbiassed persons to believe in the theory of evolution. This appeared -contrary to many religious beliefs, and the general public did not -want to accept such a theory. They could not, however, shut their -eyes to facts; what were they to do? By carefully leaving out some of -the facts, and introducing speculative material, which they called -facts, but which were not facts, they succeeded in producing excellent -reasons, or what seemed excellent reasons to them, for refuting the -theory of evolution and retaining their old beliefs. In other words, -they went through a process of rationalization. - -The same thing was taking place a few years ago with reference to -psycho-analysis. People did not like their omnipotent feelings -disturbed, did not like to find that the superior bricks of which -their edifice had been built were originally made from clay, and they -found excellent reasons for not believing it. This, fortunately for -progress, is gradually passing away, just as the opposition to the idea -of the evolution of the body passed away. But rationalization is a -process which has been and is still going on continuously. When Harvey -discovered the circulation of the blood, when Galileo discovered that -the earth went round the sun, when psycho-analysts discovered that -much which mothers thought kind was really cruel, and when you read a -book which tends to point out that some of your cherished virtues may -possibly be faults, the same tendency is at work. Your mind sorts out -some of the reasons, refuses to look at others of them, and by such -careful selection, by this unconscious process of rationalization, -supports your belief in yourself, holds fast to that which has been, -and attempts continuously to prevent further changes and disturbances. -This rationalization, however, is much more widely distributed than -I have so far indicated; in order that one fact may be justified by -reason, all the lesser facts which come before it must be similarly -justified, until even into the trivial details of everyday life the -leaven of rationalization has penetrated. Examples of it may be seen -every day in the newspapers, in politics, in even trifling arguments. -Take for instance the subject of woman’s suffrage. One half of the -country produced irrefutable arguments to prove how bad it was, the -other half to prove how good it was. In both cases, the arguments were -but straws in the wind, they were quite unnecessary, they were only -rationalization. Long before the argument on either side came into -being, the feelings were there, the desires were there; and desires -must somehow be proved right with the magic of words, before we feel at -liberty to fulfil them. In neither case in this argument was the root -of the matter touched. If some philosopher had come forward and said, -“The first question we have to ask before thinking about suffrage, -is should a woman wear a skirt?” or some such similar fundamental -question, it would probably have been said that it had nothing to -do with matter, and yet this question of _artificial_ difference -between the sexes is really fundamental to the whole subject. But the -rationalist will find that he will not meet me in this statement. The -woman who wishes to retain certain privileges, and yet accept certain -other privileges, will at once find reasons why she should wear a skirt -and yet have the vote. She will tell me all sorts of things about her -physical disabilities, things which she believes to be fundamental -truths, many of which, in fact, are fundamentally wrong, but accepted -as truths because they lead to rationalization being able to support -her wishes. - -In a similar way, on the much discussed subject of “prohibition” the -prohibitionist will rationalise on a certain few facts, in order to -support his emotions and desires. A moderate drinker will do exactly -the same, in the opposite direction. Neither of them will have the -courage to ignore his personal feelings, nor may he have the power -to do so, and to take all the facts into consideration and come to a -conclusion, irrespective of his wishes on the subject.[7] - -Of course, one of the other difficulties in the way of coming to -correct conclusions in all these things is that people will insist on -arguing upon subjects, when the amount of real scientific knowledge -they have on the subjects is extremely small. The newspaper editor will -quote a few popular facts, in order to support some theory of his own, -having but a limited knowledge of psychology, physiology, anatomy, or -of some other science which has considerable bearing on the subject, -he will end by producing a series of conclusions probably entirely -wrong. This, of course, is inevitable in our limited circumstances; -but it should not be equally inevitable that we should hold firmly -to our beliefs, when we realise how limited is our knowledge of -any one subject. And in order to examine facts and to get rid of -rationalization as far as possible, we must try, with the utmost power -at our command to refuse that reaction of self-defence and self-pride, -which prevents us from looking at ourselves and from realising that -most of our opinions about ourselves may be completely erroneous. We -must be prepared to accept temporary, not fixed, judgments, based -upon the evidence which we have. We must be prepared to reverse those -judgments in the light of new evidence. We must be careful not to -reject this evidence merely because we do not like it. - -It will now be seen how very necessary it is, in dealing with -Narcissism in particular, to understand something of rationalization, -so that we may be on our guard in examining ourselves, against -allowing this to play too great a part in our conclusions. Otherwise, -with all the goodwill in the world, we may never succeed in making -any improvement whatsoever, in ourselves. The greatest scientists -themselves have been amongst those who realised this. - -It was Darwin who wrote, as we have quoted in the earlier part of this -book, “I had, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that -whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across -me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of -it without fail and at once, for I had found by experience that such -facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory than -favourable ones.” - -And it was the great scientist, Helmholtz, who said, “It is better to -be in actual doubt, than to rock oneself in dogmatic ignorance.” - -FOOTNOTE: - -[7] Of course this does not imply that no one is ever capable of -putting his conscious feelings on one side, and examining a subject -in spite of pre-conceived ideas and desires, but that this is the -exception rather than the rule. - - - -PART II - -PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS - - - - -CHAPTER X - -SELF ANALYSIS - - -In attempting to cure ourselves of hyper-Narcissistic characteristics, -there are several lines of treatment which may be followed, some of -which depend upon the particular manifestation of Narcissism with -which we have to deal. One, however, which should be followed in -every case, we borrow from the methods of psycho-analysis. We cannot -call it psycho-analysis because the technique employed by an amateur -in examining himself must be vastly different from the technique -employed by a psycho-analyst in dealing with his patient. But it is a -modification of one detail of the technique of psycho-analysis which, -if properly applied, may have far-reaching results. It is on the lines -of that phenomenon which is known generally as ab-reaction, and is as -follows. - -When an individual has come to the conclusion that he is suffering from -some characteristic of Narcissistic nature, which he would rather -be without, he should, first of all, carefully call to mind, and if -possible make historical notes of the situations which stimulate the -particular temperamental reaction to which he objects. If he can, he -should go further than this, and recall as many as possible of the -actual situations of recent date, when this particular reaction has -been called forth. - -If he have an ungovernable temper, for example, he should, in detail, -go first into the type of situations which call forth that temper, and -secondly, he should revise in detail the recent occasions upon which he -has lost his temper, and thirdly, _he should attempt to find out the -particular moment, the particular words, the particular occasion which -first began to stir feelings of temper within him before he actually -began to show violent manifestations of it_. - -Having all these things set forth satisfactorily, it would be well -if he spent half-an-hour every day, for a considerable period, in -performing the next part of the treatment. He should go into a room -by himself, where he will not be disturbed, recline on a couch or -a comfortable chair, and allow his mind to drift backwards, year by -year, remembering as far as possible, every instance on which the -unfavourable symptom has been called forth. He will find that if he -does not concentrate too hard, but merely keeps in mind the various -causes of his temper and recent manifestations of it, other times -and instances will come into his mind unbidden. He will, in fact, be -surprised at the amount of detail which he can remember concerning -the matter. Things which he had not thought of for years, happenings -which he had passed over as trivial, will come into his mind, and be -found to have stimulated, in some way or the other, the ill-temper (or -other Narcissistic trouble) which he is endeavouring to get rid of. He -must take himself, as far as possible, right into childhood. He will -not necessarily of course, go back as far as this on the first few -occasions, but after he has been at work on himself in this way for -some days, he should have no trouble whatever in beginning to recall -some of the infantile occasions upon which his Narcissism called forth -temper. - -In all the instances which he brings up into his conscious mind, he -should write down and study not only the facts remembered, but also the -emotions which he felt. These he should examine from every possible -point of view, and see what Narcissistic element appears to be present -in them. Many memories will come into his mind of an infantile nature -which do not express the particular symptom from which he now suffers, -but will obviously have some bearing on it. These he should examine in -the same way, because it is important for him to get into his conscious -mind as much as possible of the various occasions in his life on which -Narcissism acted, when he was not conscious of it. Not only must he -see how these various occasions were exhibitions of Narcissism, but he -must try and trace them back, and must compare them with his typical -infantile methods of expression. These may be represented by shouting, -crying, stamping, weeping or any other infantile manifestations -of those omnipotent phantasies which now seem to him to be the -starting-point of his more recent expression of them. He has, in fact, -to lay bare before himself, as much as possible of his previously -unconscious Narcissistic life; its beginnings, its evolution, and its -ultimate form. This making conscious of what was previously unconscious -or but partly conscious, is, in itself, a most potent factor in -improvement, if he will have the patience to steadily persevere and to -go over daily, for a considerable period, the material he has brought -to the surface. If he does not do this regularly, it is liable to sink -back, and become once again an unconscious factor and a determinant to -his actions over which he has no control. - -This bringing into consciousness the unconscious causes and motives -under-lying behaviour is, in psycho-analysis, one of the powerful -factors at work producing cures of neurotic obsessions and so forth, -and it is equally potent with the minor temperamental abnormalities -with which we are dealing here. For it means that previous mental -conflicts which were either wholly or partially unconscious, are now -rendered conscious habitually; and a conscious conflict, or rather a -conflict in which the forces at work become conscious, is far easier -to direct than one in which the very forces themselves are hidden and -unknown. Let us take a more material example for comparison. Suppose an -officer to be in command of a company of soldiers out in the desert, -and attacked on a dark night by savages. It might very well be that he -was well armed, that his machine guns were efficient, but that he would -be quite overwhelmed because he could neither see the savages nor know -their numbers, their whereabouts nor their armaments. But supposing -that the War Office had thoughtfully equipped him with one or two good -search-lights, which he could direct upon the savages so that the -number of savages, their armaments, position, and so forth, could be -brought into his consciousness, he would be in a far better position, -for he could direct his machine-guns at the threatened points, instead -of being forced to fire them wildly and as likely as not miss his -targets altogether. - -Exactly the same happens with these manifold feelings to which I -have just been referring. The more one can see of them, their -histories, their evolution, their beginnings, the more one holds them -in consciousness, the easier does the conflict between good and evil -become in the individual. Again, this method of self-help which I have -given here, differs considerably from that pursued in psycho-analysis, -in that it is following up only one unconscious factor, albeit, one -of the most important factors; but in psycho-analysis we follow up in -turn all the unconscious forces at work, great and small, and in any -temperamental abnormality there are certainly many more unconscious -factors than Narcissism concerned, although Narcissism may be the -predominant one. Thus, for instance, alcoholism, though always -possessing a Narcissistic element, frequently has other determinants -present of an exceptionally strong[8] nature. So that while an -analysis of Narcissism only, may be of the greatest value in some -cases, in others, where Narcissism does not occupy so great a field, -the other unconscious factors are too potent to allow much benefit to -accrue from a partial self-analysis of this kind. - -In drug-taking, however, there is a slight difference from alcoholism, -for, as a rule, Narcissism is nearly always the essential factor. It -will be understood that Narcissism links itself to almost any other -characteristic, influencing it for the worse by fixing it more deeply, -and holding it back from becoming conscious more strongly than would -otherwise be the case. - -The patient will find himself, during this self-examination, repeatedly -trying to excuse himself. He will find himself saying, “I remember on -such an such an occasion losing my temper, but on that occasion I was -perfectly justified.” Or in another instance, he may say, “I remember -weeping (or I remember being depressed or angry, or impatient), but -circumstances then existed which seem to me proper occasions for such a -manifestation to have taken place.” - -Let me emphasise at the outset, that any such excuses will be -rationalizing; that he must say to himself, “Whether they appear normal -or abnormal, according to accepted standards, those occurrences most -certainly had their Narcissistic factor.” For it must be understood -that although there are many occasions when impatience or weeping may -be looked upon, conventionally, as normal occurrences, that is only -because everybody possesses certain imperfections due to Narcissism; -and if one is going to attempt to improve one’s temperament in this -way, every occasion must be examined without excuse or rationalization, -otherwise the individual who is thus at work upon himself will only -succeed in defeating himself to his own detriment, by putting up -a resistance to his cure or improvement. And, indeed, one of the -important factors in this work, just as in psycho-analysis itself, is -the factor which comes into play in overcoming these resistances of -seeing ourselves as we are, of seeing the evolution and beginnings of -our temperament as it really was. - -This is bound to reveal in all of us without exception much that is -unpleasant, and that we would rather not see. Resistance to seeing such -material is inevitable, if the examination is sufficiently thorough. If -no resistance has to be overcome, the individual may be certain that he -is shirking the facts. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[8] Alcoholism is further complicated by the fact that a habit of -_physical_ craving is formed, which as a rule cannot be overcome -by mental treatment alone. This craving, fortunately, can now be -eradicated by medicinal means. Indeed, patients of mine have been cured -of all desire for alcohol in about one week as a rule. The patient -is then in somewhat the same condition as a man who has never tasted -alcohol, and he will have no craving for alcohol thereafter, unless he -deliberately drinks it again. Herein, however, we see the importance of -the psychic factor, for should the cured alcoholic begin again to take -alcohol, either because he thinks that he has attained self control -and can do so, or because he finds abstinence difficult on social -grounds, he will almost inevitably regress to his old condition of -uncontrolled desire, no matter how long has elapsed since he was cured -of it. _The same causes which originally led him to excess, viz., his -mental complexes, are still present and again produce similar results._ -Of course, a very large proportion of those who have been cured by -medicinal treatment do not relapse, because they have sufficient common -sense not to experiment with themselves. In the other cases, however, -the only hope of a permanent cure consists in following up the physical -treatment with mental treatment, i.e., analysis. - -On the other hand, in most cases of drug taking a medicinal cure is -generally sufficient, for there is no “social urge” to taking drugs as -there is in the case of alcohol, and once the craving has been cured, -the tendency to experiment again is the exception rather than the rule. -But even here it is found that any indulgence in the drug, however -slight, will again produce in the individual his old craving. _He has -found a previous path of narcissistic regression and will inevitably -follow it, for though the craving had been eradicated the complexes -remain._ There are many potential alcoholics and potential drug-takers -in the world, but they will never know it unless unfortunate chance -induces them to open that particular channel of regression. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -READJUSTMENT OF OBJECTIVES - - -In the last chapter we described a process of self-assistance of -the kind which should be applied by any person, to any Narcissistic -manifestation he may desire to improve. In the present chapter we are -going to deal with a method of treatment which is by no means necessary -in all cases, but is very necessary in a large proportion of them. - -We must bear in mind that the Narcissist’s inability to realise -distinctly the difference between phantasy and fact will often lead -him to suppose possible that which is impossible in the ordinary -affairs of everyday life, and to ignore difficulties which may really -be insuperable, which stand in the way of his aims and projects. He -will thus be continually finding himself at a disadvantage, continually -failing, from apparently trivial reasons, to accomplish an end, and -as a result he may become depressed, nervous, worried, and subject -to that lassitude accompanied by headaches, which so frequently comes -to the Narcissist when he struggles unavailingly with the ordinary -aims and tasks of everyday life. Moreover, not only does he fail to -recognise the difficulties in the way of any particular task, but he -fails to recognise the fact that two projects which he has in his mind -may be incompatible with one another; or he fails to recognise that -great “_Time-factor_,” which I have mentioned before, and tries to -condense more work and more visible results into a given period than is -humanly possible. - -This type of Narcissist is always considerably addicted to day-dreams, -with which, however, we shall deal in a further chapter. For the -present, we are going to restrict ourselves to the question of -arranging his aims and wishes on a sound and possible basis. In the -first place, let it be understood that although the method of treatment -so far carried out may have made clear to the patient the origin and -development of his phantasy thought and phantastic aims, there yet -remains the breaking of the habit, and this is rendered far more easy -if we attempt to substitute another habit of a different nature. Let -us further impress upon him the fact that a frequent examination of -his aims in a directive manner by the method about to be discussed is -in itself an exercise in directive thinking, helping to form a habit -opposed to a former habit of phantasy thinking. And, lastly, let it be -remembered that Narcissists are generally very averse from making real -personal sacrifices which have no glamour attached to them; that they -object to adapting themselves to reality which may be unpleasant, and -that by the method I am about to describe, they will have to deal in -trivial things, and the conscious adjustment which they will thus make -towards reality will gradually become habitual. - -What we are attempting to do now is to substitute directive thought -and directive aims, aims possible of attainment, for phantasy thoughts -and impossible aims. Most people will find on self-examination that -their aims are by no means clearly defined; they have an object in -life, but it is vague in outline, and ill-defined; it is often only -a question of getting somehow through life, with enough food to eat, -and sufficient phantasy thought to keep them from boredom. This again, -is especially the case with some women, whose household duties require -but little directive thought, since they are daily repetitions of the -same thing. Dusting a room is a habit which becomes pleasanter if -accompanied by phantasy thinking; whereas, had that woman some definite -aim, apart from the habit of house-cleaning, it would be possible to -accompany the room-dusting with directive thought which revolved round -the aim in question, and this would very much add to the pleasure and -efficiency of the individual’s life. If a person, on self-examination, -finds that his aims are not clearly defined, or are in conflict with -one another, or, on the other hand, that his aims or thoughts are in -part phantasy and impossible of fulfilment, that person should at once -deliberately remould and re-state his aims, so that they become: - -(a) clearly defined, - -(b) clearly possible. - -Moreover, the aims should be of two kinds: - -(1) immediate, - -(2) remote. - -The remote aim is the ideal for which he is striving; and however high -that ideal be, it should be of a kind possible of fulfilment, not -necessarily in the lifetime of the individual, in all cases, for he may -be working for something of which he does not expect fulfilment for -even hundreds of years, yet it may be perfectly legitimately termed a -real aim, as opposed to a phantastic one. - -_Now, the first thing which the individual should bear in mind is that -an immediate aim should always be in harmony with the remote aim._ Let -it also be borne in mind that when we state that the aim should be -clearly possible, we do not only mean that the aims should be possible -from a point of view of external environment and circumstances, but -also having regard to the patient’s own intelligence, will-power, -education, and physical health--in other words possible in the case of -this particular individual. - -Now let us consider in detail the further course to be pursued by the -person who proposes to treat himself on these lines. Let him take -pencil and paper and write out in the fullest of details a list of -his aims, great and small, in the first place, without any reference -to their bearing upon one another, or any attempt at classification, -keeping in mind that by aims in life, we mean wishes which he hopes -will be fulfilled. Let him think of every conceivable wish in his mind, -and write it down, whether phantastic in nature, or trivial, or whether -both possible and important. - -In the next place, let him see that this list is written so clearly -and accurately, that each of the aims is well defined and without -ambiguity. Now let him run through the list again, and see whether -any of the aims are in conflict with one another, and whether any of -them are inconsistent from the view point of his, and are therefore -impossible of fulfilment. Let him put his pencil definitely through -such impossible aims, and cut them out of his life, with as full a -realisation as possible of the fact that they are nothing but dreams, -that he need never consider them again, that he must not regret them, -for that is mere infantile crying after the impossible. He must -replace them in due course with others possible of fulfilment. - -Now let him take the revised list and separate it into two divisions, -writing the aims down again under the two headings, (1) immediate aims, -and (2) remote aims. Here, he will have to bear in mind one of his -chief faults, if he be strongly Narcissistic. Such persons in their -phantasy carry their aims to completion long before reality can permit -of it. The time-factor is not realised, and hence they have a great -tendency to confuse remote aims with the immediate aims, in their -desire to see immediate results; hence, also, because they cannot soon -see such results, they give way to despair, become depressed, and have -the tendency to regress to the infantile characteristics to which I -have already referred. Here lies the importance of dividing the aims -into immediate and remote. For as soon as the individual’s mind has -grasped the fact that an aim is necessarily remote, and therefore -impossible of immediate fulfilment, he is much more able to adjust -himself to these facts, and to pay real and undivided attention to -the immediate present. Apart from the fact that sorting and adjusting -of the aims relieves the mind of many previous conflicts, it acts as -a stimulus to a considerable amount of directive thinking. And the -patient will be surprised at first to find the amount of time it is -possible to spend in a really useful recasting of his life interests. - -It was not until the author, himself, took pencil and paper, and -classified his own aims, and put down the points for and against each, -and attempted to see the disharmonies existing amongst them, that he -realised the full value of this procedure. It might be thought that in -a very short period any person could put down all his aims, and that -but little modification would take place in them from day to day. This, -however, is very far from being true, as will be seen by anyone who -carries out this method fully. - -Perhaps at this point the details taken from a case of a woman -suffering from a “nervous breakdown” in which I used this method as a -subsidiary form of treatment, may not only be of interest, but will -also throw some light on the practical working of the method. I may -mention that her chief troubles were insomnia, constant worrying, great -depression, and inability to settle down to work of any kind. - -In the first place, this patient commenced by stating that she had no -aim in life at all. She had to admit, however, immediately after, that -she had at least the aim of wishing to get well, or otherwise she would -not have come to me. On being asked why she wished to get well, several -subsidiary aims appeared. For the most part, they were rationalization, -and I knew these aims would be thrown over in due course, but that, for -the purpose in view, did not matter. I told her to go home, and write -down her aims, in the manner I have just indicated. - -The following was the list brought to me on the next day. - - - (1) To be well. - - (2) To be married. - - (3) To become a doctor. - - (4) And if I cannot do that, to become a masseuse. - - (5) Or a psycho-analyst. - - (6) Or a private secretary. - - (7) And I should like to have two children. - - -With this rather pathetic list in front of me, I asked her to give as -far as possible the reasons she had for these various wishes, and to -examine these on the lines I had indicated, with the following results. - -(1) _To get well._ “The reason for this aim is obvious; it is necessary -in order to obtain the others,” said she. - -(2) _To get married._ “This aim has three subsidiary immediate aims,” -she replied, “and there may be others. (a) I want a comfortable home of -my own, (b) I want satisfaction of my natural instincts in accordance -with the custom of ordinary adult life, (c) I could attain the later -aim of having two children.” She immediately added, “In that case, the -aim of having two children is a remote aim, and if I follow your advice -I must no longer have day-dreams about them, I must put them out of my -thoughts, I must not waste time on anything connected with them, until -I am married.” - -(3) _To become a doctor._ “Concerning this,” she added, “I have -always liked studying Zoology, and microscopic work, and diseases. -Moreover, it is the only way in which one can make money in a really -interesting manner.” She then stated that she realised this to be -a double aim, and to consist, firstly, of the aim of earning a -livelihood, and secondly, of that of having an interesting occupation. -This aim was soon discovered to be phantastic, however, for she had to -admit that her financial position would not permit of the necessary -study, and that there was no prospect of any improvement in this. She -therefore realised that although she had had it at the back of her -mind for several months that somehow such an aim might be possible of -fulfilment, she now clearly saw that it was not. She at once removed -it from the list, and realised that neither regrets nor phantasy in -connection with it would be of any avail, and again, that she must bear -in mind possibilities and realities. - -(4) _To become a masseuse._ She at once stated her thoughts on this -subject. “I have known one or two masseuses, who seem to make money, -and who are very happy. Moreover, it is an occupation that a lady can -take up.” She then discovered that this involved three aims: (a) to -make money, (b) to be happy, (c) to remain genteel. On the opposite -side, however, she added that she was not sufficiently physically -strong for the work, and was afraid she would soon tire of it, because -as an occupation itself, it did not appeal to her. This aim, also, -immediately disappeared from the list. - -(5) _To become a psycho-analyst._ This, said she, was a very -interesting subject, and she thought she could do much good by means of -it. Moreover, she thought she would like psychology though she had not -studied it much as yet. “Moreover,” said she, “psycho-analysts probably -make a lot of money. And further, it would be very nice to sit at -home in an arm-chair to do one’s work, and to let other people do the -talking.” She at once recognised this latter idea to be a thoroughly -Narcissistic regression. And then she found that all the other ideas -contained multiple aims in themselves, each of which had to be thought -out and classified, and into the details of which I need not go. Except -to say that when she considered the matter from a practical point of -view, the difficulties of training, the time it would take, and more -especially the fact that she feared that psycho-analysis might not be -popular by the time she was ready, she determined that it was only a -phantasy aim, upon which she had been wasting phantasy thought, and she -ruled it out. - -(6) _To become a private secretary._ On this point, she considered that -her personal appearance and general education would help her, and was -quite compatible with the aim. But she knew no shorthand, book-keeping, -nor typewriting. She, however, realised at once that the immediate aim -in this case should be the shorthand, book-keeping, and typewriting, -and she said, “I will go to-morrow and see where I can learn these -things.” I pointed out to her that she might very possibly change -her mind, when she considered things further, but that even if she -did so, the mastery of shorthand, typewriting and book-keeping might -stand her in good stead, and in any case that she would be working for -an immediate object, in turning some of her phantasy into directive -thought. And on the morrow, she actually did commence her studies on -these subjects. - -(7) _The desire to have two children._ This was at once classified, as -I have already said, as a remote aim; though, as a matter of fact, she -got married shortly afterwards, and the remote aim is now on the way to -being fulfilled, as she has one child. - -I have shown by this example the ill-considered, phantastic, and -conflicting aims, which some persons may at first produce when they -attempt deliberately to classify them. But it must be remembered that -each of the subsidiary aims which she had discovered her primary aims -to be divided into were, in turn, again capable of being divided into -further subsidiary aims. And the next stage of this form of technique -is to discover these. Day by day, the pencil and paper must be -brought out, and a list of aims and wishes for that day compiled and -considered. They must be in turn examined to show (1) whether they are -compatible with one another, (2) whether they are compatible with other -immediate aims, (3) whether they are compatible with the remote aims. - -A strong attempt must then be made to eradicate any aims or wishes -which are antagonistic to one another, or to the primary aims of the -individual, which have already been passed as real. As progress is -made, definite and personal aims will be developed day by day, many of -these, no doubt, apparently trivial, others at least important for the -day in question, all important from the point of view of developing the -habit of thinking in terms of reality. - -For instance, on one occasion, the lady above mentioned wrote on her -list in the morning that she wished to work hard at her shorthand -in the early part of the day, to go to a matinée in the afternoon, -and to a dance in the evening. On consideration, however, she came -to the conclusion that the dance in the evening, following after -the day’s work and entertainment, would probably interfere with her -next morning’s work, and it was not, moreover, compatible with that -immediate aim of regaining complete health at the earliest possible -moment. It was, therefore, rejected; the lesser aim was recast, and -a quiet dinner with a friend substituted. Only by such rigorous and -possibly painful self-treatment can the Narcissist’s conflicts be -regulated and viewed in a proper perspective. - -Every daily aim has a further subsidiary aim appertaining to it. For -instance, a man may have made up his mind to devote a certain part -of the day to studying; the lesser aim includes the subject to be -studied, the amount to be done, and the time to be occupied. It is -important that he should not over-estimate the amount he can get done -in a given time. One reason why so much detail should be considered, -is that it is astounding how excessively a person, with a tendency to -phantasy thought, over-estimates the amount of work it is possible -to get through in a given time. No sooner is a task commenced than -he expects it to be almost finished. The daily programme frequently -includes far more than is possible, and he forms a habit of being late -for everything; all this being merely the ordinary omnipotent idea of -childhood, which fulfils a wish in phantasy as readily as it is formed. - -I must now give a warning, that those who follow this method are, at -first, nearly always extremely impatient for results, for this very -reason that they do not realise the time-factor; and they must realise, -and consciously and patiently accept inevitable delay, with the -assurance that if they can overcome their Narcissism sufficiently to -persist in the method they will steadily and gradually develop a habit, -an attitude of mind which devotes its energy to directive thought, to -real aims, and to displacing from themselves the phantastic medley -which was there before. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -READJUSTMENT OF THOUGHT - - -We have seen in an earlier chapter how one of the ways in which -Narcissism manifests itself is in day-dreams. We saw how a child would -substitute a phantasy or day-dream for a reality, and so fulfil its -wishes and desires in this unreal manner. And we saw how, if this were -persisted in to excess, the same or a modified method of fulfilling -one’s wishes in realms of phantasy would remain even in adult life. -I may here remark that even _very little_ day-dreaming constitutes -excess, and is bound to have a deleterious effect upon the efficiency -and happiness of the individual’s life; unless, perhaps, that -individual is mixing sufficient directive thought with his phantasies -as in the case of a novelist or artist, for instance. In realising -this, it must be borne in mind, that time and energy spent in phantasy -thinking are time and energy lost to reality and fact; that the -encouragement of the habit of phantasy thinking destroys the ability -to think directively, or rather renders the full development of it -impossible. Moreover, by encouraging day-dreams, we are simultaneously -holding on to our Narcissism, and making it more likely that it -will also find outlets in other deleterious ways. For instance, the -“worrying nature” which is constantly thinking of possible troubles to -come, and of how past troubles might have been avoided is indulging in -a form of phantasy thinking. If the habit of phantasy thinking has been -cultivated for pleasurable purposes, a channel has been opened which -will be used without conscious intention for other kinds of phantasy -as well. The habit of worrying to which we have just referred, is an -example of this. - -Worry consists in weaving phantasies about something which cannot at -the moment be influenced directively. It may be about something which -_has_ happened and therefore cannot be influenced at all by thinking -about it, or about something which _may_ happen but over which the -thinker has no immediate control; and it consists in going over all -the “mays” and “mights” connected with the case, and experiencing -the unpleasant emotions belonging to each phantasied situation. In -order to get rid of this worrying habit, to close the channel which -permits of it, a person must simultaneously cut out pleasurable -day-dreams also, and thus close the channel entirely. Therefore, let -us recommend the individual who indulges largely in day-dreams, to get -rid of the habit as soon as possible. Those who have other abnormal -characteristics which they wish to eradicate, should understand that -they must, simultaneously, get rid of their day-dreams. And this means -pulling oneself up, not merely when one discovers oneself imagining -some glorious vista in which one occupies a principle but impossible -part, it means similarly pulling oneself up in a thousand little ways; -it means catching oneself whenever one wanders from a type of directive -thought to a type of phantastic thought. - -For instance, in the examination of one’s aims, one is thinking -directively, and one comes to the conclusion that, say, a course -of shorthand and typewriting shall be taken at once, that the aim -of being a secretary is one suitable and compatible with one’s -attainments. At this point, it is very easy for the individual to -suddenly find that he or she has become, in day-dreams, the secretary -of a duke or American millionaire. And if he does not pull himself up -at this stage, he will find that the duke’s money has been left him, -or she will find that she has married the American millionaire. And -so the phantasy goes on. It starts in reality, but the Narcissistic -temperament takes it right away from this. It must be nipped in the -bud at the very beginning, if the habit of directive thought is to be -established. As soon as the individual finds himself drifting in this -way, wasting energy, fulfilling wishes by mere dreams, he must pull -himself up short, and say to himself, “Here the real ends, there the -phantasy begins. This is the point I must come back to, I must deal -with this matter from the real point of view only, without allowing -this phantasy to intrude itself.” - -And here again, much patience will be needed, for if the habit has -already been cultivated, he will soon be back in phantasy again, -probably in less than five minutes. But phantasy thought does not only -mean day-dreams in the sense in which we have spoken of them here. It -may take all sort of disguises, and what would be phantasy thought in -one person, would be directive thought in another. In one case, the -environment and education and inherent ability would not be of that -order which could make the thoughts come to be facts; in the other case -the abilities of the person might be sufficient to do so. Thus, were an -ordinary person to sit in his arm-chair, and phantasy a wonderful plan -for the conquest of Europe, without having either the will or the means -of carrying out his ambition, that would constitute phantasy thinking -pure and simple. If, however, a Napoleon did the same, with the will -and the possible means, with the near aim at hand in the conquest of -a small country, and the subsequent conquest of Europe as an ultimate -one, his method of thought would have to be described as directive -thinking. So that similar thinking in two different individuals may -really be classified as two different principles of thinking. - -I have no doubt that many readers will be saying to themselves now, -“But my greatest pleasure is to be found in day-dreams. I find in -directive thinking nothing but hard work.” - -In such a case, if the individual cannot enjoy his directive -thinking, and he gets no emotional discharge by means of it, it is -possible that his aims in life are unsuited to him, or that he has -not sufficient aims in life, that his time is not as fully occupied -with interesting _acts_ as it should be. In such a case, subsidiary -aims should be formed deliberately, wherein he could take an interest -in directive thinking. _For it may be accepted as a fact that, with -proper cultivation and education, more real pleasure can be found in -suitable directive thinking than in any amount of day-dreams._ It is -also a further fact that the individual’s energy is not then wasted, -but is more or less efficiently utilised. Moreover, instead of losing -strength of character, he is now gaining it. Let it be borne in mind, -always, that continual indulgence of phantasy thought, from its very -ease, breeds the habit of inertia, for the individual’s aims and wishes -attain fulfilment without any need for activity on his part; and here -a vicious circle is produced, because the inertia, which he has thus -encouraged, now in its turn tends to make him resort to phantasy the -more. - -It is easy, of course, to say, “I will cut myself off from phantasy -thought, I will pull myself up whenever this occurs, and leave it -alone.” But it is by no means easy to act up to this resolution. If, -however, another kind of directive thought is deliberately substituted -for the phantasy, the task is made very much easier. If the water in -the bath is too hot, and we want it to cool rapidly, we do not merely -turn off the hot tap, we simultaneously turn on the cold. - -The task will be rendered more easy still, if the individual selects -his subject of directive thought to replace phantasy beforehand, not -waiting until the time comes. For instance, we will suppose that, -as one subsidiary aim with which to fill in his time, a person has -selected the collection of postage stamps. He will each day have in -front of him some page which he wishes to arrange in chronological -order, to consider from the point of view of water-marks and -perforations; and he may make up his mind that as soon as he finds -himself dealing in phantasy thought he will not only cut out the -phantasy thought but will at once start arranging, in his mind, the -stamps which he was shortly going to arrange in his book. It matters -not in the least what form the substitute thought takes, so long as it -possesses two qualities, (1) it is directive, _i.e._, it is going to -lead to some sort of actual change or action, and (2) that it bears -a pleasurable interest. And for that reason, I have selected a very -trivial form of directive thought as an example. The point is that -the individual should select some subject in which he has a personal -and active interest, as a subject with which he may replace phantasy -thought, whenever the latter comes into his mind. - -Phantasy thought may, further, not be of necessity thoughts impossible -of fulfilment, except in the immediate present. Thoughts of erotic -or other desires which intrude themselves at untimely moments, are -phantasy thoughts, and some people frequently complain that they are -annoyed by them, especially when they have no intention of actually -fulfilling them in fact, or when the means of fulfilling them are -not present. Here again, to have a subject ready at hand, or to -have a substitute thought for the undesired thoughts is a very real -assistance. Even a sentence thought out beforehand or a good maxim -which can be repeated several times and considered, forms an excellent -substitute thought with which to replace the unwanted phantasy. - -Let us now consider a few other examples. The majority of educated -people, of a so-called normal type, when they have completed their -day’s work, and are fatigued, require some sort of mental rest, and as -a rule some kind of phantasy thought is resorted to in the evening. -Also, when this fatigue is cumulative, they say, “We have worked -eleven months, and now require one month’s holiday.” This is really an -unconscious phantasy requiring a regressive reward. They are not really -tired out, physically or mentally, but they have accumulated, after -a series of postponements, a large number of Narcissistic efforts at -phantasy; and the holiday which they now require is really to satisfy -this. It is a return to childhood and the time of irresponsibility, -and their occupations on the holiday may very likely be, to a large -extent, similar to those with which they occupied themselves in -childhood. They throw off their adult status and responsibility, and -deliberately take this regressive reward. Even with normal people -the idea of _rest_ in the form of a holiday, often means nothing but -phantasy thought, time disregarded, no effort of any sort to be made. - -But in the less Narcissistic type of person who still retains directive -thought even on a holiday--a holiday means merely change in immediate -aim, change in occupation, rather than rest from aim and occupation. - -Phantasy thinking may take many quite surreptitious forms. In old age, -for instance, we know that type of person, who is quietly slipping -into helpless imbecility. He is the same man, who, at an earlier age, -lacked the habit of directive thought. On the other hand, there is -our intellectual old man or woman, still full of the day’s problems -or politics, who indulged, in early life, but little in phantasies. -Experience shows us that the influence of directive or undirective -thought in youth may not only determine our happiness in declining -years, but may even determine the actual age to which we live. For, -paradoxically, it is the Narcissist, who of all people desires a long -life, and who is, of all people, the least likely to attain old age. He -frequently “worries himself into the grave.” - -We have not yet exhausted the forms of phantasy thought. A casual -conversation between acquaintances in which no information of value -is imparted, in which merely some emotional material is brought to -the surface and thrown out, is undirective thought. The first person, -interested in some emotional experience, recounts to the second the -facts of that experience, often without arousing any emotional feeling -in the second person. Such is the type of conversation which takes -place over a vast majority of tea-tables. It is wasted energy. - -Another example is that of conventional letter-writing, in certain -cases. The duty letter which one person writes to another person is -of the same type. The writer who deals with his or her experiences -on a shopping expedition, who states a series of things which have -happened, merely in order to enjoy them once again in phantasy, is -performing the same waste of energy. There is no return for this -expended energy, the rush of ideas produces no result. Perhaps the -time is due for a letter to be written, and it is the turn of this -person to write a letter. As a result of this conventional attitude, -the writer has to resort to phantasy thought to satisfy the needs of -the moment. We have pointed out that reading a novel is a form of -phantasy thinking, in which we identify ourselves with the hero. The -same occurs in our cinemas. Here, the pleasure of phantasy thinking is -enhanced by the fact that the visual impression is produced direct, -whereas in reading a novel the visual impression is by words only, -and a certain amount of effort is needed to translate it in the mind -into its pictorial form; and thus the cinematograph induces a form of -phantasy thinking which needs the least effort of all to realise. It -is within the reach of anyone possessing a few pence, and although the -average person may regard it as educative and useful to the community, -the magistrate who is dealing with the youthful delinquent knows the -cinematograph to be very harmful to the child’s mind. And there is no -doubt that the unconscious effect of such mental stimuli is excessively -deleterious to the race in general. The indulgence in it encourages -the habit of phantasy thinking at a small cost, and such a habit soon -becomes established as part of the individual’s make-up. Nor does the -evil stay itself here. For the phantasy in the cinematograph consists -usually in the fulfilment of impossible wishes, and in this, as in -other cases, the emotional output is increased out of all proportion -to the real exciting causes. This results in a misplacement in the -emotional output in the unconscious mind, which in its turn is the -basis of many neurotic conditions which may even require a physician’s -aid to eradicate. And one must remember that a neurotic condition need -not merely be the illness of an individual, it may be, and often is, -the disease of a nation. Hence, like the fairy-tale, the cinema, as it -is at present, should not be used as a child’s pastime. - - -§2 - -In other forms of Narcissism also, we shall find it easier to break -away from phantasy if we substitute a reality; that is, if we turn our -flow of energy into a real, instead of an imaginary channel, instead of -merely trying to dam the flow in the original channel. In cases where -this Narcissism involves a bad habit, such as irritability, impatience, -weeping, etc., the line that should be followed differs rather from -that suggested in the case of day-dreams. In the first place, not only -should we pull ourselves up short, but we should also bear in mind, -immediately, the first part of the technique which we suggested in -a previous chapter. That is to say, we should call to mind what our -abnormal act really means, and having done this, having realised it in -consciousness, _we should then endeavour to use the same energy which -we should have used for this abnormal act in an immediate and useful -manner_. Now, in all these cases, our abnormal reaction takes place -because our omnipotence or sense of perfection is disturbed; and since -this sense of perfection is not real, the easiest and most convenient -channel for us to turn our energy into is one which still satisfies the -sense of perfection, that is to say, one in which we may feel that _we -are, by our act, becoming more perfect in reality, instead of clinging -to our perfection in phantasy_. It is impossible to give examples to -cover the very many reactions which may take place, but one actual -example, given in detail, should be sufficient to enable the individual -to invent others to suit his own case. Let us again take the case -of the impatient man, in which the Time-factor has never been fully -realised. - -Let us say that he has entered a restaurant for lunch, and that -having glanced down the menu, he then has to wait ten minutes before -the waiter attends to him. Probably, after the first minute of that -time, he has begun to get impatient; at the end of ten minutes he is -either making up his mind to go without his lunch, so great is his -irritability, or else he is, with great emotion, explaining to his -neighbour how extremely inefficient this restaurant is, as regards -management, service, and, in fact, everything connected with it. He is -utterly unable to realise the facts of the case. Let us again refer -to the facts for a moment. The restaurant is a business, and must make -a profit; in order to do this, only a limited number of waiters can -possibly be kept, and the number of these has to be regulated by the -_average_ number of customers, by the profit which it is possible to -make in the neighbourhood, and other factors. In the second place, the -luncheon hour is one at which the number of customers is well above -the average, and therefore in which the service is bound to be the -slowest; however good the management, however skilful the waiters, they -are obliged to devote a certain number of minutes to each customer; -and the probability is that our Narcissistic individual is being as -well attended to as anybody else. He does not realise this however, he -is not dealing with the facts at all. He merely knows that he wishes -for an immediate meal, that his sense of perfection is thoroughly -disturbed, and his unconscious idea is that if he is sufficiently -impatient, what he wants will come to him immediately, just as it did -in childhood. - -Now let us see how he may deal with himself. We will suppose that -he has read this chapter before his next visit to the restaurant in -question. Once again he sits down, once again he finds he is kept -waiting. His impatience begins to manifest itself in its early stages. -He pulls himself up, and the first thing that he does is to realise the -causes of his impatience, as set out in the last paragraph. He must go -quickly over the original causes of his Narcissism in infancy, and of -how he obtained means of satisfaction, and so developed his present -habit of thought. He must run over the facts concerning the restaurant, -and realise that it is a business place, and that it is at its busiest -hour. In other words, he must get into full consciousness the various -factors associated with this Narcissistic outburst of impatience. Then, -let him realise as a kind of summary, “What I am actually objecting -to is the disturbance of my unconscious feeling of omnipotence and -perfection. Let me, however, turn this energy, utilise this time -during which I am waiting in attaining a step nearer real perfection -instead of bemoaning the loss of my imaginary perfection. Now, a step -towards real perfection will be attained, if I overcome this habit -of impatience. Let me, therefore, utilise this time in sitting here -patiently, in worrying no longer about the time the waiter is taking, -in being actually pleased with the fact that I am becoming more -patient, and that my time is being usefully filled with a directive -aim, which has as its object the same ultimate idea as the original -phantastic one, namely, that of perfection.” - -Critics may here suggest that this long monologue on the part of the -impatient individual might have been cut short by allowing him to say, -“Obviously, the waiters are busy, it is no use being impatient, let me -be patient.” I must point out, however, that the result would probably -not have been the same. The longer method has its value in the fact -that he brings into consciousness the two ideas of perfection, the -Narcissistic idea which is being hurt, and the real idea which he is -desiring consciously to obtain. _And it is very much easier to turn -energy from one channel to another, if there are lines of similarity -between the two channels._ - -Hence, when one’s sense of perfection is assailed, let one turn -one’s energy into some form of thought which still satisfies the idea -of perfection attained or attainable. A similar process can be gone -through with any other Narcissistic form of trouble, and consists in -recapitulating the causes, and in reaching a determined effort to -deflect consciously the energy from the phantastic into the real. The -same principle holds good for all temperamental troubles of this sort, -but the individual will have to devise for himself a suitable formula -to use to suit the needs of his own case. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -AUTO-SUGGESTION - - -Suggestion, in one form or another, plays an extremely important -part in the life of everyone. Suggestion consists in impressing upon -the unconscious mind some idea or thought in such a way that the -unconscious mind will take it and absorb it as part of itself, and -utilise it unconsciously and instinctively. Quite unconsciously, -throughout childhood and adult life, we are receiving suggestions from -the actions of those around us. - -For example, I remember as a boy going repeatedly with a relative -to a friend’s house. At the time, I did not notice that my relative -invariably used the knocker, and never rang the bell, or rather I did -not consciously notice it. On one occasion I, myself, was sent with -a message to this house, and although I was in the habit of ringing -bells whenever I went to other houses, at this particular one, I -instinctively knocked only. The suggestion that I should knock upon -that particular door had been implanted in me by the fact that I had -repeatedly seen the same action take place, although I had paid no -conscious attention to it. It had impressed itself upon my mind as -the right action to take place, under the particular circumstances -attending a visit to this house, so that I performed the action itself -automatically, without any further thought in the matter. - -The example impressed itself upon my mind, because while I was in the -house, on this occasion, a man came to mend the bell, which had been -out of order for many months. Hence, the reason my relative invariably -knocked. - -Suggestion of various kinds is a very powerful factor, and as in -the example given above, it is for the most part an unconscious -factor in determining our actions. But it is possible for us to give -ourselves _conscious_ suggestions which will afterwards cause us to -act automatically, in accordance with the suggestion. A great deal too -much, however, has been claimed for suggestion in recent months. There -are many circumstances in which suggestion is not likely to be any -good at all, there are also circumstances when it may arouse an actual -opposition in the unconscious mind, where a counter-suggestion is set -at work immediately, and the condition of the individual may actually -be worse than before he started giving himself suggestions. - -Apart from other things, one factor may be mentioned which is very -antagonistic to suggestion, and that is _fear_, possibly fear which -is for the most part unconscious. Thus, supposing that the alcoholic -gives himself the suggestion that he shall pass a public-house without -going into it, and he has a definite fear of the wish to go in; he -will probably find that in suggesting that he shall not have the wish, -he is actually re-enforcing the strength of the wish which is there. -His unconscious counter-will is at work, and turning the force of the -suggestion in the wrong direction, and he will very likely succumb -to temptation more readily than before. Hence, in a subject where we -have acute fear of failure, suggestion must be very carefully dealt -with. Moreover, suggestion, to be efficient, must have other things in -its favour, some knowledge, in fact, of the underlying causes of the -deleterious action which we wish to eradicate. It is not impossible to -improve oneself by suggestion, even though one may be ignorant of the -cause of one’s trouble, but I have found that it is infinitely more -easy to obtain this improvement if one has previously brought into -consciousness the underlying cause, and can therefore direct one’s -suggestion to this rather than merely to the effect or symptom. I have -myself devised a method for the use of certain of my patients by means -of which suggestion may be directed to both the cause and result, -as indicated shortly. Ordinary methods of suggestion are frequently -merely directed to the cure of the symptom rather than the disease; in -fact, such auto-suggestion, popular as it has become, may frequently -be likened to a doctor who treats small-pox by putting ointment on the -spots, or appendicitis by giving morphia. It will be successful in -those cases where the manifestations of the disease are worse than the -disease itself; but when the causes are strong and virile, suggestion -directed towards the symptom will not avail. - -In an earlier chapter, we described how the individual suffering -from deleterious abnormalities of temperament could, to some extent, -trace the cause of this back to infancy. We told how this, in itself, -would, if repeatedly brought to mind on succeeding occasions, produce -considerable improvement. We have further discussed how he could -consciously turn the energy from one form of reaction into another -and more suitable form. All these methods, however, may be made -considerably more efficient by the active use of auto-suggestion, as I -have indicated, directed partially to the cause and partially to the -result desired. Thus, the form which suggestion should take in the case -of the man, whom we quoted in the last chapter as being over-impatient -in the restaurant, would be somewhat as follows: - -He would have to impress upon himself several suggestions; and in the -case of each of these suggestions he would be required to form a mental -picture of himself in the conditions to which the suggestions referred. -Firstly, “In circumstances in which I have been accustomed to react -with impatience, I will no longer act as I did when I was a little -child.” (In repeating this to himself in the manner to be referred to -shortly, he should hold a picture of himself reacting impatiently when -a child, and contrast it with the manner in which he ought to have -acted.) Secondly, “Under conditions which have previously caused me to -react with impatience, I will in future, at once think out the _real_ -circumstances of the case.” (And another suitable mental picture should -be visualised here, as also in each of the following suggestions.) -Thirdly, “Under conditions which previously caused me to react with -impatience, I will no longer be impatient.” Fourthly, “Under conditions -to which I have been accustomed to react with impatience, I shall now -devote my energy to perfecting myself, in reality.” Thus, he is taking -himself through the stages from childhood onward, and re-educating -himself in each stage by means of a forced education in which the -individual “grows up” in reality from the point at which he stopped in -childhood. - -Not one, but all these thoughts, and possibly even intermediate ones -that may develop, should be impressed upon the unconscious mind, so -that they may act automatically. As to the method which should be -adopted by the patient in giving himself suggestions, I recommend the -following. That he first of all write down briefly the results of his -self-examination, that he should take those results in chronological -order, and write down from them suitable suggestions dealing with -the various stages, such as I have just written with regard to the -impatient man. That every night and morning, or at any other time -during the day, he should for five or ten minutes lie down, relax -himself, and close his eyes; that he should then repeat to himself -fifteen or twenty times each of the suggestions, taking the earliest -first, then the next, and so on. They need not be repeated out loud, -but if repeated under the breath and accompanied by a suitable movement -of the lips, it will suffice. Effort should be avoided; suggestion -is not an effort of will so much as an impression effected by the -imagination. When an individual is giving himself suggestion, he is not -fighting an active battle, he is merely allowing ideas to sink into his -mind; and if they are repeated often enough, like drops of water which -in time wear a channel in the stone, they will make their mark and -produce their effects in due course. - -Suggestion, in fact, minimises the need for the use of will-power, -at any given moment in a difficult situation. If the battle has been -fought out beforehand in imagination, it will automatically succeed -when the time comes. The will has played its part previously when -adopting the method of suggestion. - -This is not a text-book on suggestion, and I do not propose to go -further into the method here. I merely wish to point out the practical -efficiency of the use of a certain amount of auto-suggestion when -applied in conjunction with the other methods of combating Narcissism -already outlined, and when applied in an intelligent manner, so that -not merely the symptoms, but the original causes themselves shall be -affected by it. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -CONCLUSION - - -The previous portion of this book has been devoted to showing how -Narcissism may be harmful, and how in its endeavour to obtain -satisfaction it may render the individual unhappy in the utmost -degree. It is possible that the reader will have gathered that the -author regards Narcissism as wholly and completely a useless and -detrimental element in life; the more so, since at various points -we have had to emphasise that in one form or another very little of -it persisting in adult life may be a great deal too much. It should -be realised, however, that Narcissism to a slight extent, and at -certain periods, plays an important and also necessary part in the -individual’s life. We mentioned at one place that a certain amount of -identification was beneficial in choosing one’s life partner. Whereas -too much identification might lead to one’s choosing a sexual partner -of the same sex, a small amount of identification might lead to one’s -choosing a partner with the same tastes, and would further lead to a -tendency to enjoy whatsoever the other one enjoyed, and to dislike what -the other one disliked, and this similarity would lead to a certain -harmony in life. _Narcissism is a normal thing in the new-born infant, -and Narcissism is the root of many virtues; but its final adult form -must be sublimated and very much attenuated._ It is like the salt in -cooking; a little is essential to bring out the flavour, but a very -little more spoils the whole dish. - -A certain amount of self-love, self-appreciation, self-importance, and -self-consciousness of one’s own capacities is necessary in every one; -without it he would be ill prepared to cope with men and circumstances. -But this necessary self-importance and self-appreciation is not, as -many might think, due to Narcissism alone. It has a slight Narcissistic -element, but it is largely a resultant of other unconscious instincts, -which we have not attempted to deal with here; and we only mention -it, lest the reader should draw the conclusion that these necessary -elements in our character are drawn purely from a Narcissistic -basis, and that he should therefore be left puzzled as to how, if he -should eradicate Narcissism, he would be able to retain necessary -characteristics which apparently belong to this same instinct. It is -also very necessary for the reader to bear in mind that much which -may be developed from Narcissism is useful; even though the original -from which it came may be dangerous and harmful. Moreover, a certain -amount of enjoyment of phantasy such as is obtained from novels or -theatres may be in many people quite a useful and adequate form of -relaxation. With them it may be strictly cut off from real life, may -be strictly limited as regards time and place, and, in fact, entirely -under their control. In such persons it forms a useful element in their -lives. I do not say that if their early education and environment had -been different they might not possibly possess an even better form of -recreation, but merely that, taking facts as they are, in certain cases -it forms a useful factor in the working scheme of life. - -In others, however, in those where it has exceeded the limits of -absolute control, it is necessary, for the time being at least, to -attempt to cut it out as completely as possible, because where it is -allowed slight free play, it is liable to get out of hand, unless it -can be dealt with absolutely at the will of the individual. Hence the -necessity for such stringent treatment as I have laid down in the -previous chapters of this book. - -I have attempted to show that happiness is, for the most part, -within the individual’s own grasp. Happiness comes from within the -individual and not from without. Unhappiness must not be confused -with pain, either mental or physical, for pain is a normal reaction, -to a harmful stimulus which all are liable to feel; it is for the -most part beyond the individual’s control so long as the stimulus -persists; but the peace of mind, the absence of worry, of irritability, -of perpetual uneasiness, which we call unhappiness, lies within the -control of everybody. It largely consists in continually recognising -what facts are unchangeable, and ceasing to bemoan or phantasy about -these unchangeable facts. It is true that the road to happiness may -be difficult if we have long been accustomed to tread the path of -Narcissism, but it is equally true that if the advice laid down in this -book be followed patiently and systematically, a very much happier -frame of mind will be attained as a result. In a few cases, Narcissism -is not a predominant factor causing the temperamental disturbance -although superficially it may appear to be so. In such cases (where -other primitive instincts are really of paramount importance) the same -degree of improvement will not be attained by this method of self -treatment and only a more prolonged course of regular psycho-analysis -is likely to produce the desired result. - -Happiness is not to be found by seeking happiness in the direct sense. -This, I am aware, sounds very much like a mere high-sounding thought -of a writer. It is the sort of phrase that people dismiss with the -remark, “That is all very well in theory.” This statement, however, -is not made from any moral or sentimental point of view, nor on any -purely theoretical grounds, but as a scientific fact, which has been -demonstrated as the result of psychological research. It may be -interesting to note here how much the psychology of happiness is in -agreement with many of the teachings of the New Testament, although a -different terminology and mode of expression may be used. - -It was pointed out earlier how the individual who employed too much -phantasy thought in youth might worry himself into an early grave, -although he was the same individual who most desired a long life. It -has now been shown that happiness does not come to those who seek -happiness, but to those who can adapt themselves to realities, that -is, to those who can control their Narcissism. Narcissism is not so -very different from the word “self,” as used in Christian teachings, -and any who are interested enough to compare them will find that there -is considerable parallelism between Christian teaching and certain -psychological observations. - -I must emphasise the fact once more that patience, that is a -realization of the time factor, is very necessary for those who attempt -self-treatment on the lines indicated in this book. For since lack of -this is often one of their faults to start with, they may otherwise -involve themselves in a vicious circle, from which they do not -escape. Patience and attention to detail will, however, enable them to -accomplish that improvement which they have set out to achieve. In the -words of Horace, “Happiness is here, happiness is everywhere, if only a -well-regulated mind does not fail you.” - - -THE END - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OMNIPOTENT SELF, A STUDY IN -SELF-DECEPTION AND SELF-CURE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The omnipotent self, a study in self-deception and self-cure</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Paul Bousfield</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 8, 2021 [eBook #66496]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Turgut Dincer, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OMNIPOTENT SELF, A STUDY IN SELF-DECEPTION AND SELF-CURE ***</div> - -<div class="mynote"><p class="center">Transcriber’s Note:<br /><br /> -Obvious typographic errors have been corrected.<br /></p></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> - -<h1>THE OMNIPOTENT SELF </h1> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/title.jpg" alt="title page" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">THE OMNIPOTENT<br /> SELF</p> - -<p class="bold">A Study in Self-Deception and Self-Cure</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">BY</p> - -<p class="bold2">PAUL BOUSFIELD</p> - -<p class="bold">M.R.C.S. (<span class="smcap">Eng.</span>), L.R.C.P. (<span class="smcap">Lond.</span>)</p> - -<p class="bold"><i>Physician to the London Neurological Clinic (Ministry of Pensions),<br /> -Late Demonstrator of Morbid Anatomy, St. George’s Hospital, Late<br /> -M.O. American Women’s Hospital for Officers, etc., etc.</i></p> - -<p class="bold">Author of <i>The Elements of Practical Psycho-Analysis</i>.</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">LONDON<br /> -KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span>,<br /> -BROADWAY HOUSE, 68-74 CARTER LANE, E.C.<br />1923</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY THE DEVONSHIRE PRESS, TORQUAY.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PREFACE</h2> - -<p class="center">“<i>Nature has granted to all to be happy if we but knew how to use her -gifts.</i>”—<span class="smcap">Claudius.</span></p> - -<p>Many people, while not considering themselves as suffering from any -nervous ailment, nor desiring the services of a physician, are yet far -from being perfectly happy in their mental outlook and temperament. -Either their feelings are too easily roused, or they are inclined to -worry, to be depressed, irritable, nervous, or over-sensitive. Trifles -which to them seem no trifles interfere with the smooth course of their -daily lives, or this slight abnormality may manifest itself in an -over-sensitiveness to physical pain or to mental or moral difficulties -and conflicts. It is with the hope of helping a few such individuals -to a better understanding of themselves, and through this to a more -equable temperament and greater happiness, that this little book is -written.</p> - -<p>There is no hard and fast line between the normal and the abnormal -person, and indeed a very real difficulty exists in even defining a -normal person. If we take our definition of normal as being “average -or conforming to type or standard,” then the majority of people -are normal. If, on the other hand, we take its other meaning, that -of “performing the proper functions,” then there are few people -approaching the normal under modern civilized conditions. A tendency -to undue irritability or depression is a mild and very common form of -abnormality. Hysterias, obsessions, and unreasonable fears are greater -abnormalities, and fortunately of less frequent occurrence, while -certain forms of insanity are still greater deviations from the normal. -A similar combination of causes, however, may form the basis of all -these abnormalities,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> and these various deviations from the normal are -more of degree than of kind. But whereas in cases of obsessions and -unreasonable fears or in such other abnormalities as homo-sexuality or -sexual impotence, etc., the causes are deeply hidden and the forces at -work somewhat complicated, in the lesser abnormalities there are causes -frequently lying less deeply.</p> - -<p>In the case of obsessions, phobias, hysterias, sexual abnormalities, -and so forth, we can only hope to effect an improvement by a thorough -analysis of the unconscious causes and conflicts by a competent -psycho-analyst. In the lesser troubles of the mind, however, -considerable improvement can often be effected by means of a somewhat -superficial self-analysis. This will be directed towards investigating -one in particular of the primary causes which play an important part in -all the minor unpleasant temperamental faults.</p> - -<p>In order to teach the patient to help himself, it will first of all be -necessary to enlighten him to a considerable extent as to the general -evolution of his character; at any rate in as far as one important -mental complex known as “Narcissism” is concerned. In doing this, many -other mental complexes will have to be superficially touched upon; but -in order to simplify the work for the uninitiated, they will not be -specifically named when they appear; for, although this would make the -work more technically accurate, it would, at the same time, make it -less clear, and in a book of this type this would be very undesirable. -The first object I have in mind is that the work shall be lucid, -concise, and readily understood by any person of ordinary education, -so that he may gain an insight into the essential causes and growth -of some of his abnormal characteristics without undue complication -of ideas. It is further hoped that this small work may be of some -assistance in suggesting to parents a few of the many things to be -avoided in the early training of the child.</p> - -<p class="right">PAUL BOUSFIELD</p> - -<p><i>7, Harley Street, W.</i></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="center">PART I: THE OMNIPOTENT SELF</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smaller">CHAP.</span></td> - <td><span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>I </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Unconscious Mind</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>II </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Repression</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>III </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Forces Shaping Character</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>IV </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Determinism and Will Power</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>V </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Narcissism</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VI </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Fact and Phantasy</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Identification</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VIII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Irritable Temperament</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>IX </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Rationalization</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="center">PART II: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>X </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Self Analysis</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XI </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Readjustment of Objectives</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Readjustment of Thought</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIII </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Auto-Suggestion</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIV </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PART I</h2> - -<p class="bold2">THE OMNIPOTENT SELF </p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER I</span> <span class="smaller">THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND</span></h2> - -<h3>§1</h3> - -<p>In considering the question of character, with its various -irregularities and idiosyncracies, we shall have to accustom ourselves -to dealing with factors which do not exist in consciousness at all. -Strange as it may seem to the uninitiated, many of our thoughts, ideas, -and motives are quite outside our normal consciousness, and of them -only the resulting emotions and actions appear on the surface. This -may be taken as an absolute and indisputable fact, and one which the -reader should try to appreciate at the outset, although it is somewhat -difficult to realise, for we always find it hard to apprehend and -understand something which we can neither see nor touch.</p> - -<p>If one were to tell the ordinary labourer that water is composed of -two gases which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> when combined form a liquid, he would probably be -quite incredulous, and possibly in his ignorance might even deny -emphatically any such possibility, on the grounds that it was against -all common-sense and experience; he failing to realise, of course, how -very limited were both his sense and his experience. In spite of his -feelings of absolute certainty, and in spite of complete faith in the -unshakable logic behind his belief, he would be wrong.</p> - -<p>While it is not to be expected that many readers of this book will deny -the existence of the unconscious part of the mind, it may well be that -many will fail to realise that it is of more than theoretical value. -It therefore becomes necessary for us to examine the matter somewhat -carefully, and to familiarise ourselves with the ideas of the working -of this unconscious mind.</p> - -<p>Without going into the further sub-divisions recognised in psychology, -we will confine ourselves to dividing the mind into two parts—the -conscious and the unconscious. <i>And of these, at any given moment, the -conscious is by far the smaller part.</i> We are actually <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>conscious at -any moment of but very few things, such as the book we are reading, -the chair we are sitting on, and dimly of our immediate surroundings. -A thousand memories which we might conjure up of our childhood and -our past are, for the time being, far from consciousness. Yet these -matters exist somewhere in the mind, for we are able, if we choose, -to search about in it, and bring them into consciousness, even though -we may not have thought of them for many years. This leads us at once -to a striking fact, namely, that while many things can be remembered -at will, others which we feel we ought to remember, cannot be brought -to mind at all. It is an extremely common experience to find that one -has forgotten a name completely, and that no effort will bring it into -consciousness, yet later on, apparently without effort, the name will -“come back to us,” as we say. In fact, the very phrase we use—“come -back to us”—implies that it has been somewhere away from us, that it -has been lodged in some place that is foreign and unknown to us, yet -which we are aware is somewhere within us.</p> - -<p>It is also common knowledge that a great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> many events and scenes of -considerable importance to us at the time of action are forgotten, and -that they can only be recollected if some sort of stimulus or reminder -be given. For instance, a person may have forgotten completely where -and how he spent a holiday ten years ago. No amount of racking his -brain brings anything to light. But having been reminded of a single -incident that occurred during that holiday, the whole of the rest may -come up from the unconscious in full detail.</p> - -<p>There is a third kind of memory more important still, if one may -be permitted to call it memory, and that is the memory of facts -which no <i>ordinary</i> stimulus of this sort will ever bring up into -consciousness again. The term “memory” is used here because we have -every reason to believe that somewhere in the unconscious all facts -have been registered, and in many cases may be partially brought into -consciousness again by suitable means, such for instance, as hypnotism -or psycho-analysis, (two very different methods, by the way). Yet, -though these impressions have been made on the mind, and though there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -is this unconscious memory still in existence, in the ordinary course -of events we should never again be conscious of them.</p> - -<p><i>We may, however, be very conscious of actions and emotions emanating -from the unconscious memory.</i> Thus, suppose that as a child one had -lived in the country, and on several very happy occasions a bonfire -had been lighted at a picnic, and that later on one lived in a town, -and that this picnic which happened at the age of three or four years -had become completely forgotten, so much so that even photographs of -the scenes or conversations on the subject carried on by other people -brought no memory to light and seemed to touch no chord; it would still -be quite likely that the mere smell of a bon-fire in the distance or -any smell resembling this would be enough to cause a considerable -feeling of elation and happiness in the person, a feeling that -something pleasant was taking place, an idea that if only one could -remember, a pleasant picture could be called up. This is because it is -associated in the unconscious mind with these previous happy occasions.</p> - -<p>Or again, suppose a child at the age of two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> or three years has been -dropped into a pond and nearly drowned. Although the incident may -in later years be completely forgotten, the horror of deep water -and all its associations may vividly persist. It seems probable, -and a considerable amount of work has been done on this subject in -psycho-analysis, that every action, thought, or idea that has ever -been registered in the mind, even to some extent before birth, is -permanently fixed; and that although much of this cannot be brought -into consciousness by present methods, yet all the feelings and -emotions, however slight, which attended these thoughts, ideas, and -actions are perpetually being called forth by slight stimuli of which -we are unaware, and these are playing their part in moulding our -thoughts, feelings and actions in the present time.</p> - -<p>I had an interesting patient a short time ago who, owing to certain -experiences in the war, was suffering from complete loss of memory; so -complete that he did not know his own wife nor even his parents. Under -hypnosis, the whole of his memory was rapidly brought back; and when it -appeared to be normal and both he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> and his parents were quite confident -that it was as good as it had ever been, I suggested that we might try -an experiment to see if we could improve it still further. I asked him, -amongst other things, if he could voluntarily remember the first time -he wore knickerbockers. He had not the faintest recollection of the -matter. I then hypnotised him, and told him to give me the details. He -described the knickerbockers minutely, the number of buttons on them, -the fact that he wore them on his third birthday, that his father had -given him a penny, and told him that “now he was a little man, he must -have money in his pocket,” together with a very large number of other -details. I enquired of his father and mother and sisters, and they -corroborated the details in every particular.</p> - -<p>I have tried several similar experiments with him and with one or two -other patients under hypnosis with considerable success, and have even -tried to take them back to the memory of their own birth. They have -frequently produced many memories of events that occurred before the -age of one year, but previous to that could only give reproductions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> of -movements and pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Whether these latter -are memories or not one has unfortunately no means of proving. But the -fact that under hypnosis both educated and uneducated people alike -exhibit extremely similar ideas as to types of movements, expressions, -and feelings at the various stages of their very early life, inclines -one to think that these reproductions may be memories. One has, -however, to beware of the fact that observation and knowledge acquired -in later periods of their lives might be the real factor underlying -their apparent reproductions. Further evidence of a different nature -will be given on this point, however, at a later stage in the book.</p> - -<h3>§2</h3> - -<p>So far, we have shown that there is an unconscious part of the mind -which acts as a store-house for memories, ideas, and emotions of the -past. We have not, however, shown that it is anything more than a -store-house. But if we look into it from other points of view, we -shall see that it is a great deal more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> than a mere store-house, for -it thinks, reasons, comes to conclusions, and in fact assists in -controlling our acts at every turn; indeed this unconscious part of our -mind wields driving forces of the utmost potency in moulding our lives.</p> - -<p>Let us examine first the <i>reasoning</i> faculty of the unconscious mind.</p> - -<p>Maeder gives a good example of this. A house-surgeon at a hospital -wished particularly to keep a certain appointment, but he was not -allowed to leave the hospital until his chief, who was out, should -return later in the evening. As his appointment was of considerable -importance, he decided to brave the anger of his chief. He therefore -kept his appointment, but when he returned later, he found to his -astonishment that he had left a light in his room, a thing he had -never done before, although he had occupied that room for two years. -He thought the matter over, and soon realised why he had done this. -The chief, on going to his own house, would pass the window and would -see the light burning within, and imagine that his house-surgeon was -at home. The unconscious mind had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> rapidly reasoned this out and had -determined that the conscious mind should forget to turn off the light.</p> - -<p>Another illustration of the persistent way in which the unconscious -mind will reason and act can be given from my own experience. I had to -attend a lecture given by a man, with whose views I totally disagreed. -I had no wish to attend the lecture, but felt compelled to do so in -an official capacity. Consciously, I determined to go; unconsciously -when I made the note of the lecture, I wrote down the time of it in -my engagement-book a week late. On discovering this, I consciously -endeavoured to rectify the matter, but my unconscious mind wrote -Tuesday instead of Thursday in my engagement-book, so it went down -wrong once again. Later, having been forced to see my mistake by a -friend mentioning the matter, I omitted for a short time to rectify it -in my engagement-book, feeling sure that I should remember to do so a -little later. But alas! for the determination of my conscious mind. I -forthwith made an appointment for a patient at the real time appointed -for the lecture, and so could not in the end<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> attend it. Now, these -lectures were held regularly on a particular day of the week, and I -had generally looked forward to them, and attended them without any -difficulty. It was only in this one case that I did not wish to go. My -conscious mind decided to attend; but my unconscious mind played trick -after trick in order that my real desires should be satisfied. Such -examples could be multiplied indefinitely. It is possible that many -would say that they do not actually prove unconscious reasoning nor -power of thought. Let me, therefore, give one or two simple examples of -a different nature.</p> - -<p>A friend of mine once told me that he had spent several days in trying -to work out a chess problem without success. One morning, he woke -up with a picture in his mind of the exact moves that he must make. -The problem had been solved in his sleep unconsciously, and with no -recollection on waking of any conscious effort at reaching the solution.</p> - -<p>In my own experience, as a school-boy, I failed to solve a problem in -Euclid during an examination. On the morning afterwards, the solution -flashed through my brain <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>suddenly, as I lay in bed. Whether I had -solved it in my sleep, or whether it was solved in bed as I lay awake, -I am not prepared to say. Of this much, however, I am certain. I made -no conscious effort; my mind merely wandered lazily in the direction -of the previous day’s failure, and almost instantaneously the right -solution appeared without effort.</p> - -<p>Let us now take another example of work which the unconscious mind is -called upon to perform; an example which we are accustomed to view -without question or thought, which is comparatively commonplace, -and which we dismiss summarily by referring to it as “habit.” The -accomplished pianist reads the music in front of him consciously, but -he is not conscious of the extremely rapid translation which takes -place from the brain to the fingers, so as to produce complicated -movements on the key-board. And if we examine it carefully, we shall -find that something very wonderful has actually taken place outside -his consciousness. When he was first learning to play, he looked at -the note on his music, and said to himself “That is C.” He looked at -the key on the piano,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> and repeated “That is C.” He was taught that a -particular finger must be placed on that particular note when playing -in a certain key. He was taught that it had to be hit in a particular -way and held down for a particular time, according to the size and -shape of the note he was reading on the sheet of music in front of him. -He was further taught that in order to modify any sound in a particular -manner, he could use his feet on one or other of the pedals, and must -be extremely careful to put his feet down and lift his feet up again -at exactly the right moment. He was taught that when certain symbols, -known as sharps and flats, preceded the notes at the beginning of his -piece of music, the whole scheme of fingering would be different. And, -at first, he had laboriously to go through the process of watching -first the music and then the key-board, and of <i>thinking</i> at each -point what he should do with his fingers and with his feet, and how he -should do it, and for what period he should keep on doing it. Now, the -whole process is gone through with half-a-million notes which he has -never seen before, many of them played simultaneously, and with an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -exactitude which he never attained when he was consciously thinking. -Whatever may be the nature of the unconscious action which is taking -place, all he has in consciousness is the music in front of him, and -the final sound that he is producing, together with the emotions which -these called forth in him as a result of the whole.</p> - -<p>Can there be any doubt left that a complicated unconscious process of -the same kind is taking place?</p> - -<p>Or again, let us examine our own personal likes and dislikes. -Frequently one can assign no reason whatsoever for these. They may -exist, in fact, against what we call our better judgment. We may -love a person in spite of certain faults, or dislike him in spite -of his virtues. If the matter be examined further, however, we not -infrequently find the reasons for our emotions towards him. Either -his manner, dress, or tone of voice, or some other trivial feature -may resemble someone we have liked before, or on the contrary, some -mannerism may call to mind a similar mannerism which we associate -either in ourselves or in some other person, with unpleasant -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>characteristics. Our unconscious mind has rapidly sized up all these -points, appraised them, and presented our conscious mind with the -resulting emotions alone.</p> - -<p>So-called intuition is, to a large extent, merely rapid unconscious -reasoning, in which minute details are taken into consideration by the -unconscious, and only the final opinion presented to consciousness. -One should beware of trusting intuition too much, however, in spite of -popular prejudice to the contrary, for unconscious reasoning is just -as liable to be wrong in its conclusions as is conscious reasoning; -and it is just as liable to reach the conclusion which best serves its -immediate purpose, and to suppress truth where it is unpleasant.<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" >[1]</a></p> - -<p>Some psychologists think that the unconscious mind is <i>infallible</i> -in purely <i>deductive</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> reasoning from the <i>premises</i> from which it -starts. But it provides its own premises from a secret store and also -accepts any suggested premises which are not repugnant. The premises -may therefore be wrong but the deductive reasoning is accurate. In this -case the conclusions will only be wrong because the premises are wrong.</p> - -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1">[1]</a> Unconscious reasoning or intuition is found chiefly in -those who have not been trained in subjects which induce and train -logical conscious reasoning. It is not a prerogative of sex, but on -the whole is found more amongst women, merely because of their method -of training from childhood upwards. In children and savages intuition -is found equally present in both sexes. The loss of intuition merely -means that the training of the conscious mind has caused us to mistrust -conclusions for which we cannot consciously see the reasons.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER II</span> <span class="smaller">REPRESSION</span></h2> - -<h3>§1</h3> - -<p>One other faculty of the unconscious mind requires special mention, and -that is its power of obliterating memories from the conscious mind, -or as it is better termed, of <i>repressing</i>, since this word not only -implies pushing out of consciousness, but also preventing from coming -into consciousness. It is found that all persons have formed a regular -habit of forgetting or partially forgetting, (and so disguising), -things which are unpleasant to them. This especially refers to those -things which are unpleasant to their self-respect, their moral beliefs -and ideas, and their general pride in themselves. The primitive -immoralities and thoughts and actions of early childhood which would -now offend their æsthetic and moral susceptibilities, are, more or -less, completely put out of sight, together with a host of unpleasant -ideas and thoughts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> which have cropped up from childhood onwards. -Indeed, there is a general tendency for anything of an unpleasant -nature to be pushed out of sight.</p> - -<p>Darwin, in his autobiography, states, “I had, during many years, -followed a golden rule, namely that whenever a published fact, a new -observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general -results, to make a memorandum of it without fail, and at once, for I -had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt -to escape from the memory than favourable ones.”</p> - -<p>We had a further example in the case of the house-surgeon who “forgot” -to put out his light, and examples are extremely common in everyday -life. We forget to post letters entrusted to us against our will, but -we do not forget to post our own love-letters. We mislay bills very -readily, but rarely do we mislay a cheque.</p> - -<p>Amongst my patients suffering from shell-shock, I have had very many -hundreds who have completely forgotten some of the most unpleasant -and terrifying experiences which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> occurred to them out at the front. -Others unconsciously had found the easiest method of dealing with -the unpleasant past to be that of blotting the whole of it out, -dissociating it completely from their conscious mind, and then stating -that they remembered nothing of their lives until they woke up in -hospital. It is not only memories, however, which are repressed and -remain dormant in the unconscious mind. Most of our primitive instincts -handed on from our savage forefathers before even the evolution of man -in his present form, lie similarly buried in this unconscious part of -the mind, and we are wont to deny emphatically that we possess these -unpleasant instincts. Nevertheless, just as <i>in utero</i> we repeat more -or less in detail the history of our physical evolution, so do we at -that period and in childhood repeat to a great extent the history of -our psychic evolution; and just as during this early period we possess -the physical attributes of many of our ancestors, such as the gills -of the fish or the tail of the lower vertebrates, so psychically do -we at a somewhat later period, possess the instincts and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> desires of -our progenitors, and utilise them as the hidden foundation stones -in building our adult mental constitution. These various primitive -instincts include all kinds of desires which would consciously be -regarded as sexual perversions and moral crimes of different kinds, and -they are present in all of us without exception. Our upbringing and -conscious outlook upon them, however, causes them to be so abhorrent to -us, that we successfully keep the majority of such ideas and feelings -<i>from ever coming out of the unconscious in their primitive form</i>. -In other words, we repress them. Occasionally, however, there is a -tendency for these ancestral instincts to become conscious, and in -our further efforts to prevent this we may develop instead hysterias, -obsessions and unreasonable fears, together with many other nervous -and abnormal signs and symptoms, into the nature of which it is not -my intention to inquire further in this present volume. Those who -are interested in pursuing this line of investigation will find an -elementary account of it in a previous work of mine, “The Elements -of Practical Psycho-Analysis.” All that I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> wish to emphasise here -is that we do push out from the conscious mind unpleasant thoughts -and memories, that we do repress and keep in the unconscious mind -unpleasant desires and instincts, and that we do, as a result of this, -have many unconscious or semi-conscious conflicts within ourselves, -which may lead to unpleasant feelings of depression, irritability, -fear, or in more pronounced cases hysterias, obsessions, and even -permanent mental derangement.</p> - -<h3>§2</h3> - -<p>A further and somewhat important result of our possessing so much -which is unconscious and of having so many feelings and ideas in -consciousness of which we do not know the origin, or of whose -origins we have but the vaguest and haziest notion is known as -<i>rationalization</i>. This word signifies that we find reasons for doing -or believing things which are of a pleasant nature and agreeable to us, -and <i>vice versa</i>.</p> - -<p>Following on this rationalisation comes also a certain conservatism, -which tends to retard progress of any sort, which dislikes looking at -new ideas, and this for a very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> obvious reason. Looking at new ideas, -examining ourselves or our work very closely, has a tendency to bring -to light, from time to time, the very primitive instincts and feelings -which we have been at so much pains to repress. And rather than submit -to the indignity of discovering how really imperfect we are, and having -our pride in our divinely constituted natures shaken, we have acquired -a habit of denying and fighting strenuously against discovering truths -connected with either our moral or physical evolution which would be -unpleasant to us. In the light of our upbringing, such new truths are -often unpleasant, therefore we rationalise that they must be untrue. -For having been educated to venerate logic and reason, we can only -be satisfied with any given conclusion we come to when we feel that -it is justifiable in the light of logic and reason. But the logic of -rationalisation is false logic.</p> - -<p>For many years, scientific and popular thought denied strenuously the -possibility of the now universally accepted theory of human evolution; -and on scientific grounds it was urged, with much plausible reasoning, -that it was not possible to develop a high type<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> like man from any low -form of animal. On religious grounds it was argued equally passionately -that if evolution were true, the Bible was wrong, God disappeared, and -therefore the theory of evolution was untrue. The real reasons lying -behind those reasons advanced by both the scientist and the general -public, however, were not the reasons so carefully thought out by -them, but consisted largely in the fact that they did not wish to find -that the body, which they had hitherto thought a special and divine -creation partaking of the miraculous, to be merely a stage in the -evolution of life on this planet, and possibly not a final stage at -that. For in that case, no longer would man be able to flatter himself -that he was almost divine, he would have to relegate himself to the -possibility of being in a stage of semi-barbarism; he would no longer -be a final perfect product, but merely a half-finished article. It was -this blow to his pride that he could not stand. And it is the same -to-day. Whenever there is a likelihood that examination, particularly -through research work, has thrown light on his psychic evolution, -on the imperfections of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> his moral laws, or on the crudity of some -conventional custom, the process which takes place in him is much the -same.</p> - -<p>Firstly, dislike of the idea. Secondly, on further examination of it, -hatred of the idea. Thirdly, rationalisation directed against the idea. -Fourthly, contentment, in that he has proved by logic and reason that -the idea is wrong. Hence, it is that the truth takes long to emerge, -and that obsessions and hysterias, and even trivial abnormalities are -difficult to cure, for the cure involves seeing our own imperfections -naked and undisguised.</p> - -<p>In all these cases, we are trying to keep out of consciousness those -things which will distress us or cause us to have conflicts, or to have -to readjust our views of ourselves, or in fact cause us unpleasantness -in any form. It will be noticed that I have mentioned pride in the -belief that we have reached a condition of final development, and in -our superiority over the rest of nature, as being one of the important -factors in preventing our advance. It is to the development of this -pride, and its ramifications that I am devoting the major portion of -this book.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER III</span> <span class="smaller">THE FORCES SHAPING CHARACTER</span></h2> - -<p>It will be seen from the foregoing that evolution of the individual -character may be the result of a very large number of forces at -work, of which many are quite unconscious; and that any considerable -disturbance or variation of the unconscious factors will considerably -modify the character of the individual, in spite of conscious desires -in some other direction. The character of an individual is the sum of -his thoughts, ideas, capacities, desires, feelings and actions, and the -general forces moulding it may be briefly summarised as follows:</p> - -<blockquote><p>1. The primitive instincts inherited from his ancestors, and held -back in the unconscious mind.</p> - -<p>2. Environment and education.</p> - -<p>3. That pride in his own greatness, to which we referred in -the last chapter, which modifies all the other forces at work, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>according to the direction of its development. This force will -henceforth be called by the name of Narcissism, for a reason -shortly to be explained.</p></blockquote> - -<h3>§2</h3> - -<p>Of the inherited instincts we have already said as much as is necessary -here. It suffices for us to recognise that they are for the most part -of a primitive erotic type, and that they are so repressed and modified -as to be unrecognisable in the normal adult. When they have been -ineffectually converted by environment and education, we have present -the basis of many neurotic and functional conditions, and this again is -a matter which is outside the scope of the present work.</p> - -<h3>§3</h3> - -<p>Environment and education are extremely comprehensive terms as used -in psychology. Environment does not merely refer to the home with its -visible surroundings, nor does education merely refer to the scholastic -side of it. Environment and education include the treatment of the -child by the nurse during<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> the first week of life; for instance, -whether she leaves it alone when it cries, or whether she soothes it -and rocks it to sleep again. A trivial fact, the reader will think, -especially in the first week of the child’s life, yet experience -shows us that this environment and education of the first week is an -extremely important factor in its after-life. The thousand little -actions, the trivial chance words of anger or contempt, not merely -of the parent but of strangers or of other children, all make their -impressions on the infantile unconscious mind. They all belong, in the -strictest sense, to what we term its environment and education. Any -stimulus, in fact, however small, which is capable of reaching the -brain forms part of this environment and education which is reacting -on the child. Psychologists are now generally of the opinion that -the essential elements of the individual character have all been -definitely formed by the age of five, and that, important as training -in successive years may be, the environment and education during those -first five years are more important still.</p> - -<p><i>It is the object of education and</i> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span><i>environment to modify and utilise -the force of the primitive instincts with which the child comes into -the world in the best possible way.</i></p> - -<p><i>Three things may happen to any particular instinct.</i> Firstly, it may -remain unchanged and unrepressed, in which case the individual will -be said, on reaching adult life, to be perverted in some way. Let us -take as an example that instinct which exists in some animals, and -which urges them at the mating season to exhibit their genital organs -to their fellows of the opposite sex, with the perfectly natural and -proper end in view of propagating the species. We occasionally find -adult human beings in whom this instinct has remained unchanged and -uncontrolled, and they generally find their way, sooner or later, -into prison. The psychological term for the offence they commit is -“exhibitionism.” In the small child, however, we have often seen this -instinct at work, without regarding it as objectionable in any way. -We have laughed at the little child who delights in running about -naked, or asks us to come and see it being bathed, or on occasion calls -even more obvious attention to its state<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> of nakedness. It is quite -unconscious of the primitive instinct which it is displaying, and since -it is a child and cannot in any way fulfil the sexual objects of the -instinct, we pass the matter over, without further thought.</p> - -<p>Secondly, our primitive instincts may be <i>displaced</i>, and the -displacement must be such as to conceal them from our conscious -thoughts, in order that they may be tolerated by the conscious mind. -For instance, the normal adult will not be guilty of exhibiting his -nakedness in the way above referred to, nor will he display desires of -sexual exhibitionism in a conscious manner. But he, or more frequently -she, will <i>displace</i> these ideas, and will only call attention to the -sex of her body indirectly by exhibiting the neck or arms, or more -indirectly still through the medium of clothes, designed to suggest, -(for the most part unconsciously) erotic ideas.</p> - -<p>Thirdly, a much higher state may be reached by some people in which the -primitive instinct has now lost entirely its erotic meaning, instead -of being merely disguised and displaced as in the last case. The force -and energy of it has all gone from the personal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> physical plane to -serve a useful social purpose of a non-sexual nature. This is known as -<i>sublimation</i>, and instead of the desire of our exhibitionist to show -himself or herself physically, the person may attain the desire by -showing a fine character, by designing a fine building, achieving some -high position, or anything in fact of an ideal or non-erotic nature.</p> - -<p>Exactly the same process takes place in the opposite of exhibitionism, -which in its primitive form we term observationism. “Peeping Tom” is a -celebrated example of this. We have a <i>displacement</i> of observationism -in the fairly average young man, who likes to observe all that he can -of the charms of every woman he comes into contact with, who takes -an eager interest in her shoulders, breasts, underclothing, and any -part she may exhibit. And we have the third or <i>sublimated</i> stage in -the scientist, who has turned most of his primitive sexual instinct -of “looking” in the sexual sense into looking down the microscope, or -searching for the secrets of Nature, and delving amidst her hidden -laws, instead of using the same <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>primitive desire to look in an -unsublimated and rather more infantile manner.</p> - -<p>It is exactly the same with a large number of other primitive -instincts, which even did I mention them here would not be grasped -or understood at all by many without very much further explanation. -Suffice it to say, that many of our higher activities and desires -are sublimations of lower and more primitive instincts, which we are -learning to develop and control; <i>and that education and environment -have, as their object, the training of the child by turning the forces -at work in his primitive instincts through the stage of displacement -into the final one of sublimation</i>.</p> - -<p>It should be clearly grasped that the energy lying behind our primitive -instincts, whether it be repressed, displaced or sublimated, is a -very real force, comparable with the physical energy which we are -accustomed to deal with in everyday life. <i>And this energy must find -some outlet for its discharge.</i> Thus,<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" >[2]</a>“We know as regards physical -energy that there are not several kinds of energy, but merely several -manifestations of it, and that it may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> be changed from one form of -manifestation to another, but that still the sum total of the original -energy remains without addition or loss.”</p> - -<p>Thus there is a given amount of energy stored in a ton of coal. This -energy can manifest itself as <i>heat</i> in the furnace and boiler. By -means of an engine we can change the manifestation into that of -<i>motion</i>, then with a dynamo to <i>electricity</i>; the electricity we can -again change into <i>light</i>, or back again into <i>heat</i> or <i>motion</i>. There -is <i>one</i> energy, but by suitable means we can turn it to different -uses, and give different manifestations of it. Owing, however, to the -imperfection of the boiler, machinery, etc., we never transform the -<i>whole</i> of our energy into another form. In transforming heat into -electricity, there is always some heat wasted; it is not destroyed, but -it remains as heat for a time, and is absorbed by surrounding objects. -A complete transference of energy does not take place, and the less -efficient the machinery the less is the transference.</p> - -<p>Now evidence tends to show a considerable similarity between psychic -and physical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> energy. In all probability there is only one ultimate -psychic energy which, like physical energy, can be directed into -different channels. Thus, the energy of erotic desire can be directed -to a large extent into the energy of desire for music, religion, -science, or sport; or the energy of the desire for sport may be changed -into the energy of the desire for mental exercise, such as chess, -mathematics, or science. For example, an individual feels “restless,” -he then desires to play tennis; the afternoon is wet: he plays chess -instead. His psychic energy has been diverted from one channel into -another with its accompanying excitement and satisfaction of desire: -with its final feeling of fatigue and repletion.</p> - -<p>Psychic energy, like physical energy, can never be entirely diverted -from one channel to another. There is always some, often a large -quantity, which is not altered in character. The amount of this depends -largely on the person concerned, just as the amount of physical energy, -changed from one form to another depends on the efficiency of the -engine or machinery.</p> - -<p>This possibility of transference of energy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> of desire from one form -to another is of the utmost importance to the psycho-analyst. By the -technique of psycho-analysis the energy of repressed desires is first -freed from deleterious objectives, and then transferred to legitimate -ones. The energy behind the conflicts which lead to alcoholism or -drug-taking may, under suitable conditions, be transferred to energy of -higher types of desire with more suitable outlets. These processes are -known as <i>transference</i> and <i>sublimation</i> respectively.</p> - -<p>It may be taken that every mind has a given amount of psychic energy -which <i>must</i> find somewhere its suitable outlet in satisfying desire, -whether for accomplishment or for enjoyment.</p> - -<p>We may here again take the opportunity of stating that the efficiency -or lack of efficiency demonstrated in different individuals in their -attempts to transfer the energy of desire from a lower to a higher -channel depends not only on heredity and constitutional circumstances -but to an extraordinary degree on the individual’s environment and the -actions of the parents in the first three or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> four years of his life. -The reason why seemingly excellent parents produce sometimes execrable -progeny becomes clearer under psycho-analysis. The over-strict parent -produces one type of inefficient children, the parent who spoils -produces other inefficient types. The nurse, the nursery, the casual -visitor, the trivial conversations, the unconsidered sights and -experiences, all have a terrific influence in the first few years -of the child’s life. Parents do not realise that conventional or -arbitrary methods of education, whether in one direction or another, -are not going to effect the results they expected. The primitive -unconscious mind of the child understands and absorbs in a manner -that civilised man does not recognise. The bad father may by accident -or <i>neglect</i> produce an excellent child—the good father with all -his designs may produce a bad one. This is not an attempt to show -that as the child grows up <i>all</i> its actions are dependent on the -early environment; merely that we can never compare the good or bad -in individuals; that an apparent failure, owing to his inefficiency -of powers of sublimation, may yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> be devoting more energy to ascent -than the successful saint whose early environment made for efficient -transference of energy of desire. Some of the commonest of errors made -by well-meaning parents will come to light at a later period. “<i>They -teach their children to repress erotic and other desires but they omit -at the same time to assist the development of that sublimation of them -which is absolutely essential.</i>”</p> - -<h3>§4</h3> - -<p>We now come to the third great factor in character formation, and as -this particular factor is going to occupy the major portion of this -book, I will not do more here than indicate briefly the symbolic -meaning of the term Narcissism; the reason why this term is used in -connection with our primitive feelings of pride will then gradually -unfold itself.</p> - -<p>Narcissus was the son of the river god, Cephissus. In his mother’s -eyes he was extremely beautiful, and later in the eyes of all others, -including himself. It was his wont to walk abroad in solitary places -lost in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> admiration of the graceful form which he thought no eyes -worthy to behold, save his own. On one occasion, he wanted to drink -from a cool spring and catching sight of his face in the water for -the first time in his life, at once fell in love with it, not knowing -it to be his own likeness. On his knees at the edge of the pool, he -stretched himself, and looked down upon a face and form so entrancingly -beautiful, that he was ready to leap into the water beside it.</p> - -<p>“Who art thou, who hast been made so fair?” cried Narcissus. And the -lips of the image moved, yet there came no answer. He stretched out his -hand towards it, and the beautiful form beckoned to him. But when his -hand touched and broke the surface, it vanished like a dream, only to -return in all its enchantment when he was content to gaze motionless, -even then, again, growing dim beneath the tears of vexation he shed -into the water. Repeatedly, he tried to gather the lovely image in his -arms, but it always eluded him, but when he entreated and implored, it -imitated his gestures with unfeeling silence. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> - -<p>Maddened by the strong allurement of his own likeness, he could not -tear himself away from the mirror which ever mocked his fancy. Hour -after hour, day after day, he leant over the pool’s brink, crying in -vain for that imaginary object of adoration. But at last from despair -his heart ceased to throb, and he lay still among the water-lilies that -made his shroud.</p> - -<p class="center">* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>Before proceeding further and examining the development of Narcissism, -and those factors which come to preserve it, and make it forceful in -our unconscious mind, we must first briefly consider the subject of -determinism.</p> - -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2">[2]</a> “Elements of Practical Psycho-Analysis,” by Paul -Bousfield.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER IV</span> <span class="smaller">DETERMINISM AND WILL POWER</span></h2> - -<p>Determinism is the doctrine that all things, including the will, are -determined by causes. It is the antithesis of the doctrine of free -will. In its complete form, it holds that the individual has no direct -and voluntary control over his thoughts and actions but that every -thought and action is inevitably the result of a large number of -previous thoughts and actions which have gone before.</p> - -<p>There is a very large amount of evidence, and indeed, whether we admit -it or not, the evidence is quite irrefutable, that in regard to the -majority of our actions the doctrine of determinism holds good. But the -evidence is by no means sufficient to enable us to conclude that we -have no free will.</p> - -<p><a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" >[3]</a>Freud in his book on the “Psychopathology of Everyday Life” and in -other works gives many convincing examples that much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> in our character, -that many of our actions, evil and good, are quite beyond our control -at any given moment. But there is one thing that appears to have been -overlooked, and that is, <i>that in all the examples given one could -not conceivably utilise free will in any case</i>. If I ask you to think -of a number what opportunity do you get of using your will power? -If you put the wrong latch-key into the door by accident, have you -made any effort to use will power? When a patient is suffering from -hysteria due to repressions of various kinds, in that particular matter -<i>the will power has already been lost</i>. When a chronic alcoholic is -unable to cease from drinking his will power in reference to this has -disappeared, therefore determinism holds the field completely. The -will has no opportunity of working then. In all the examples which -Freud gives one discovers on careful investigation that for some reason -or another there is no opportunity for the use of free will. Such -evidence as we have certainly does not prove the nonexistence of free -will, but merely shows that in a very large number of our thoughts and -actions we do not use any will at all, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> that in other cases we are -unable to use our will effectively.<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" >[4]</a> When determinism does rule we -may liken it physically to this: a patient sits down and crosses one -leg over the other and leaves the one leg hanging free. On tapping -it smartly beneath the patella the foot will kick; the knee jerk has -been elicited. If this be done fifty times the result will be the -same fifty times. There is movement of the leg, but this movement is -predetermined. On the other hand this does not prove that no other -movement of the leg is possible. Under the conditions just given the -man’s will, or the freedom of the leg, is merely <i>eliminated during -that period</i>. Or again, we may liken it to a locomotive standing at the -top of a hill; if the brake be taken off, the locomotive will run down -the hill, and will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> do it every time; but this will not prove that did -somebody happen to put the brake on half-way down the hill the engine -would still go on running. However, all actions which we may ascribe to -our will are no doubt strictly limited by other determined conditions. -The man on the engine may run it backwards or forwards, but only within -<i>the very much prescribed limits which the rails allow</i>. We may safely -accept this much determinism, that although the will exists, its -capabilities are strictly circumscribed by determinism.</p> - -<p>It is rather in his general direction than in any specific act that -a man has most control. We certainly have not the amount of free -will which we like to believe we have. For example, the reader of -this chapter may have returned home to-night and have said, “I will -not have a meal to-night, it is too hot.” What are the factors (or -determinants, as they are called) in this case? Perhaps external heat, -producing langour by various physiological processes, combined with -lack of appetite, in its turn produced by several causes, and added to -this, depression, produced by a bad business deal, and in its turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> the -result of many other determinants outside the reader’s control. There -is no desire to eat, and these various determinants, added together, -prove stronger than the habit of eating the evening meal. Having, -however, read this chapter as far as this point, the reader desiring to -disprove my unpleasant suggestion, immediately says, “Ah! I will prove -that I have free will. I will eat my meal in spite of not wanting it.”</p> - -<p>Alas! this does not <i>prove</i> free will, new determinants have merely -been added on the other side, and desire to prove strength of mind has -now out-weighed accumulated efforts which prevented you from eating.</p> - -<p>Since it has been shown that a man’s control is constantly being -limited by other determinants, it follows that the criminal whose -environment and determinants, conscious and unconscious, have been -manufactured for him from evil sources, yet who, on the whole, is -progressing upwards in spite of these, may be forming a far better -character than the arch-bishop whose environment from the beginning has -been such as never to give him criminal characteristics,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> yet whose -growth has been, on the whole, towards a more selfish position, even -though this be not noticeable to the eyes of others.</p> - -<p><i>Now many of the determinants forming our characters lie in the -unconscious. They are unknown to us and only the results of their -activities are visible. Herein lies the difficulty of controlling -ourselves. How can we efficiently control that of which we do not know -the existence? Herein, also, lies the value of psycho-analysis, for it -brings many of these determinants to light, and we are thus able to -control them consciously.</i> Only a part of all this can be accomplished -by such self-analysis as may be indicated in this book. Yet even so, a -much greater degree of self-control may be obtained.</p> - -<h3>§2</h3> - -<p>Let us now consider briefly why persons who have not previously been -irritable, should suddenly become irritable; who have not previously -been hysterical, should suddenly become hysterical; who have not -previously been in the habit of weeping, should at some time after -reaching adult life, revert to that infantile habit. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> - -<p>The explanation of mental troubles of various kinds involves two -factors. In the first place, any individual is capable of bearing a -certain amount of conflict and a certain amount of repression. It is -only when the accumulated force is more than he can control, <i>that is -when new determinants are added</i>, that the symptoms begin to appear. He -is like a steam engine in which as long as the steam is being used up -in doing work, or as long as the safety valve is working efficiently -when work is not being done, the boiler stands a pressure of 100lbs. -very comfortably. If the safety valve gets jammed, and the energy -cannot be transferred from the steam to the work, the pressure in the -boiler rises higher and higher until it bursts from the joints and -rivet-holes.</p> - -<p>The second factor which determines the mode of expression of this -out-burst of repressed energy is known as the <i>law of regression</i>. -This means that if the adult outlet of energy becomes dammed up or is -insufficient, <i>the energy will flow through an earlier channel which -has once been used</i>. The individual will, in fact, revert to some -method which he was wont to use in earlier years,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> or in infancy. It -is true that this may be disguised and not recognised as an infantile -mode of expression until it is looked into more closely. This question -of regression, however, need not be more than touched upon here. It -will be much more fully dealt with when we come to actual examples at a -later stage.</p> - -<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3">[3]</a> “The Elements of Practical Psycho-Analysis,” by Paul -Bousfield.</p> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4">[4]</a> The doctrines of determinism and free-will respectively -can be brought entirely into line with one another if we include -freewill itself as one of the determinants. Thus, if in the formula</p> - -<p class="center">S = a + b + c + d + etc.</p> - -<p>where S is the resultant action, and a, b, c, d, etc., are the several -determinants, it happens that d = 0. The presence of d does not -invalidate the formula. <i>But if</i> d <i>does not happen to be zero, the -absence of</i> d <i>would invalidate the formula</i>. If d represents the -“will” component there may be plenty, even a majority of cases in which -d = 0, but there may be cases in which the omission of d will render -the result erroneous.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER V</span> <span class="smaller">NARCISSISM</span></h2> - -<p>The term Narcissism has already been mentioned and some slight -indication of its importance in character development has been given. -We have also examined the derivation of the term, and found that it -implies self-interest, self-importance, self-worship; all of which -characteristics are in modified degrees possessed by everybody. There -are, however, many other manifestations of Narcissism, many tricks by -which it gets past our conscious intentions, many ways in which it -associates itself with other instincts, and unknown to us works our -undoing. We shall therefore, in this chapter, examine the development -of Narcissism from its very earliest stages, and trace out in some -detail whither it may lead.</p> - -<p>Most people were they asked at what moment the child’s mind first -began to register feelings, thoughts, and emotions, would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> probably at -once and without hesitation say, “At the moment of birth.” It seems -the obvious thing to say, but like many other obvious things such a -statement appears to have but little evidence in support of it and much -against it.</p> - -<p>The act of birth has performed no sudden or miraculous change upon the -growth and tissues of the body. It is true that oxygen is now absorbed -through the lungs instead of as originally through the mother’s blood, -but the essential tissues, the brain, the muscles and the bones have -undergone no sudden change. Before birth, they were living tissues, -and we know that the muscles were at work, for we had felt the baby’s -movements <i>in utero</i>; we know that the heart was at work, driving -the blood through the child’s arteries. We had learnt this also by -means of the stethoscope many weeks before the child was born. Why -then should we assume that the brain had registered nothing at birth? -We do indeed know that it must have been at work in part, for it was -learning to regulate the action of the child’s heart and the child’s -secretions, the blood pressure, and the motions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> of its limbs. We are -therefore justified in assuming that it must be capable of registering -impressions, even though it were incapable of reason or thought.</p> - -<p>It is true that at birth it commences to undergo many vivid new -experiences, but that is no reason for assuming that it has not -undergone any experiences <i>in utero</i>, and that these experiences have -not made some impressions on the brain. Let us see for a moment what -impressions it is likely to have received and registered. First of -all, it would most certainly hear sounds, the sounds of the blood -rushing through the mother’s arteries and the sounds from the outer -world, muffled and indistinct when they had penetrated the mother’s -body. All these sounds would be of a soft crooning nature, and those -caused by the blood in the mother’s arteries would be of a rhythmic, -humming, rising and falling nature, a kind of rhythmic lullaby very -similar in many respects to the lullaby the mother will hum to the -child when she wishes to put it to sleep at a later period. We should -expect these sounds to be registered on the child’s brain so that if -it ever heard their like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> again, some chord of <i>feeling-memory</i> would -be struck, and some emotional association brought to mind. In the -second place, external movements would be registered on the child’s -mind as the mother walked about. There would be a swaying or swinging -movement. Again we should expect that when, in after life, the child -experienced a swaying or swinging movement, a chord of memory would be -touched again, and these earlier associations would be revived; not as -a conscious memory or fact, of course, but as a feeling.</p> - -<p>Again, conscious movements of its own limbs might be impressed upon it. -It would find, when it tried to move, that its movements were limited, -and that it attained more perfect peace by refraining from attempting -to struggle and change its position. It would be impressed by the -pleasantness of inertia as opposed to the unpleasantness of making -an effort. And finally, its general position with the knees drawn up -and the chin bent down would be firmly registered, so that when in -after-life it again assumed this position, once more the chord of -memory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> would be struck, and the old feeling of repose would be likely -to return.</p> - -<p>Now, we cannot assume that the child has any active mental state before -its birth, but we know that its condition (taken in conjunction with -its extremely limited experience) is one as near omnipotence (from its -standpoint) as may be. It breathes, or rather absorbs oxygen without -any effort of breathing. It is fed, it is kept warm and comfortable -without any effort whatsoever. It lives in a world entirely its own, -where everything works together for its comfort and well-being. It has -to make no struggle for existence. It has to deal with nothing <i>real</i>, -save perhaps that its voluntary movements are limited, and this perhaps -is bad for its education, since at that period of its life it learns -that it can be most comfortable by making least effort! And here we see -the beginning of that which we all possess in after-life, <i>inertia</i>, -the difficulty of making a beginning at anything, the objection which -we have to making efforts.</p> - -<p>Now let us see what happens to this omnipotent little creature at -birth. It goes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> through the probably painful process of having its -position roughly changed and being thrust into an atmosphere which is -cold and unusual to it. Moreover it has to make its first struggle for -breath, its first effort to sustain existence. And in its struggle for -breath it utters cries, which by experience it very soon finds to be -magic sounds which enable it to fulfil its wishes. But of this, more -later.</p> - -<p>After its first rude awakening, let us once more see what happens. It -is wrapped up in something warm; that is, it is returned to a semblance -of the womb, by having something round it which keeps out the cold. It -is gently rocked to and fro by the nurse or other attendant, and again -the semblance of the previous rocking in the womb is returned to it. -Crooning sounds are murmured over it, and the semblance is still more -complete. It frequently draws its knees up somewhat if it is placed in -such a position that it can do so with ease, and falls asleep. It has -attained as nearly as possible once more the semblance of its pre-birth -condition, where it has no cares, and is warm and comfortable again. -And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> though it has become acquainted with effort, it is quite obvious -that its feeling of omnipotence, if we may so term it for the moment, -is hardly yet disturbed, and the world it has come into differs but -slightly from the world which it has left; it is still a world in which -the infant is the centre and ruler, in which its every want is attended -to without an effort on its part, save that it may sometimes have to -call attention to its wants by means of that magical cry which it soon -learns how and when to use, and which acts in a truly magical manner in -accomplishing the fulfilment of all its desires.</p> - -<p>During the first few weeks of the infant’s life this delusion on the -part of the child is largely kept up. Few people think there is any -harm in attending to all a baby’s wants in the first month of its -life. They do not think it could possibly be wrong to spoil it at that -age, because its intellect has not developed. They forget entirely -that its mental condition and attitude towards life, apart from actual -thought, may inevitably be affected at this period. Hence, whenever -the baby cries, it is not uncommonly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> rocked to sleep, or fed, or if -it holds out its hand and shows its desire to possess anything, it is -immediately allowed to possess it, and to play with it. It has to make -but the faintest attempts to adjust itself to its environment, it has -to face but the slightest reality; all its desires are immediately -fulfilled, and kept in a condition of almost continual fulfilment. And -it may remain for a considerable period as near being an omnipotent -creature as it is possible for any living thing to be. Its omnipotence, -however, is really a fallacy, or as I prefer to term it at a slightly -later stage, a phantasy, for the world in which it lived before birth, -which seemed to it as a world, was not really a world at all, but a -very small and a very temporary abode, and the world in which it is -living for the first few months after birth is again not really a world -but a combination of extremely limited and carefully selected portions -of the world, in which every attempt is made to disguise from it the -realities of the actual world.</p> - -<p>Again let us emphasise the fact that the chief effort that the infant -has to make is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> the effort of crying. And it may learn very quickly -that this is so all-powerful as to practically efface the unpleasant -task of having to adjust itself to the realities of life. This process -is carried on with slight modifications for many months. The infant has -but to wave a magic wand, as it were, has but to emit a little magic -noise from its mouth, and all the world it knows is set in motion to -give it satisfaction and some semblance of its pre-birth omnipotence.</p> - -<p><i>This cry which brings it gratification, if it has been really -effective over a too-prolonged period, will tend to fix permanently -in the child’s mind the fact that either weeping or making a magic -noise with the mouth will always attain for it gratification. And -although at a later stage the conscious mind will be obliged to accept -a considerable amount of reality and to reject the idea of omnipotence, -yet the unconscious mind will persist in the struggle and will make -futile efforts to forget reality, to change reality into phantasy, and -to regain its omnipotent state.</i></p> - -<p>When a man uses expletives because some task of his has failed to -result in success, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> is really repeating the infant’s cry. He is -really uttering a magic sound which his unconscious mind hopes may -somehow remedy the failure. He has not definitely accepted the reality -of failure as a commonplace hard fact of life at the moment at which he -utters his expletive.</p> - -<p>When a person weeps at some unpleasant happening or in anger at -something which has touched his pride, exactly the same is taking -place. He, or she, has failed to make a complete adaptation of -himself to the facts and realities of life. <i>He has obeyed the law -of regression</i>, to which I referred in a previous chapter, and has -returned to the infantile method of expression, namely weeping, with -the unconscious hope that a magic compensation will result; that -instead of his having to adapt himself to the facts of life, the facts -of life will somehow adapt themselves to his phantasy.</p> - -<p>Hence, the first piece of advice that one must give to parents is -that they should, from the earliest possible moment, train the -infant to understand that the magic cries will not at once produce -their expected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> result; and the first week in the infant’s life is -all-important in this matter. The choosing of the nurse who has charge -during that period should be done with great care, and what is required -of her should be insisted on. Too great emphasis cannot be laid upon -these points.</p> - -<p>The child should be fed at regular and proper intervals, and should -be kept warm. But if it cries, as it will do naturally, it should be -left to itself to cry. It should not be picked up, rocked to sleep, -given another meal nor petted. If it is left to cry, it will learn very -rapidly and at the right period of its life that the sounds which it -emits are not magical, and it will begin to adapt itself to the fact -that it lives in a real world which has not been built solely and only -for its own delight.</p> - -<p>It is curious to note how regression, this instinct to return to the -earlier mode of expression, to return apparently even to the pre-birth -state, persists in the unconscious mind.</p> - -<p>During the war, I knew a youth who was intensely agitated by the -air-raids. He felt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> perfectly safe, however, if he could crawl under -the bed or table, where he would curl himself into practically the same -position as that of a normal baby before birth. When questioned, he had -not, of course, the slightest conscious knowledge of why he felt safe -in such curious circumstances. But it does not seem improbable that -the association of ideas produced by his position and by the confined -space created a feeling akin to that feeling of safety which has been -his in his pre-birth omnipotent position where nothing could harm him. -A similar feeling of security was experienced by many normal persons in -cellars and other confined spaces and was probably of the same origin; -for there is no doubt that this safety was felt even though their -reason told them that a bomb was as likely to reach their confined -space as any other place in the neighbourhood.</p> - -<p>Again, I know of innumerable cases in which soldiers felt very much -safer from bombs which fell at night when they were under cover of a -canvas tent. Logically, of course, the thing was absurd; emotionally, -it was a fact. And all were equally unconscious of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> any possible -reasons for the feeling of security produced. An example of this same -tendency at an earlier age is seen in children who cover their heads -with the bedclothes when they are frightened.</p> - -<p>To return to our Narcissistic infant, we are now impressed with the -fact that one thing of the utmost importance in the first years of its -life is that it shall gradually come into contact with reality, shall -discover that all things do not belong to it, that its omnipotent -feelings are based purely upon phantasy and not upon reality; and upon -the method of its disillusionment and the age at which this begins -largely depend the future powers of adaptation of the child to its -surroundings. It has now become obvious that the new-born infant lives -in a world of phantasy, in which, the relative importance of itself to -things outside itself is not merely distorted but is entirely absent. -And if we can suppose a child kept artificially in this condition till -it reached adult life, every wish satisfied instantaneously, every -force it knows directed entirely towards gratifying its immediate -desires, we do not require much imagination<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> to understand how -absolutely helpless and lost this omnipotent creature would be if -suddenly turned into the world to face life and reality. His one desire -would be to return to his omnipotent state, his one effort to keep at -bay reality and turn it into the pleasant phantasy of the previous -twenty years. For he would surely, before his disillusionment, have -really come to believe himself omnipotent, the only real thing in a -phantasy world of his own fashioning and dreaming.</p> - -<p>An extreme case of this kind is, of course, an impossibility. But there -are many and various degrees in which it is approached. Probably the -nearest approach to it may be found in cases where some sort of moral -or mental conflict has been too much for an extremely Narcissistic -mind, which has then completely regressed, refused to recognise the -outer world, and developed a certain form of insanity; and from this -stage of complete Narcissistic regression all degrees and kinds of -manifestations of it may be found, until we reach at the other end of -our list a person who expects everyone around to consult his wishes -and peculiarities or who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> is merely somewhat impatient, or inclined to -irritability, or merely over-sensitive to either mental or physical -pain.</p> - -<p>There is no more certain fact than that if an infant be allowed to -postpone its acquaintance with reality too long it becomes fixed in a -more or less degree in conditions in which phantasy plays too prominent -a part, and regression of some kind takes place as it meets with real -difficulties.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VI</span> <span class="smaller">FACT AND PHANTASY</span></h2> - -<p>In the last chapter we emphasised the fact that one of the first -products of Narcissism was the infantile difficulty of distinguishing -between fact and phantasy, of realising the world outside oneself. This -tendency to mix up fact with phantasy is by no means only to be found -in an abnormal mind. It is present in some degree in all persons; each -one feels himself to be the most real thing present, and in feeling -this he has a tendency to believe that others round him are in some way -less real, though, fortunately, very few carry it far enough to imagine -that all the others are merely part of a dream in which the dreamer is -the only real figure, as the Red King in “Alice Through the Looking -Glass” is supposed to have done, when the remark is made to Alice, -“You’re only a sort of thing in his dream! If that there king<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> was to -wake you would go out bang—just like a candle!”</p> - -<p>And yet quite a large number of people find it difficult to realise -firstly, that they must die, and secondly that the rest of the world -will not die also when they die. They know, of course, that this -latter is not the case, yet they cannot look upon it as a commonplace -fact. Their Narcissism refuses to contemplate their own mortality. It -represses the fact and leaves the idea vague and unreal to them.</p> - -<p>In children, the difficulty of distinguishing between phantasy and -reality is quite normally much more accentuated than in adults. -And since they start in a world of phantasy and their training is -to lead them to a world of reality, it is obvious that the halfway -stages will be obscured by a strange mixture of the two. All children -go through the stage in which phantasy and reality are by no means -clearly differentiated, and most young children succeed, day by day, in -fulfilling impossible wishes in phantasies in a manner which a properly -developed adult can never do. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> - -<p>A little boy desires to possess a pony; if this be impossible his -imagination gives life to a rocking-horse, and failing that he may -tie a piece of string to a chair, and with great pleasure and much -emotion urge on his fiery untamed steed across mountain and desert. -He fulfils his wishes immediately by means of a phantasy, which, for -the time being, successfully replaces reality. If this child grows up -normally, this possibility of phantastic fulfilment should gradually -disappear. How many adults, for instance, could take a bath-tub into -their dining-room, sit in it, and with the aid of a vivid imagination -thoroughly enjoy a pleasant sail at sea? We trust no one, at any -rate of our readers, for they would be of that type which has no -perspective, and they would most certainly fail in their vocation as -practical men and women. Yet remnants of phantasy thinking remain with -everyone, and in a moderate degree, so far as we know, such remnants do -but little harm if they are present in small measure only, and kept in -water-tight compartments.</p> - -<p>Adult phantasy thinking very largely <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>consists in what is known as -identification, which may be either conscious or unconscious. Of this, -we shall have more to say shortly. At the moment let us trace out what -should happen to the normal child as it grows older. Education and -environment should be gradually convincing the child of the unreality -of its phantastic thoughts and of its early world, should be inducing -it to think in terms of facts and to adjust himself to these facts, -instead of attempting the impossible task of adjusting these facts to -suit his own phantastic conceptions of them. The method of thought -which he should develop in order thus to fit himself to meet the -world adequately has been conveniently termed “directive thinking.” -Directive thinking is controlled thought based upon facts seen in their -true perspective, and with a purpose in view which is both definite -and possible. It is the very opposite of phantasy thinking, which is -generally indefinite, based upon a lack of perspective, and attempts -continually to obtain the fulfilment of wishes impossible of fulfilment.</p> - -<p>In directive thinking, the purpose in view<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> must be purposive to the -thinker, a change to be produced in the world, either in its happiness, -its morals, its commercial prosperity or in other forms of progress -or even of deterioration; or the purpose may be to effect changes in -the individual’s own happiness or prosperity, or it may be directed -towards a mental change in the thinker himself with no immediate idea -of changes in his external surroundings.</p> - -<p>Thus a man may wish to improve his own character by eradicating a bad -habit. He may do this by thinking carefully about it, by analysing the -causes of the habit, by giving himself auto-suggestion in opposition to -the habit. All this, even if the habit may not in the end be eradicated -must be classed as directive thinking. <i>Directive thinking is thus -obviously, controlled thinking requiring an effort of attention and -concentration as opposed to phantasy thinking which knows but little -control save that of desire, and little effort or concentration.</i></p> - -<p>In all the business of everyday life, directive thinking must be -employed; whether we are merely using our minds to decide the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> -trivial problem, such as the best way of eradicating weeds from the -garden, or whether we are deciding upon a policy to be pursued in some -great commercial or political enterprise. Every time we use our brains -in directive thinking we are establishing a habit which gradually gives -us power to produce changes in our environment and in the world in -general. Every time we indulge in phantasy thinking we encourage the -habit of living in a world of our own ideas, and we are destroying the -habit which enables us to create in reality.</p> - -<p>The two forms of thinking may, of course, overlap considerably. The -novelist or playwright, for instance, is very largely a phantasy -thinker. He may feel the emotions of the various phantasy characters -which he evolves, but in order to arrange the words and sentences, -and furthermore in having an idea to portray or in drawing attention -to evils which he thinks should be remedied, he is using considerable -energy in directive thought. So that it becomes obvious that directive -thought need not merely apply to the things of the immediate present -nor even the near<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> future, and in trying to draw distinction between -the two, one is often confronted with a superficial criticism, that -certain ideas must pertain to phantasy thinking, because they can never -come to pass. That, however, is quite incorrect. The possibility that -an idea may come to fruition in two or three hundred years time, and -that the thoughts which have been given to the idea must assist its -growth and ripening, is sufficient to constitute these thoughts as -directive.</p> - -<p>We must now look at the second important element in the child’s early -education, which would follow logically upon the first one that it -should be made to face the facts around it; and that is, that in its -games and occupations it should be encouraged, as far as possible, to -take lines of directive thought, and not obtain its pleasures through -phantasies only.</p> - -<p>Thus, it would be much better to give him bricks to play with, so that -he may use directive thought in designing and building a house, than -to give him a ready-made toy, such as an engine wherewith he will -merely carry out the phantasy of being a driver or a passenger and of -travelling wheresoever he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> wishes. A toy wheel-barrow which he can take -into the garden and fill with real stones and earth is far better than -a doll which he will merely imagine to be something to be brought up -like himself, which he will endow with phantastic life and feelings -which are quite unreal. In fact, as far as possible, the child’s games -and occupations should involve his <i>doing</i> something, rather than -merely imagining something. Of course, imagination and phantasy will -come into its games, and are bound to do so, but as much directive -thought as possible should be added.</p> - -<p>The ordinary fairy-tale should be swept from the nursery; here the -child does nothing but identify himself with the hero or heroine in -the most impossible of situations of a purely phantastic type. There -is plenty of scope for giving a child an interest in stories from the -fairy-land of science, or from the lives of famous persons in the -centuries that have passed; all of which, if properly selected and -dressed up, will assist the child’s directive thought. For though -the facts with which the stories may deal are as wonderful as any of -Grimm’s fairy-tales, <i>they are facts of which</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> <i>the child will never -have to be undeceived, and he will never have to have his faith shaken -in the stories which he has learnt</i>; thus the child will learn from the -outset to think directively.</p> - -<p>I know that many mothers, when they read this, will be inclined to -shake their heads and say to themselves, “Poor little darling, I could -never treat it so.” And that they will be inclined, as is shown very -early in this book, to say “These things cannot be true,” for they are -not the ideas they are accustomed to. Yet I can assure them that by -means of carrying out many of those actions and teachings which they -think are pleasant and harmless, they are really damning the child, -while many of these ideas which they might term cruel are really of -the greatest value and kindness to it. Moreover, experience has shown -that if diplomacy be used, the child will be as equally interested in -wonderful facts as in wonderful phantasies. The only difference is -that it is more trouble to the parent or educator to search out and -deal with facts himself. It is quite true that the child’s imagination -requires training, as part of its intellectual education. But there -is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> vast difference between encouraging it to imagine the possibility -of impossible things, and encouraging it to exercise its imagination -in realisation of facts, however far they may be removed from the -experience of everyday life. Many people have the idea that a child -should be encouraged to use its imagination; whereas in fact the -child’s imagination requires curbing, training, sublimating. Such -people do not realise that the early life of a child is lived almost -entirely in imagination, that it has no difficulty whatsoever in using -its imagination, and that the real difficulty is in preventing it from -using too much imagination directed into false channels and by-paths of -permanent unreality.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VII</span> <span class="smaller">IDENTIFICATION</span></h2> - -<p>We must now traverse another path through which Narcissism wanders. We -have emphasised the fact that when a child comes into the world, he is -to himself the only real thing; the rest of the world is merely seen -from his phantastic view point, and at this stage he accepts himself as -the one all-powerful centre of everything. Another important fact which -arises from this, however, we have not dealt with, and that is, that he -does not separate the outer world from himself as a separate entity. -His unconscious view point is that the world is subordinate to himself, -beneath his omnipotent control, if you like, that it is a dream of his -own imagining, that it is something which belongs to him in every sense -of the word. This, summed up, means that it is part of himself, that -his identity and the identity of the dream-world around him are part of -the same thing. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> - -<p>Thus, the infant does not at first distinguish between himself and his -mother. When he is hungry, he cries, and he probably has almost as -ready access to his mother’s breasts as if they were part of his own -body. And such imagination is more than encouraged when he is allowed -the use of a rubber teat to suck in the intervals between his meals.</p> - -<p>It is generally a comparatively slow process through which the infant -passes, this one of separating himself in thought and feeling from -objects surrounding him. It is one which is hardly ever completely -accomplished. We have already mentioned the fairy-tale which encourages -the child’s phantasy thought. Let us now see how he really obtains -pleasure from that fairy-tale. It is by identification. In imagination -he is a fairy prince or princess, as the case may be; his pleasure in -the triumphs and progress of the central figure of the story is that -of performing his prodigious deeds by proxy; and if he thus identifies -himself with the hero of the story, he is also encouraged to believe -that he possesses the power and qualities of that hero. He is less able -to realise that he,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> unlike the hero, cannot perform magic deeds with a -mere wave of a wand. Indeed, when the story is over, he will probably -play at being a fairy, and in phantasy perform the magic deeds again.</p> - -<p>This demonstrates the force of his identification with the hero of the -story. <i>And it must be remembered that sooner or later the child will -have to wake up, will have to realise that it possesses no magic power, -and the struggle within it will be great.</i> It is obviously a mistaken -form of kindness to enhance such pleasures of the moment, when you are -merely accentuating the struggle which the child will have to make at -a later period to overcome his Narcissism. In passing, I may mention -that you have probably already done the child considerable damage by -allowing him to have his rubber teat at the beginning of this period of -identification, since he identifies it with the mother’s breast, and is -thus encouraged to think that the breast is always with him.</p> - -<p>Let us now see where this Narcissistic identification may come out -later in life.</p> - -<p>First of all, it is this which enables us to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> enjoy novels, just as -we enjoyed fairy-tales as children. We identify ourselves with the -hero or heroine of the book, and in phantasy perform their various -wonderful feats. Thus we satisfy our Narcissistic desire to be great -and powerful. If we lack cleverness, and the hero is clever, by -identification and imputation we may attain the pleasures of feeling -clever and superior. If the heroine is beautiful and everyone falls in -love with her, we may by proxy be the same. If the hero is a sailor, -and we have always desired to sail, yet have never been on the sea, -our ambition is now attained—and see how easily attained—in a truly -omnipotent fashion, without effort on our part, just by reading -about it. Exactly the same thing takes place at theatres, where the -Narcissist identifies himself with the actors on the stage. So far -so good; if a person can content himself with an occasional theatre -or occasional novel, wherewith to take a restful regression to an -infantile outlet of energy, no harm is done. There are times when we -must rest, and there are times when we must sleep, which also appears -to be Narcissistic regression to a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> condition somewhat resembling -our pre-birth state. But there are many who cannot control their -identification in this way, who cannot confine it to the stage and the -novel, who bring it into the affairs of life continuously. They may -unconsciously identify themselves with their father or mother, their -relations or friends, or even their enemies, and perhaps, in turn, with -everyone with whom they come into contact. Like a looking-glass, they -reflect everything that goes on around them. They feel the pleasures of -their friends, they also feel their pains. They are called sympathetic, -they are often ultra-sympathetic—they are a nuisance.</p> - -<p>I remember on one occasion I had asked a woman of strong Narcissistic -temperament to take a fly out of the corner of my eye. She absolutely -refused to do so under any consideration, as she was sure she would -hurt me too much. Inquiry showed that Narcissism had exaggerated her -own feelings, so that a speck of dust in her own eye was torture. Yet -her eye was so tender and important to herself that she could not bear -anyone to touch it even in order to get something out.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> <i>And she could -not imagine that anybody else could have feelings that differed from -hers</i>; and since she identified herself so much with other people, I -have no doubt it would have been a real agony to her, had she attempted -to extract the fly from my eye.</p> - -<p>Such people are by no means uncommon. We all know the person who cannot -bear to hurt us, even for our good. For instance, some cannot bear to -bandage a wound for us since they cannot bear to see pain in any form. -They state that it is almost as if they felt it themselves, and they -call themselves “sympathetic.” But in spite of popular belief to the -contrary, such sympathy is not a virtue, there is nothing altruistic -about it; it is an inconvenient fault of an entirely selfish kind. In -order to help one’s friend, one does not need to feel his feelings and -suffer his pains, one wants to understand them; the more one enters -into his feelings, the more one’s judgment is biased, and the less one -is able, as a rule, to be of assistance. Worse still, in connection -with these people, they not only pour out sympathy in this way, -but attribute it to themselves as a virtue, and they cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> bring -themselves to believe their friends to be really good, unless their -friends also can react in a similar way towards them. They call a -normal person unsympathetic, perhaps exaggerate the term and call him -brutal, wishing indeed that their friends who have climbed higher from -Narcissism should regress to their lower stand-point.</p> - -<p>I have given here but one type of Narcissistic identification with -other persons; it seems to me unnecessary to carry it further since -any reader who chooses to think the matter out for himself will find -endless modifications of such identifications. We all possess it in -part, and on the whole women are more Narcissistic than men. Let it -not be thought, however, that this is a reflection on women; it is a -reflection on the way they have been brought up, for from the earliest -times environment impresses them with the idea that “little boys are -made of slugs and snails and puppy-dogs’ tails, and little girls are -made of sugar and spice and all things nice!” And hence on such lines -as these, their Narcissism is encouraged, and their capabilities of -facing fact and reality<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> discouraged from the very outset, until -differences of temperament are produced in the adults of the two sexes, -which in no way belong to Nature, but purely to our conventional and -somewhat barbaric stand-point.</p> - -<p>There are yet more important results of Narcissistic identification -than those already mentioned; Narcissism leads, in many instances, to -the choice of a particular love-object. Narcissism is, of course, by no -means the only or chief factor in the choice of love-objects, as anyone -who has studied psycho-analysis will at once realise. It is, however, -the only one I intend to touch on in this particular work.</p> - -<p>Just as the mythical Narcissus himself fell in love with his -reflection, so does his prototype of to-day. An infant is not only -the omnipotent centre of all, he is also the only interesting portion -of the universe in his early days. His interests are entirely -self-centred, and his joys and pleasures belong to himself alone; and -as he grows older, everything that is like him is identified with -himself. In the worst form of Narcissism in the adult, the individual -remains entirely selfish, and is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> incapable of loving anybody outside -himself at all.</p> - -<p><i>By identification, however, he can love in a sense those attributes of -his own personality which he sees in other persons.</i> Thus, he may love -somebody for a facial similarity, for a voice which is like his, or for -tastes which are like his own, but most commonly he loves them for a -body like his own. And from this we see that he may fall in love with -somebody of his own sex. Hence, homo-sexuality,<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" >[5]</a> as it is called, -is frequently one of the distressing results of an early Narcissistic -upbringing. But it need not be necessary for such homo-sexuality to -be of a grossly erotic type; such desires may be for the most part -repressed in the unconscious, or appear only in minor ways such as -the desire to kiss, fondle or touch favoured persons of the same sex. -On the other hand, frequently the early education and environment of -the Narcissistic person has been such as to leave him quite incapable -of complete repression; and we then have expressed more or less -open erotic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> desires and actions for persons of the same sex. Such -persons, however, should not be treated as criminals in this particular -matter; they are by this time as hopelessly incompetent to deal with -themselves, as is the kleptomaniac or a person having any other form -of so-called degenerate mentality. Here again, we see the reason why -homo-sexuality is so much more rife amongst women than amongst men. The -minor details of their early environment tend so much more to confirm -them in Narcissism. It is partially repressed and partially displaced -homo-sexuality which causes some women to kiss one another, to call one -another by affectionate names and so forth, to delight in taking hold -of one another’s hands on occasion; actions which normally, between -persons of opposite sex, would at once be taken to indicate some sort -of erotic affection, but which we are so used to seeing amongst women -that we do not realise their repressed and unconscious significance.</p> - -<p>Let it not be thought, however, that this subject of homo-sexuality is -based on this one simple problem; there are many other early infantile -fixations, which play a very large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> part in causing persons to become -homo-sexual. I only mention this one Narcissistic complex as being -another example of how identification takes place as one of the chief -results of the Narcissistic temperament, and to what lengths such -identification may, on occasion, lead. Of course, all degrees of such -identifications may be met with, and it is quite common to find persons -who can love hetero-sexually as well as homo-sexually; that is to say, -who can love persons of the opposite sex in the usual way, as well as -persons of their own sex. But such people, even in their hetero-sexual -love, tend to choose a love-object which resembles themselves in some -manner or the other. However, a certain amount of Narcissism (which -fortunately everyone still possesses), may be of value in this way, -for it is certainly good for a man and woman to have similar interests -when they marry; it is excessive Narcissism, excessive identification, -excessive sympathy, which is deleterious, just as in other -manifestations of Narcissism, with which we are going to deal shortly, -it is excessive impatience, excessive anger, excessive tears which are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> -really harmful, and lead to the greatest unhappiness. Although perhaps -in these latter instances, to be without impatience, anger, or tears -would be better still.</p> - -<p>Thirdly, there is yet another method of Narcissistic identification. -Just as a child identifies itself with its living surroundings, so -does it identify itself with its inanimate surroundings. As its mother -and nurse are treated as part of it in the early stages, so also are -its rubber teat, feeding bottle and toys treated. If you take away -the baby’s rattle, it will cry or stamp or weep with as much vigour -and display of emotion as if you had caused it bodily pain by means -of rigorous physical punishment. You have in fact taken away part -of itself from the little omnipotent person. In later stages in his -career, if his Narcissism has been allowed to remain, the adult will -still identify himself with his belongings. He will be absurdly upset -at the breaking of a tea-cup which belongs to him, at the theft of -some jewelry, at damage done to his clothing or property in some way, -however trifling. He cannot realise that these things which belong to -him are more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> or less unimportant trifles, which can be replaced, or -if they cannot be replaced, can be equally well done without, if he -has attained that philosophical attitude of mind which belongs to the -person who has thrown off this uncomfortable spirit of Narcissistic -identification. Moreover, the Narcissist who thinks himself to be the -best and most important of beings, will attach similar importance to -his property. If he drives an inferior motor-car, which breaks down on -every journey he makes, he will excuse it in all sorts of irrational -ways, he will praise it on every possible occasion as “the best car -on the market,” and what seems more absurd still, he will very likely -think it the best car on the market. It is the same with his house, -his books, with his relations, with everything that is even distantly -connected with him. He will speak in high praise of them all, and be -anxious, at all times, to show them off, and to uphold their virtues -to all comers. The Narcissist, indeed, rationalises about things in -general considerably more than most people. The fuller meaning of -rationalization and its methods of working, however, we shall leave -till later on.</p> - -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5">[5]</a> Homo-sexuality—sensual love for a person of the same sex -as oneself.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VIII</span> <span class="smaller">THE IRRITABLE TEMPERAMENT</span></h2> - -<p>Irritability is not merely that quality in a person which makes his -friends carefully guard their every word, lest inadvertently they -should cause an outburst of temper, in its fullest sense it means -over-sensitiveness to unpleasant stimuli, followed by over-reaction of -any kind whatsoever. Thus, if a person by accident damage his clothing, -his over-sensitiveness and over-reaction might result in an oath, in -abusing the nail which tore his clothing or in abusing the workman who -put the nail in place originally. It might again result in a feeling of -depression, with anger displaced on to anyone who was present during -the next hour, on the smallest pretext; or in an over-sensitive woman, -it might result in an outburst of tears, or perhaps merely in volubly -deploring the accident for half-an-hour with the next visitor who -called; or she might merely “worry” about it, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> keep turning the -memory of it over and over in her mind, refusing to allow the fact to -separate itself from her fancy.</p> - -<p>All these various results, with many others which may be imagined, -can be gathered together under the one term “irritability,” or the -term “over-sensitiveness” would do equally well. This irritability or -over-sensitiveness may apply to material things or to purely mental -ones. Narcissism may lead to an irritability of the body, and again it -may lead to irritability merely of the mind. When Narcissism leads to -an extremely sensitive body, it reacts to pain of every sort, however -mild, as though it were acute. The omnipotent mind cannot bear to have -its body disturbed. I gave an example a short while back of the lady -who could not take a fly out of my eye, because her own eyes were so -sensitive. Not only was this particular lady sensitive as regards her -eyes, but at that period she was as afraid of the dentist touching a -tooth as if it had been a serious abdominal operation. Pain of any sort -or even slight accidents involving practically no pain, were reacted -to as though they had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> overwhelming misfortunes. Here we had -an excellent example of one in whom Narcissism had produced extreme -irritability of a physical nature.<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" >[6]</a></p> - -<p>On the other hand, one finds a mental sensitivity equally pronounced. -People who are always in fear lest somebody should find fault with -them, with their mode of behaviour, with their manner of dress, even -with their habit of thought. Unconsciously, to themselves they are the -acme of perfection, they are the centre of importance, and they are -inclined to think that people are paying very much more attention to -them than is actually the case. They may consciously realise that they -are not important at all, that other people do not give them a thought; -but their unconscious Narcissism will not accept this slight upon their -importance, and they remain miserably self-conscious in all their acts, -reacting with exaggerated feeling whenever some slight criticism of -their thoughts and actions appear even to be implied.</p> - -<p>Pride, vanity, and self importance are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> other manifestations of this -temperament. The person who feels slighted, or whose feelings are hurt -when other persons think too little of his opinions, or pay too little -attention to his actions, or, in fact, whose feelings are hurt easily -by anything whatsoever, is for the most part a Narcissist, in whom once -again the infantile omnipotence has been disturbed.</p> - -<p>Jealousy very often represents the Narcissistic idea. The -“dog-in-the-manger” attitude, which finding it cannot possess for -itself, cannot bear anybody else to possess, is largely the attitude -of unconscious phantasy, in which the individual cannot relinquish the -idea that somehow he will succeed by means of his omnipotent mind in -possessing the desired object, and his unconscious mind retains this -idea so long as the object has not become the property of somebody else -in such a definite and irrefutable manner as to prove in spite of his -unconscious phantasy that he cannot possibly possess it himself.</p> - -<p>The “dog-in-the-manger” attitude is one which simply refuses to -recognise the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>impossibility of possessing something, although the -desire for possession in any particular case may unconsciously mean -nothing except the desire to prove to oneself one’s own omnipotence. -And many a case of jealousy in love-affairs is nothing but this -unconscious desire to prove to oneself the possession of power; it is -the hatred of acknowledging the fact that one has not control where -one desires to have it most. Curious as it may seem jealousy is bred -mostly out of self-love rather than out of love for the other person, -although, of course, except in extreme cases, love for the other person -may also exist.</p> - -<p>The reaction which takes place whenever the Narcissistic element -is hurt, almost always takes the form of a regression. It will be -remembered that a regression implies a return to an infantile method -of expression. The Narcissist unfailingly hopes, in his unconscious -that his omnipotence will enable him to avoid an unpleasant fact, and -to controvert it magically. He therefore falls back on those acts of -infancy, which he found useful at that early period of his life as -magical means of attaining his ends. Let us assume, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> example, that -our Narcissist has entered quietly into an argument with a friend, with -full faith in himself and his argument that he will convert his friend -to his own point of view. He finds, however, that he is getting the -worst of the argument. This is unbelievable to him, he cannot realise -it; his friend must be pig-headed. Rapidly his unconscious mind says to -itself, “What methods did I employ in my childhood, what magic formula -did I use then to obtain what I wished?” “Ah!” says the unconscious, “I -remember; I used abusive terms to my nurse, and the dear thing did what -I wanted at once.” Very soon he is using abusive terms to his friend, -who, however does not later on remark, “Oh! that man is a Narcissist.” -He merely says, “You know, So-and-So never can keep his temper in an -argument.” And the poor Narcissist all the time feels and thinks that -he has been hardly dealt with, that people do not understand him, that -they deliberately will not follow his arguments.</p> - -<p>Of course, the last is very likely to be right, for in argument there -is generally more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> rationalization than there is about most things in -life. Nevertheless, the fact remains that it is not really important -that his friend should understand either him or his argument as a -rule, and if he were not Narcissistic he would not over-react to this -stimulus.</p> - -<p>Other methods of reaction in a like manner are all regressions to -infancy. Some Narcissists, when they ask their unconscious memory, -“What magic did I employ as a child?” find that it was the magic of -words, and they use expletives of various kinds, which correspond -in every way to the magic words which a conjuror whispers over his -tricks when he performs the apparently impossible. Others remember in -their unconscious mind that they wept copiously, that when they wept -the feeding bottle was returned to their lips, or the toy to their -hands. Others go back a stage further. They withdraw in to themselves, -they refuse to speak, or they say, “I am so upset, I must go and lie -down.” They attempt to return, in fact, to the condition of isolation -and rest, if not of pre-birth, at least of that period immediately -following birth, when if they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> cried, they were rocked and crooned over -and put to sleep.</p> - -<p>Another form of regression largely due to Narcissism is that of -alcoholism. Here again, there are other causes at work in the -unconscious, but Narcissism is one of the most important of them. -The Narcissist does not like real responsibility; he certainly -thinks that he is always desiring responsible posts and positions, -but this is merely because to hold a responsible position or to have -responsibility signifies importance and power. As a matter of fact, -when responsibility is thrust upon him, he often has a strong tendency -to avoid it, because responsibility entails dealing with facts as -they are, and not with phantasies; and the responsibility which the -Narcissist seeks is largely that of phantasy. In spite, therefore, of -his statements to the contrary, we know that he wishes to run away from -responsible positions, and alcohol has a peculiar power of enabling -one to forget the responsibilities of the moment, and at the same time -to give one a feeling of potency and well-being. Consequently, when -the Narcissist comes up against an unpleasant fact,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> a responsibility -which he does not wish to take, anything in fact which disturbs his -sense of well-being, alcohol serves the purpose of allowing regression -to infancy. It returns him very swiftly to that early period when he -had no responsibility, when he need take no thought of the facts around -him, when he had a sense of well-being and omnipotence. This potency -is increased by the fact that it also removes, simultaneously, other -repressions, that is, it allows other forms of infantile energy to be -expressed without conscious criticism or hindrance.</p> - -<p>Exactly the same thing may be said of drug-taking. The drug-taker is -simply habitually seeking something to remove his responsibilities, to -lead him away from his conflicts which he does not wish to face, away -from the world of reality into an infantile world, where whatever his -surroundings, whatever the facts that exist, he is able to ignore them, -and feel himself in phantasy their master.</p> - -<p>But the curious thing about all these regressions is that, in a sense, -they serve to satisfy the individual. They comfort him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> with the -unconscious assurance at the moment they are performed, that all will, -somehow, be well, that these reactions will somehow bring about the -desired end, that the abuse will succeed where the argument did not, -that the tears will somehow perform their magic act, that a rest in bed -will bring about new life, and that the new life will succeed where the -old life failed.</p> - -<p>Never does the Narcissist realise facts as they are, deal with them as -facts, see them in their proper proportions, and leave them alone when -he cannot use them.</p> - -<p>Impatience of a different kind is also one of the common reactions. A -man may go into a restaurant; he finds it is full, and quite naturally -he is kept waiting a few minutes before the busy waiter can bring him -the menu. He refuses to recognise the fact that he is only one of a -hundred persons present, that the restaurant has to be run at a profit -to the proprietor, that innumerable waiters cannot therefore be kept -to serve his high omnipotence; he frets with impatience and he cannot -resign himself to the inevitable waiting. He will not understand that -<i>time</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> is one of the factors over which he has no power. In fact, -this difficulty to realise the <i>factor of time</i> is an extremely common -one with Narcissists. No sooner has a project entered their heads than -they expect to see it fulfilled. Such fulfilment can only take place in -phantasy, just as they did indeed attain their wishes in childhood. As -children they could instantaneously create a chariot and horses from an -arm-chair with complete neglect of the time-factor, and now as adults, -they hope instantaneously to create an omelet without waiting for it to -be cooked, to create a business or a character, or fame or happiness -in the same instantaneous way, without reference to time. They are -quite unable to see, completely and wholly, any difference between the -phantasy of childhood and facts of adult life; and one of the most -essential differences between the two is this <i>time factor</i>.</p> - -<p>It takes minutes for an omelet to be cooked, it takes years for a -business to be created, it takes a lifetime for a character to be -formed, fame they may never attain, but happiness lies within their -grasp at once, if only they could relinquish their Narcissism.</p> - -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6">[6]</a> It may be of interest to readers to know that this -physical over-sensitiveness has very largely disappeared from this -particular lady as the result of partial psycho-analysis.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER IX</span> <span class="smaller">RATIONALIZATION</span></h2> - -<p>Having now briefly sketched the birth and some of the possible -developments of Narcissism, it may be well to revert to the subject -of rationalization, on which I have already touched briefly, before I -deal with some of the methods with which we may combat our Narcissistic -tendencies. The reason for reverting here to rationalization is this. -Already I know that there are few readers who will not have discovered -some material in this book which will have touched a tender spot in -themselves. And since we know that the great effort of Narcissism is -to cover up those tender spots, and to deceive ourselves in thinking -that either they are not there, or better still, that they are virtues -and really particularly healthy spots, it is as well to examine these -tendencies and observe one of the chief methods by which we do produce -such disguises successfully. Of these methods of disguise, our greatest -comforter, yet our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> worst enemy, is rationalization. The term means -“<i>finding apparently adequate reasons for things</i>.”</p> - -<p>One of the qualities which we highly cultured animals possess is that -of reason. We have discovered that logic is one of the essential -factors of law and order, and that the highest form of intellect -possesses reason in a large measure. Among our gods, the god of reason -and logic stands high, and our very Narcissism will not permit us to -do and accept things which are contrary to logical reasoning. For that -means in the first place, that they are contrary to what we have been -taught to revere highly as a good quality, and yet more still it means -that they are contrary to the magic of WORDS, for logic means words; -logic is words which follow one another in irrefutable sequence. And -we have already learnt that <i>the infant has early associated words and -sounds with magic, since by the persistent use of these he has got what -he wanted</i>. So that doubly are logic and reason revered.</p> - -<p>Now, the unhappy thing about life is that we are continually wishing -to do things or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> feel things or believe things which do not follow -logically upon other things which we have also had to feel or think or -believe at some time. Some of our wishes are logically incompatible -with other of our wishes. More over, we very often do not wish to -believe or think things which do follow logically on actual facts which -have gone before. How are we then, as reasonable people, to deal with -the situation? By rationalization, by finding a reason which suits our -purpose; and this can only be done, as a rule, by leaving out some -important factor, by ignoring some truth, and by arguing from false -premises. We do not do this consciously, that would be unworthy. Our -unconscious censor manages to delete from consciousness the unpleasant -truth, as we have already pointed out, and brings forth an array of -facts which appear irrefutable, and he succeeds in giving us most -plausible reasons so that we may believe that which is most convenient -to us.</p> - -<p>Let us consider for a moment such a subject as religion. The Roman -Catholic will adduce evidences of various kinds to show that his is -the only right and proper form of religion to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> be accepted by any -intellectual person. The Baptist will likewise do the same, and will -probably hold that Papal institutions, in many instances, spring not -from Heaven but from Hell. If you discuss it with either of them, you -may be flooded with reasons, logical evidences of the correctness of -their views. Obviously, they cannot both be right in so exclusive a -manner, and a very little insight will show that the reasons they -adduce have really very little to do with their beliefs, although they -think they have. Reverence for their parents, early environment, and -other factors of this kind, have really induced their present beliefs, -but these would not appear to them as logical reasons and so they -select others.</p> - -<p>So it is with any unpleasant theory which comes into being. At the -time of Darwin, a large number of facts were discovered which led -unbiassed persons to believe in the theory of evolution. This appeared -contrary to many religious beliefs, and the general public did not -want to accept such a theory. They could not, however, shut their -eyes to facts; what were they to do? By carefully leaving out some of -the facts, and introducing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> speculative material, which they called -facts, but which were not facts, they succeeded in producing excellent -reasons, or what seemed excellent reasons to them, for refuting the -theory of evolution and retaining their old beliefs. In other words, -they went through a process of rationalization.</p> - -<p>The same thing was taking place a few years ago with reference to -psycho-analysis. People did not like their omnipotent feelings -disturbed, did not like to find that the superior bricks of which -their edifice had been built were originally made from clay, and they -found excellent reasons for not believing it. This, fortunately for -progress, is gradually passing away, just as the opposition to the idea -of the evolution of the body passed away. But rationalization is a -process which has been and is still going on continuously. When Harvey -discovered the circulation of the blood, when Galileo discovered that -the earth went round the sun, when psycho-analysts discovered that -much which mothers thought kind was really cruel, and when you read a -book which tends to point out that some of your cherished virtues may -possibly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> be faults, the same tendency is at work. Your mind sorts out -some of the reasons, refuses to look at others of them, and by such -careful selection, by this unconscious process of rationalization, -supports your belief in yourself, holds fast to that which has been, -and attempts continuously to prevent further changes and disturbances. -This rationalization, however, is much more widely distributed than -I have so far indicated; in order that one fact may be justified by -reason, all the lesser facts which come before it must be similarly -justified, until even into the trivial details of everyday life the -leaven of rationalization has penetrated. Examples of it may be seen -every day in the newspapers, in politics, in even trifling arguments. -Take for instance the subject of woman’s suffrage. One half of the -country produced irrefutable arguments to prove how bad it was, the -other half to prove how good it was. In both cases, the arguments were -but straws in the wind, they were quite unnecessary, they were only -rationalization. Long before the argument on either side came into -being, the feelings were there, the desires were there;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> and desires -must somehow be proved right with the magic of words, before we feel at -liberty to fulfil them. In neither case in this argument was the root -of the matter touched. If some philosopher had come forward and said, -“The first question we have to ask before thinking about suffrage, -is should a woman wear a skirt?” or some such similar fundamental -question, it would probably have been said that it had nothing to -do with matter, and yet this question of <i>artificial</i> difference -between the sexes is really fundamental to the whole subject. But the -rationalist will find that he will not meet me in this statement. The -woman who wishes to retain certain privileges, and yet accept certain -other privileges, will at once find reasons why she should wear a skirt -and yet have the vote. She will tell me all sorts of things about her -physical disabilities, things which she believes to be fundamental -truths, many of which, in fact, are fundamentally wrong, but accepted -as truths because they lead to rationalization being able to support -her wishes.</p> - -<p>In a similar way, on the much discussed subject of “prohibition” the -prohibitionist will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> rationalise on a certain few facts, in order to -support his emotions and desires. A moderate drinker will do exactly -the same, in the opposite direction. Neither of them will have the -courage to ignore his personal feelings, nor may he have the power -to do so, and to take all the facts into consideration and come to a -conclusion, irrespective of his wishes on the subject.<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7">[7]</a></p> - -<p>Of course, one of the other difficulties in the way of coming to -correct conclusions in all these things is that people will insist on -arguing upon subjects, when the amount of real scientific knowledge -they have on the subjects is extremely small. The newspaper editor will -quote a few popular facts, in order to support some theory of his own, -having but a limited knowledge of psychology, physiology, anatomy, or -of some other science which has considerable bearing on the subject, -he will end by producing a series of conclusions probably entirely -wrong. This, of course, is inevitable in our limited <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>circumstances; -but it should not be equally inevitable that we should hold firmly -to our beliefs, when we realise how limited is our knowledge of -any one subject. And in order to examine facts and to get rid of -rationalization as far as possible, we must try, with the utmost power -at our command to refuse that reaction of self-defence and self-pride, -which prevents us from looking at ourselves and from realising that -most of our opinions about ourselves may be completely erroneous. We -must be prepared to accept temporary, not fixed, judgments, based -upon the evidence which we have. We must be prepared to reverse those -judgments in the light of new evidence. We must be careful not to -reject this evidence merely because we do not like it.</p> - -<p>It will now be seen how very necessary it is, in dealing with -Narcissism in particular, to understand something of rationalization, -so that we may be on our guard in examining ourselves, against -allowing this to play too great a part in our conclusions. Otherwise, -with all the goodwill in the world, we may never succeed in making -any improvement whatsoever, in ourselves. The greatest <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>scientists -themselves have been amongst those who realised this.</p> - -<p>It was Darwin who wrote, as we have quoted in the earlier part of this -book, “I had, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that -whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across -me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of -it without fail and at once, for I had found by experience that such -facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory than -favourable ones.”</p> - -<p>And it was the great scientist, Helmholtz, who said, “It is better to -be in actual doubt, than to rock oneself in dogmatic ignorance.” </p> - -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7">[7]</a> Of course this does not imply that no one is ever capable -of putting his conscious feelings on one side, and examining a subject -in spite of pre-conceived ideas and desires, but that this is the -exception rather than the rule.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PART II</h2> - -<p class="bold2">PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS </p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER X</span> <span class="smaller">SELF ANALYSIS</span></h2> - -<p>In attempting to cure ourselves of hyper-Narcissistic characteristics, -there are several lines of treatment which may be followed, some of -which depend upon the particular manifestation of Narcissism with -which we have to deal. One, however, which should be followed in -every case, we borrow from the methods of psycho-analysis. We cannot -call it psycho-analysis because the technique employed by an amateur -in examining himself must be vastly different from the technique -employed by a psycho-analyst in dealing with his patient. But it is a -modification of one detail of the technique of psycho-analysis which, -if properly applied, may have far-reaching results. It is on the lines -of that phenomenon which is known generally as ab-reaction, and is as -follows.</p> - -<p>When an individual has come to the conclusion that he is suffering from -some <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>characteristic of Narcissistic nature, which he would rather -be without, he should, first of all, carefully call to mind, and if -possible make historical notes of the situations which stimulate the -particular temperamental reaction to which he objects. If he can, he -should go further than this, and recall as many as possible of the -actual situations of recent date, when this particular reaction has -been called forth.</p> - -<p>If he have an ungovernable temper, for example, he should, in detail, -go first into the type of situations which call forth that temper, and -secondly, he should revise in detail the recent occasions upon which he -has lost his temper, and thirdly, <i>he should attempt to find out the -particular moment, the particular words, the particular occasion which -first began to stir feelings of temper within him before he actually -began to show violent manifestations of it</i>.</p> - -<p>Having all these things set forth satisfactorily, it would be well -if he spent half-an-hour every day, for a considerable period, in -performing the next part of the treatment. He should go into a room -by himself, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> he will not be disturbed, recline on a couch or -a comfortable chair, and allow his mind to drift backwards, year by -year, remembering as far as possible, every instance on which the -unfavourable symptom has been called forth. He will find that if he -does not concentrate too hard, but merely keeps in mind the various -causes of his temper and recent manifestations of it, other times -and instances will come into his mind unbidden. He will, in fact, be -surprised at the amount of detail which he can remember concerning -the matter. Things which he had not thought of for years, happenings -which he had passed over as trivial, will come into his mind, and be -found to have stimulated, in some way or the other, the ill-temper (or -other Narcissistic trouble) which he is endeavouring to get rid of. He -must take himself, as far as possible, right into childhood. He will -not necessarily of course, go back as far as this on the first few -occasions, but after he has been at work on himself in this way for -some days, he should have no trouble whatever in beginning to recall -some of the infantile occasions upon which his Narcissism called forth -temper. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> - -<p>In all the instances which he brings up into his conscious mind, he -should write down and study not only the facts remembered, but also the -emotions which he felt. These he should examine from every possible -point of view, and see what Narcissistic element appears to be present -in them. Many memories will come into his mind of an infantile nature -which do not express the particular symptom from which he now suffers, -but will obviously have some bearing on it. These he should examine in -the same way, because it is important for him to get into his conscious -mind as much as possible of the various occasions in his life on which -Narcissism acted, when he was not conscious of it. Not only must he -see how these various occasions were exhibitions of Narcissism, but he -must try and trace them back, and must compare them with his typical -infantile methods of expression. These may be represented by shouting, -crying, stamping, weeping or any other infantile manifestations -of those omnipotent phantasies which now seem to him to be the -starting-point of his more recent expression of them. He has, in fact, -to lay bare<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> before himself, as much as possible of his previously -unconscious Narcissistic life; its beginnings, its evolution, and its -ultimate form. This making conscious of what was previously unconscious -or but partly conscious, is, in itself, a most potent factor in -improvement, if he will have the patience to steadily persevere and to -go over daily, for a considerable period, the material he has brought -to the surface. If he does not do this regularly, it is liable to sink -back, and become once again an unconscious factor and a determinant to -his actions over which he has no control.</p> - -<p>This bringing into consciousness the unconscious causes and motives -under-lying behaviour is, in psycho-analysis, one of the powerful -factors at work producing cures of neurotic obsessions and so forth, -and it is equally potent with the minor temperamental abnormalities -with which we are dealing here. For it means that previous mental -conflicts which were either wholly or partially unconscious, are now -rendered conscious habitually; and a conscious conflict, or rather a -conflict in which the forces<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> at work become conscious, is far easier -to direct than one in which the very forces themselves are hidden and -unknown. Let us take a more material example for comparison. Suppose an -officer to be in command of a company of soldiers out in the desert, -and attacked on a dark night by savages. It might very well be that he -was well armed, that his machine guns were efficient, but that he would -be quite overwhelmed because he could neither see the savages nor know -their numbers, their whereabouts nor their armaments. But supposing -that the War Office had thoughtfully equipped him with one or two good -search-lights, which he could direct upon the savages so that the -number of savages, their armaments, position, and so forth, could be -brought into his consciousness, he would be in a far better position, -for he could direct his machine-guns at the threatened points, instead -of being forced to fire them wildly and as likely as not miss his -targets altogether.</p> - -<p>Exactly the same happens with these manifold feelings to which I -have just been referring. The more one can see of them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> their -histories, their evolution, their beginnings, the more one holds them -in consciousness, the easier does the conflict between good and evil -become in the individual. Again, this method of self-help which I have -given here, differs considerably from that pursued in psycho-analysis, -in that it is following up only one unconscious factor, albeit, one -of the most important factors; but in psycho-analysis we follow up in -turn all the unconscious forces at work, great and small, and in any -temperamental abnormality there are certainly many more unconscious -factors than Narcissism concerned, although Narcissism may be the -predominant one. Thus, for instance, alcoholism, though always -possessing a Narcissistic element, frequently has other determinants -present of an exceptionally strong<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8">[8]</a> nature. So that while an -analysis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> of Narcissism only, may be of the greatest value in some -cases, in others, where Narcissism does not occupy so great a field, -the other unconscious factors are too potent to allow much benefit to -accrue from a partial self-analysis of this kind.</p> - -<p>In drug-taking, however, there is a slight difference from alcoholism, -for, as a rule, Narcissism is nearly always the essential factor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> It -will be understood that Narcissism links itself to almost any other -characteristic, influencing it for the worse by fixing it more deeply, -and holding it back from becoming conscious more strongly than would -otherwise be the case.</p> - -<p>The patient will find himself, during this self-examination, repeatedly -trying to excuse himself. He will find himself saying, “I remember on -such an such an occasion losing my temper, but on that occasion I was -perfectly justified.” Or in another instance, he may say, “I remember -weeping (or I remember being depressed or angry, or impatient), but -circumstances then existed which seem to me proper occasions for such a -manifestation to have taken place.”</p> - -<p>Let me emphasise at the outset, that any such excuses will be -rationalizing; that he must say to himself, “Whether they appear normal -or abnormal, according to accepted standards, those occurrences most -certainly had their Narcissistic factor.” For it must be understood -that although there are many occasions when impatience or weeping may -be looked upon, conventionally, as normal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> occurrences, that is only -because everybody possesses certain imperfections due to Narcissism; -and if one is going to attempt to improve one’s temperament in this -way, every occasion must be examined without excuse or rationalization, -otherwise the individual who is thus at work upon himself will only -succeed in defeating himself to his own detriment, by putting up -a resistance to his cure or improvement. And, indeed, one of the -important factors in this work, just as in psycho-analysis itself, is -the factor which comes into play in overcoming these resistances of -seeing ourselves as we are, of seeing the evolution and beginnings of -our temperament as it really was.</p> - -<p>This is bound to reveal in all of us without exception much that is -unpleasant, and that we would rather not see. Resistance to seeing such -material is inevitable, if the examination is sufficiently thorough. If -no resistance has to be overcome, the individual may be certain that he -is shirking the facts.</p> - -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8">[8]</a> Alcoholism is further complicated by the fact that a habit -of <i>physical</i> craving is formed, which as a rule cannot be overcome -by mental treatment alone. This craving, fortunately, can now be -eradicated by medicinal means. Indeed, patients of mine have been cured -of all desire for alcohol in about one week as a rule. The patient -is then in somewhat the same condition as a man who has never tasted -alcohol, and he will have no craving for alcohol thereafter, unless he -deliberately drinks it again. Herein, however, we see the importance of -the psychic factor, for should the cured alcoholic begin again to take -alcohol, either because he thinks that he has attained self control -and can do so, or because he finds abstinence difficult on social -grounds, he will almost inevitably regress to his old condition of -uncontrolled desire, no matter how long has elapsed since he was cured -of it. <i>The same causes which originally led him to excess, viz., his -mental complexes, are still present and again produce similar results.</i> -Of course, a very large proportion of those who have been cured by -medicinal treatment do not relapse, because they have sufficient common -sense not to experiment with themselves. In the other cases, however, -the only hope of a permanent cure consists in following up the physical -treatment with mental treatment, i.e., analysis.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, in most cases of drug taking a medicinal cure is -generally sufficient, for there is no “social urge” to taking drugs as -there is in the case of alcohol, and once the craving has been cured, -the tendency to experiment again is the exception rather than the rule. -But even here it is found that any indulgence in the drug, however -slight, will again produce in the individual his old craving. <i>He has -found a previous path of narcissistic regression and will inevitably -follow it, for though the craving had been eradicated the complexes -remain.</i> There are many potential alcoholics and potential drug-takers -in the world, but they will never know it unless unfortunate chance -induces them to open that particular channel of regression.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XI</span> <span class="smaller">READJUSTMENT OF OBJECTIVES</span></h2> - -<p>In the last chapter we described a process of self-assistance of -the kind which should be applied by any person, to any Narcissistic -manifestation he may desire to improve. In the present chapter we are -going to deal with a method of treatment which is by no means necessary -in all cases, but is very necessary in a large proportion of them.</p> - -<p>We must bear in mind that the Narcissist’s inability to realise -distinctly the difference between phantasy and fact will often lead -him to suppose possible that which is impossible in the ordinary -affairs of everyday life, and to ignore difficulties which may really -be insuperable, which stand in the way of his aims and projects. He -will thus be continually finding himself at a disadvantage, continually -failing, from apparently trivial reasons, to accomplish an end, and -as a result<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> he may become depressed, nervous, worried, and subject -to that lassitude accompanied by headaches, which so frequently comes -to the Narcissist when he struggles unavailingly with the ordinary -aims and tasks of everyday life. Moreover, not only does he fail to -recognise the difficulties in the way of any particular task, but he -fails to recognise the fact that two projects which he has in his mind -may be incompatible with one another; or he fails to recognise that -great “<i>Time-factor</i>,” which I have mentioned before, and tries to -condense more work and more visible results into a given period than is -humanly possible.</p> - -<p>This type of Narcissist is always considerably addicted to day-dreams, -with which, however, we shall deal in a further chapter. For the -present, we are going to restrict ourselves to the question of -arranging his aims and wishes on a sound and possible basis. In the -first place, let it be understood that although the method of treatment -so far carried out may have made clear to the patient the origin and -development of his phantasy thought and phantastic aims, there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> yet -remains the breaking of the habit, and this is rendered far more easy -if we attempt to substitute another habit of a different nature. Let -us further impress upon him the fact that a frequent examination of -his aims in a directive manner by the method about to be discussed is -in itself an exercise in directive thinking, helping to form a habit -opposed to a former habit of phantasy thinking. And, lastly, let it be -remembered that Narcissists are generally very averse from making real -personal sacrifices which have no glamour attached to them; that they -object to adapting themselves to reality which may be unpleasant, and -that by the method I am about to describe, they will have to deal in -trivial things, and the conscious adjustment which they will thus make -towards reality will gradually become habitual.</p> - -<p>What we are attempting to do now is to substitute directive thought -and directive aims, aims possible of attainment, for phantasy thoughts -and impossible aims. Most people will find on self-examination that -their aims are by no means clearly defined; they have an object in -life, but it is vague in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> outline, and ill-defined; it is often only -a question of getting somehow through life, with enough food to eat, -and sufficient phantasy thought to keep them from boredom. This again, -is especially the case with some women, whose household duties require -but little directive thought, since they are daily repetitions of the -same thing. Dusting a room is a habit which becomes pleasanter if -accompanied by phantasy thinking; whereas, had that woman some definite -aim, apart from the habit of house-cleaning, it would be possible to -accompany the room-dusting with directive thought which revolved round -the aim in question, and this would very much add to the pleasure and -efficiency of the individual’s life. If a person, on self-examination, -finds that his aims are not clearly defined, or are in conflict with -one another, or, on the other hand, that his aims or thoughts are in -part phantasy and impossible of fulfilment, that person should at once -deliberately remould and re-state his aims, so that they become:</p> - -<p>(a) clearly defined,</p> - -<p>(b) clearly possible. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> - -<p>Moreover, the aims should be of two kinds:</p> - -<p>(1) immediate,</p> - -<p>(2) remote.</p> - -<p>The remote aim is the ideal for which he is striving; and however high -that ideal be, it should be of a kind possible of fulfilment, not -necessarily in the lifetime of the individual, in all cases, for he may -be working for something of which he does not expect fulfilment for -even hundreds of years, yet it may be perfectly legitimately termed a -real aim, as opposed to a phantastic one.</p> - -<p><i>Now, the first thing which the individual should bear in mind is that -an immediate aim should always be in harmony with the remote aim.</i> Let -it also be borne in mind that when we state that the aim should be -clearly possible, we do not only mean that the aims should be possible -from a point of view of external environment and circumstances, but -also having regard to the patient’s own intelligence, will-power, -education, and physical health—in other words possible in the case of -this particular individual.</p> - -<p>Now let us consider in detail the further course to be pursued by the -person who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> proposes to treat himself on these lines. Let him take -pencil and paper and write out in the fullest of details a list of -his aims, great and small, in the first place, without any reference -to their bearing upon one another, or any attempt at classification, -keeping in mind that by aims in life, we mean wishes which he hopes -will be fulfilled. Let him think of every conceivable wish in his mind, -and write it down, whether phantastic in nature, or trivial, or whether -both possible and important.</p> - -<p>In the next place, let him see that this list is written so clearly -and accurately, that each of the aims is well defined and without -ambiguity. Now let him run through the list again, and see whether -any of the aims are in conflict with one another, and whether any of -them are inconsistent from the view point of his, and are therefore -impossible of fulfilment. Let him put his pencil definitely through -such impossible aims, and cut them out of his life, with as full a -realisation as possible of the fact that they are nothing but dreams, -that he need never consider them again, that he must not regret them, -for that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> is mere infantile crying after the impossible. He must -replace them in due course with others possible of fulfilment.</p> - -<p>Now let him take the revised list and separate it into two divisions, -writing the aims down again under the two headings, (1) immediate aims, -and (2) remote aims. Here, he will have to bear in mind one of his -chief faults, if he be strongly Narcissistic. Such persons in their -phantasy carry their aims to completion long before reality can permit -of it. The time-factor is not realised, and hence they have a great -tendency to confuse remote aims with the immediate aims, in their -desire to see immediate results; hence, also, because they cannot soon -see such results, they give way to despair, become depressed, and have -the tendency to regress to the infantile characteristics to which I -have already referred. Here lies the importance of dividing the aims -into immediate and remote. For as soon as the individual’s mind has -grasped the fact that an aim is necessarily remote, and therefore -impossible of immediate fulfilment, he is much more able to adjust -himself to these facts, and to pay real and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> undivided attention to -the immediate present. Apart from the fact that sorting and adjusting -of the aims relieves the mind of many previous conflicts, it acts as -a stimulus to a considerable amount of directive thinking. And the -patient will be surprised at first to find the amount of time it is -possible to spend in a really useful recasting of his life interests.</p> - -<p>It was not until the author, himself, took pencil and paper, and -classified his own aims, and put down the points for and against each, -and attempted to see the disharmonies existing amongst them, that he -realised the full value of this procedure. It might be thought that in -a very short period any person could put down all his aims, and that -but little modification would take place in them from day to day. This, -however, is very far from being true, as will be seen by anyone who -carries out this method fully.</p> - -<p>Perhaps at this point the details taken from a case of a woman -suffering from a “nervous breakdown” in which I used this method as a -subsidiary form of treatment, may not only be of interest, but will -also throw some light on the practical working of the method.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> I may -mention that her chief troubles were insomnia, constant worrying, great -depression, and inability to settle down to work of any kind.</p> - -<p>In the first place, this patient commenced by stating that she had no -aim in life at all. She had to admit, however, immediately after, that -she had at least the aim of wishing to get well, or otherwise she would -not have come to me. On being asked why she wished to get well, several -subsidiary aims appeared. For the most part, they were rationalization, -and I knew these aims would be thrown over in due course, but that, for -the purpose in view, did not matter. I told her to go home, and write -down her aims, in the manner I have just indicated.</p> - -<p>The following was the list brought to me on the next day.</p> - -<blockquote><p>(1) To be well.</p> - -<p>(2) To be married.</p> - -<p>(3) To become a doctor.</p> - -<p>(4) And if I cannot do that, to become a masseuse.</p> - -<p>(5) Or a psycho-analyst.</p> - -<p>(6) Or a private secretary. </p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote><p>(7) And I should like to have two children.</p></blockquote> - -<p>With this rather pathetic list in front of me, I asked her to give as -far as possible the reasons she had for these various wishes, and to -examine these on the lines I had indicated, with the following results.</p> - -<p>(1) <i>To get well.</i> “The reason for this aim is obvious; it is necessary -in order to obtain the others,” said she.</p> - -<p>(2) <i>To get married.</i> “This aim has three subsidiary immediate aims,” -she replied, “and there may be others. (a) I want a comfortable home of -my own, (b) I want satisfaction of my natural instincts in accordance -with the custom of ordinary adult life, (c) I could attain the later -aim of having two children.” She immediately added, “In that case, the -aim of having two children is a remote aim, and if I follow your advice -I must no longer have day-dreams about them, I must put them out of my -thoughts, I must not waste time on anything connected with them, until -I am married.”</p> - -<p>(3) <i>To become a doctor.</i> “Concerning this,” she added, “I have -always liked studying Zoology, and microscopic work, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> diseases. -Moreover, it is the only way in which one can make money in a really -interesting manner.” She then stated that she realised this to be -a double aim, and to consist, firstly, of the aim of earning a -livelihood, and secondly, of that of having an interesting occupation. -This aim was soon discovered to be phantastic, however, for she had to -admit that her financial position would not permit of the necessary -study, and that there was no prospect of any improvement in this. She -therefore realised that although she had had it at the back of her -mind for several months that somehow such an aim might be possible of -fulfilment, she now clearly saw that it was not. She at once removed -it from the list, and realised that neither regrets nor phantasy in -connection with it would be of any avail, and again, that she must bear -in mind possibilities and realities.</p> - -<p>(4) <i>To become a masseuse.</i> She at once stated her thoughts on this -subject. “I have known one or two masseuses, who seem to make money, -and who are very happy. Moreover, it is an occupation that a lady can -take up.” She then discovered that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> this involved three aims: (a) to -make money, (b) to be happy, (c) to remain genteel. On the opposite -side, however, she added that she was not sufficiently physically -strong for the work, and was afraid she would soon tire of it, because -as an occupation itself, it did not appeal to her. This aim, also, -immediately disappeared from the list.</p> - -<p>(5) <i>To become a psycho-analyst.</i> This, said she, was a very -interesting subject, and she thought she could do much good by means of -it. Moreover, she thought she would like psychology though she had not -studied it much as yet. “Moreover,” said she, “psycho-analysts probably -make a lot of money. And further, it would be very nice to sit at -home in an arm-chair to do one’s work, and to let other people do the -talking.” She at once recognised this latter idea to be a thoroughly -Narcissistic regression. And then she found that all the other ideas -contained multiple aims in themselves, each of which had to be thought -out and classified, and into the details of which I need not go. Except -to say that when she considered the matter from a practical point of -view, the difficulties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> of training, the time it would take, and more -especially the fact that she feared that psycho-analysis might not be -popular by the time she was ready, she determined that it was only a -phantasy aim, upon which she had been wasting phantasy thought, and she -ruled it out.</p> - -<p>(6) <i>To become a private secretary.</i> On this point, she considered that -her personal appearance and general education would help her, and was -quite compatible with the aim. But she knew no shorthand, book-keeping, -nor typewriting. She, however, realised at once that the immediate aim -in this case should be the shorthand, book-keeping, and typewriting, -and she said, “I will go to-morrow and see where I can learn these -things.” I pointed out to her that she might very possibly change -her mind, when she considered things further, but that even if she -did so, the mastery of shorthand, typewriting and book-keeping might -stand her in good stead, and in any case that she would be working for -an immediate object, in turning some of her phantasy into directive -thought. And on the morrow, she actually did commence her studies on -these subjects. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> - -<p>(7) <i>The desire to have two children.</i> This was at once classified, as -I have already said, as a remote aim; though, as a matter of fact, she -got married shortly afterwards, and the remote aim is now on the way to -being fulfilled, as she has one child.</p> - -<p>I have shown by this example the ill-considered, phantastic, and -conflicting aims, which some persons may at first produce when they -attempt deliberately to classify them. But it must be remembered that -each of the subsidiary aims which she had discovered her primary aims -to be divided into were, in turn, again capable of being divided into -further subsidiary aims. And the next stage of this form of technique -is to discover these. Day by day, the pencil and paper must be -brought out, and a list of aims and wishes for that day compiled and -considered. They must be in turn examined to show (1) whether they are -compatible with one another, (2) whether they are compatible with other -immediate aims, (3) whether they are compatible with the remote aims.</p> - -<p>A strong attempt must then be made to eradicate any aims or wishes -which are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> antagonistic to one another, or to the primary aims of the -individual, which have already been passed as real. As progress is -made, definite and personal aims will be developed day by day, many of -these, no doubt, apparently trivial, others at least important for the -day in question, all important from the point of view of developing the -habit of thinking in terms of reality.</p> - -<p>For instance, on one occasion, the lady above mentioned wrote on her -list in the morning that she wished to work hard at her shorthand -in the early part of the day, to go to a matinée in the afternoon, -and to a dance in the evening. On consideration, however, she came -to the conclusion that the dance in the evening, following after -the day’s work and entertainment, would probably interfere with her -next morning’s work, and it was not, moreover, compatible with that -immediate aim of regaining complete health at the earliest possible -moment. It was, therefore, rejected; the lesser aim was recast, and -a quiet dinner with a friend substituted. Only by such rigorous and -possibly painful self-treatment can the Narcissist’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> conflicts be -regulated and viewed in a proper perspective.</p> - -<p>Every daily aim has a further subsidiary aim appertaining to it. For -instance, a man may have made up his mind to devote a certain part -of the day to studying; the lesser aim includes the subject to be -studied, the amount to be done, and the time to be occupied. It is -important that he should not over-estimate the amount he can get done -in a given time. One reason why so much detail should be considered, -is that it is astounding how excessively a person, with a tendency to -phantasy thought, over-estimates the amount of work it is possible -to get through in a given time. No sooner is a task commenced than -he expects it to be almost finished. The daily programme frequently -includes far more than is possible, and he forms a habit of being late -for everything; all this being merely the ordinary omnipotent idea of -childhood, which fulfils a wish in phantasy as readily as it is formed.</p> - -<p>I must now give a warning, that those who follow this method are, at -first, nearly always extremely impatient for results, for this very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> -reason that they do not realise the time-factor; and they must realise, -and consciously and patiently accept inevitable delay, with the -assurance that if they can overcome their Narcissism sufficiently to -persist in the method they will steadily and gradually develop a habit, -an attitude of mind which devotes its energy to directive thought, to -real aims, and to displacing from themselves the phantastic medley -which was there before.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XII</span> <span class="smaller">READJUSTMENT OF THOUGHT</span></h2> - -<p>We have seen in an earlier chapter how one of the ways in which -Narcissism manifests itself is in day-dreams. We saw how a child would -substitute a phantasy or day-dream for a reality, and so fulfil its -wishes and desires in this unreal manner. And we saw how, if this were -persisted in to excess, the same or a modified method of fulfilling -one’s wishes in realms of phantasy would remain even in adult life. -I may here remark that even <i>very little</i> day-dreaming constitutes -excess, and is bound to have a deleterious effect upon the efficiency -and happiness of the individual’s life; unless, perhaps, that -individual is mixing sufficient directive thought with his phantasies -as in the case of a novelist or artist, for instance. In realising -this, it must be borne in mind, that time and energy spent in phantasy -thinking are time and energy lost to reality and fact; that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> -encouragement of the habit of phantasy thinking destroys the ability -to think directively, or rather renders the full development of it -impossible. Moreover, by encouraging day-dreams, we are simultaneously -holding on to our Narcissism, and making it more likely that it -will also find outlets in other deleterious ways. For instance, the -“worrying nature” which is constantly thinking of possible troubles to -come, and of how past troubles might have been avoided is indulging in -a form of phantasy thinking. If the habit of phantasy thinking has been -cultivated for pleasurable purposes, a channel has been opened which -will be used without conscious intention for other kinds of phantasy -as well. The habit of worrying to which we have just referred, is an -example of this.</p> - -<p>Worry consists in weaving phantasies about something which cannot at -the moment be influenced directively. It may be about something which -<i>has</i> happened and therefore cannot be influenced at all by thinking -about it, or about something which <i>may</i> happen but over which the -thinker has no immediate control; and it consists in going over all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> -the “mays” and “mights” connected with the case, and experiencing -the unpleasant emotions belonging to each phantasied situation. In -order to get rid of this worrying habit, to close the channel which -permits of it, a person must simultaneously cut out pleasurable -day-dreams also, and thus close the channel entirely. Therefore, let -us recommend the individual who indulges largely in day-dreams, to get -rid of the habit as soon as possible. Those who have other abnormal -characteristics which they wish to eradicate, should understand that -they must, simultaneously, get rid of their day-dreams. And this means -pulling oneself up, not merely when one discovers oneself imagining -some glorious vista in which one occupies a principle but impossible -part, it means similarly pulling oneself up in a thousand little ways; -it means catching oneself whenever one wanders from a type of directive -thought to a type of phantastic thought.</p> - -<p>For instance, in the examination of one’s aims, one is thinking -directively, and one comes to the conclusion that, say, a course -of shorthand and typewriting shall be taken at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> once, that the aim -of being a secretary is one suitable and compatible with one’s -attainments. At this point, it is very easy for the individual to -suddenly find that he or she has become, in day-dreams, the secretary -of a duke or American millionaire. And if he does not pull himself up -at this stage, he will find that the duke’s money has been left him, -or she will find that she has married the American millionaire. And -so the phantasy goes on. It starts in reality, but the Narcissistic -temperament takes it right away from this. It must be nipped in the -bud at the very beginning, if the habit of directive thought is to be -established. As soon as the individual finds himself drifting in this -way, wasting energy, fulfilling wishes by mere dreams, he must pull -himself up short, and say to himself, “Here the real ends, there the -phantasy begins. This is the point I must come back to, I must deal -with this matter from the real point of view only, without allowing -this phantasy to intrude itself.”</p> - -<p>And here again, much patience will be needed, for if the habit has -already been cultivated, he will soon be back in phantasy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> again, -probably in less than five minutes. But phantasy thought does not only -mean day-dreams in the sense in which we have spoken of them here. It -may take all sort of disguises, and what would be phantasy thought in -one person, would be directive thought in another. In one case, the -environment and education and inherent ability would not be of that -order which could make the thoughts come to be facts; in the other case -the abilities of the person might be sufficient to do so. Thus, were an -ordinary person to sit in his arm-chair, and phantasy a wonderful plan -for the conquest of Europe, without having either the will or the means -of carrying out his ambition, that would constitute phantasy thinking -pure and simple. If, however, a Napoleon did the same, with the will -and the possible means, with the near aim at hand in the conquest of -a small country, and the subsequent conquest of Europe as an ultimate -one, his method of thought would have to be described as directive -thinking. So that similar thinking in two different individuals may -really be classified as two different principles of thinking. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> - -<p>I have no doubt that many readers will be saying to themselves now, -“But my greatest pleasure is to be found in day-dreams. I find in -directive thinking nothing but hard work.”</p> - -<p>In such a case, if the individual cannot enjoy his directive -thinking, and he gets no emotional discharge by means of it, it is -possible that his aims in life are unsuited to him, or that he has -not sufficient aims in life, that his time is not as fully occupied -with interesting <i>acts</i> as it should be. In such a case, subsidiary -aims should be formed deliberately, wherein he could take an interest -in directive thinking. <i>For it may be accepted as a fact that, with -proper cultivation and education, more real pleasure can be found in -suitable directive thinking than in any amount of day-dreams.</i> It is -also a further fact that the individual’s energy is not then wasted, -but is more or less efficiently utilised. Moreover, instead of losing -strength of character, he is now gaining it. Let it be borne in mind, -always, that continual indulgence of phantasy thought, from its very -ease, breeds the habit of inertia, for the individual’s aims and wishes -attain fulfilment without any need for activity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> on his part; and here -a vicious circle is produced, because the inertia, which he has thus -encouraged, now in its turn tends to make him resort to phantasy the -more.</p> - -<p>It is easy, of course, to say, “I will cut myself off from phantasy -thought, I will pull myself up whenever this occurs, and leave it -alone.” But it is by no means easy to act up to this resolution. If, -however, another kind of directive thought is deliberately substituted -for the phantasy, the task is made very much easier. If the water in -the bath is too hot, and we want it to cool rapidly, we do not merely -turn off the hot tap, we simultaneously turn on the cold.</p> - -<p>The task will be rendered more easy still, if the individual selects -his subject of directive thought to replace phantasy beforehand, not -waiting until the time comes. For instance, we will suppose that, -as one subsidiary aim with which to fill in his time, a person has -selected the collection of postage stamps. He will each day have in -front of him some page which he wishes to arrange in chronological -order, to consider from the point of view of water-marks and -perforations; and he may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> make up his mind that as soon as he finds -himself dealing in phantasy thought he will not only cut out the -phantasy thought but will at once start arranging, in his mind, the -stamps which he was shortly going to arrange in his book. It matters -not in the least what form the substitute thought takes, so long as it -possesses two qualities, (1) it is directive, <i>i.e.</i>, it is going to -lead to some sort of actual change or action, and (2) that it bears -a pleasurable interest. And for that reason, I have selected a very -trivial form of directive thought as an example. The point is that -the individual should select some subject in which he has a personal -and active interest, as a subject with which he may replace phantasy -thought, whenever the latter comes into his mind.</p> - -<p>Phantasy thought may, further, not be of necessity thoughts impossible -of fulfilment, except in the immediate present. Thoughts of erotic -or other desires which intrude themselves at untimely moments, are -phantasy thoughts, and some people frequently complain that they are -annoyed by them, especially when they have no intention of actually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> -fulfilling them in fact, or when the means of fulfilling them are -not present. Here again, to have a subject ready at hand, or to -have a substitute thought for the undesired thoughts is a very real -assistance. Even a sentence thought out beforehand or a good maxim -which can be repeated several times and considered, forms an excellent -substitute thought with which to replace the unwanted phantasy.</p> - -<p>Let us now consider a few other examples. The majority of educated -people, of a so-called normal type, when they have completed their -day’s work, and are fatigued, require some sort of mental rest, and as -a rule some kind of phantasy thought is resorted to in the evening. -Also, when this fatigue is cumulative, they say, “We have worked -eleven months, and now require one month’s holiday.” This is really an -unconscious phantasy requiring a regressive reward. They are not really -tired out, physically or mentally, but they have accumulated, after -a series of postponements, a large number of Narcissistic efforts at -phantasy; and the holiday which they now require is really to satisfy -this. It is a return to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>childhood and the time of irresponsibility, -and their occupations on the holiday may very likely be, to a large -extent, similar to those with which they occupied themselves in -childhood. They throw off their adult status and responsibility, and -deliberately take this regressive reward. Even with normal people -the idea of <i>rest</i> in the form of a holiday, often means nothing but -phantasy thought, time disregarded, no effort of any sort to be made.</p> - -<p>But in the less Narcissistic type of person who still retains directive -thought even on a holiday—a holiday means merely change in immediate -aim, change in occupation, rather than rest from aim and occupation.</p> - -<p>Phantasy thinking may take many quite surreptitious forms. In old age, -for instance, we know that type of person, who is quietly slipping -into helpless imbecility. He is the same man, who, at an earlier age, -lacked the habit of directive thought. On the other hand, there is -our intellectual old man or woman, still full of the day’s problems -or politics, who indulged, in early life, but little in phantasies. -Experience shows us that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> influence of directive or undirective -thought in youth may not only determine our happiness in declining -years, but may even determine the actual age to which we live. For, -paradoxically, it is the Narcissist, who of all people desires a long -life, and who is, of all people, the least likely to attain old age. He -frequently “worries himself into the grave.”</p> - -<p>We have not yet exhausted the forms of phantasy thought. A casual -conversation between acquaintances in which no information of value -is imparted, in which merely some emotional material is brought to -the surface and thrown out, is undirective thought. The first person, -interested in some emotional experience, recounts to the second the -facts of that experience, often without arousing any emotional feeling -in the second person. Such is the type of conversation which takes -place over a vast majority of tea-tables. It is wasted energy.</p> - -<p>Another example is that of conventional letter-writing, in certain -cases. The duty letter which one person writes to another person is -of the same type. The writer who deals with his or her experiences -on a shopping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> expedition, who states a series of things which have -happened, merely in order to enjoy them once again in phantasy, is -performing the same waste of energy. There is no return for this -expended energy, the rush of ideas produces no result. Perhaps the -time is due for a letter to be written, and it is the turn of this -person to write a letter. As a result of this conventional attitude, -the writer has to resort to phantasy thought to satisfy the needs of -the moment. We have pointed out that reading a novel is a form of -phantasy thinking, in which we identify ourselves with the hero. The -same occurs in our cinemas. Here, the pleasure of phantasy thinking is -enhanced by the fact that the visual impression is produced direct, -whereas in reading a novel the visual impression is by words only, -and a certain amount of effort is needed to translate it in the mind -into its pictorial form; and thus the cinematograph induces a form of -phantasy thinking which needs the least effort of all to realise. It -is within the reach of anyone possessing a few pence, and although the -average person may regard it as educative and useful to the community, -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> magistrate who is dealing with the youthful delinquent knows the -cinematograph to be very harmful to the child’s mind. And there is no -doubt that the unconscious effect of such mental stimuli is excessively -deleterious to the race in general. The indulgence in it encourages -the habit of phantasy thinking at a small cost, and such a habit soon -becomes established as part of the individual’s make-up. Nor does the -evil stay itself here. For the phantasy in the cinematograph consists -usually in the fulfilment of impossible wishes, and in this, as in -other cases, the emotional output is increased out of all proportion -to the real exciting causes. This results in a misplacement in the -emotional output in the unconscious mind, which in its turn is the -basis of many neurotic conditions which may even require a physician’s -aid to eradicate. And one must remember that a neurotic condition need -not merely be the illness of an individual, it may be, and often is, -the disease of a nation. Hence, like the fairy-tale, the cinema, as it -is at present, should not be used as a child’s pastime. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<h3>§2</h3> - -<p>In other forms of Narcissism also, we shall find it easier to break -away from phantasy if we substitute a reality; that is, if we turn our -flow of energy into a real, instead of an imaginary channel, instead of -merely trying to dam the flow in the original channel. In cases where -this Narcissism involves a bad habit, such as irritability, impatience, -weeping, etc., the line that should be followed differs rather from -that suggested in the case of day-dreams. In the first place, not only -should we pull ourselves up short, but we should also bear in mind, -immediately, the first part of the technique which we suggested in -a previous chapter. That is to say, we should call to mind what our -abnormal act really means, and having done this, having realised it in -consciousness, <i>we should then endeavour to use the same energy which -we should have used for this abnormal act in an immediate and useful -manner</i>. Now, in all these cases, our abnormal reaction takes place -because our omnipotence or sense of perfection is disturbed; and since -this sense of perfection is not real, the easiest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> and most convenient -channel for us to turn our energy into is one which still satisfies the -sense of perfection, that is to say, one in which we may feel that <i>we -are, by our act, becoming more perfect in reality, instead of clinging -to our perfection in phantasy</i>. It is impossible to give examples to -cover the very many reactions which may take place, but one actual -example, given in detail, should be sufficient to enable the individual -to invent others to suit his own case. Let us again take the case -of the impatient man, in which the Time-factor has never been fully -realised.</p> - -<p>Let us say that he has entered a restaurant for lunch, and that -having glanced down the menu, he then has to wait ten minutes before -the waiter attends to him. Probably, after the first minute of that -time, he has begun to get impatient; at the end of ten minutes he is -either making up his mind to go without his lunch, so great is his -irritability, or else he is, with great emotion, explaining to his -neighbour how extremely inefficient this restaurant is, as regards -management, service, and, in fact, everything connected with it. He is -utterly unable to realise the facts of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> case. Let us again refer -to the facts for a moment. The restaurant is a business, and must make -a profit; in order to do this, only a limited number of waiters can -possibly be kept, and the number of these has to be regulated by the -<i>average</i> number of customers, by the profit which it is possible to -make in the neighbourhood, and other factors. In the second place, the -luncheon hour is one at which the number of customers is well above -the average, and therefore in which the service is bound to be the -slowest; however good the management, however skilful the waiters, they -are obliged to devote a certain number of minutes to each customer; -and the probability is that our Narcissistic individual is being as -well attended to as anybody else. He does not realise this however, he -is not dealing with the facts at all. He merely knows that he wishes -for an immediate meal, that his sense of perfection is thoroughly -disturbed, and his unconscious idea is that if he is sufficiently -impatient, what he wants will come to him immediately, just as it did -in childhood.</p> - -<p>Now let us see how he may deal with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>himself. We will suppose that -he has read this chapter before his next visit to the restaurant in -question. Once again he sits down, once again he finds he is kept -waiting. His impatience begins to manifest itself in its early stages. -He pulls himself up, and the first thing that he does is to realise the -causes of his impatience, as set out in the last paragraph. He must go -quickly over the original causes of his Narcissism in infancy, and of -how he obtained means of satisfaction, and so developed his present -habit of thought. He must run over the facts concerning the restaurant, -and realise that it is a business place, and that it is at its busiest -hour. In other words, he must get into full consciousness the various -factors associated with this Narcissistic outburst of impatience. Then, -let him realise as a kind of summary, “What I am actually objecting -to is the disturbance of my unconscious feeling of omnipotence and -perfection. Let me, however, turn this energy, utilise this time -during which I am waiting in attaining a step nearer real perfection -instead of bemoaning the loss of my imaginary perfection. Now, a step -towards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> real perfection will be attained, if I overcome this habit -of impatience. Let me, therefore, utilise this time in sitting here -patiently, in worrying no longer about the time the waiter is taking, -in being actually pleased with the fact that I am becoming more -patient, and that my time is being usefully filled with a directive -aim, which has as its object the same ultimate idea as the original -phantastic one, namely, that of perfection.”</p> - -<p>Critics may here suggest that this long monologue on the part of the -impatient individual might have been cut short by allowing him to say, -“Obviously, the waiters are busy, it is no use being impatient, let me -be patient.” I must point out, however, that the result would probably -not have been the same. The longer method has its value in the fact -that he brings into consciousness the two ideas of perfection, the -Narcissistic idea which is being hurt, and the real idea which he is -desiring consciously to obtain. <i>And it is very much easier to turn -energy from one channel to another, if there are lines of similarity -between the two channels.</i></p> - -<p>Hence, when one’s sense of perfection is <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>assailed, let one turn -one’s energy into some form of thought which still satisfies the idea -of perfection attained or attainable. A similar process can be gone -through with any other Narcissistic form of trouble, and consists in -recapitulating the causes, and in reaching a determined effort to -deflect consciously the energy from the phantastic into the real. The -same principle holds good for all temperamental troubles of this sort, -but the individual will have to devise for himself a suitable formula -to use to suit the needs of his own case.</p> - - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XIII</span> <span class="smaller">AUTO-SUGGESTION</span></h2> - -<p>Suggestion, in one form or another, plays an extremely important -part in the life of everyone. Suggestion consists in impressing upon -the unconscious mind some idea or thought in such a way that the -unconscious mind will take it and absorb it as part of itself, and -utilise it unconsciously and instinctively. Quite unconsciously, -throughout childhood and adult life, we are receiving suggestions from -the actions of those around us.</p> - -<p>For example, I remember as a boy going repeatedly with a relative -to a friend’s house. At the time, I did not notice that my relative -invariably used the knocker, and never rang the bell, or rather I did -not consciously notice it. On one occasion I, myself, was sent with -a message to this house, and although I was in the habit of ringing -bells whenever I went to other houses, at this particular one, I -instinctively knocked only. The suggestion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> that I should knock upon -that particular door had been implanted in me by the fact that I had -repeatedly seen the same action take place, although I had paid no -conscious attention to it. It had impressed itself upon my mind as -the right action to take place, under the particular circumstances -attending a visit to this house, so that I performed the action itself -automatically, without any further thought in the matter.</p> - -<p>The example impressed itself upon my mind, because while I was in the -house, on this occasion, a man came to mend the bell, which had been -out of order for many months. Hence, the reason my relative invariably -knocked.</p> - -<p>Suggestion of various kinds is a very powerful factor, and as in -the example given above, it is for the most part an unconscious -factor in determining our actions. But it is possible for us to give -ourselves <i>conscious</i> suggestions which will afterwards cause us to -act automatically, in accordance with the suggestion. A great deal too -much, however, has been claimed for suggestion in recent months. There -are many circumstances in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> which suggestion is not likely to be any -good at all, there are also circumstances when it may arouse an actual -opposition in the unconscious mind, where a counter-suggestion is set -at work immediately, and the condition of the individual may actually -be worse than before he started giving himself suggestions.</p> - -<p>Apart from other things, one factor may be mentioned which is very -antagonistic to suggestion, and that is <i>fear</i>, possibly fear which -is for the most part unconscious. Thus, supposing that the alcoholic -gives himself the suggestion that he shall pass a public-house without -going into it, and he has a definite fear of the wish to go in; he -will probably find that in suggesting that he shall not have the wish, -he is actually re-enforcing the strength of the wish which is there. -His unconscious counter-will is at work, and turning the force of the -suggestion in the wrong direction, and he will very likely succumb -to temptation more readily than before. Hence, in a subject where we -have acute fear of failure, suggestion must be very carefully dealt -with. Moreover, suggestion, to be efficient, must have other things in -its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> favour, some knowledge, in fact, of the underlying causes of the -deleterious action which we wish to eradicate. It is not impossible to -improve oneself by suggestion, even though one may be ignorant of the -cause of one’s trouble, but I have found that it is infinitely more -easy to obtain this improvement if one has previously brought into -consciousness the underlying cause, and can therefore direct one’s -suggestion to this rather than merely to the effect or symptom. I have -myself devised a method for the use of certain of my patients by means -of which suggestion may be directed to both the cause and result, -as indicated shortly. Ordinary methods of suggestion are frequently -merely directed to the cure of the symptom rather than the disease; in -fact, such auto-suggestion, popular as it has become, may frequently -be likened to a doctor who treats small-pox by putting ointment on the -spots, or appendicitis by giving morphia. It will be successful in -those cases where the manifestations of the disease are worse than the -disease itself; but when the causes are strong and virile, suggestion -directed towards the symptom will not avail. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> - -<p>In an earlier chapter, we described how the individual suffering -from deleterious abnormalities of temperament could, to some extent, -trace the cause of this back to infancy. We told how this, in itself, -would, if repeatedly brought to mind on succeeding occasions, produce -considerable improvement. We have further discussed how he could -consciously turn the energy from one form of reaction into another -and more suitable form. All these methods, however, may be made -considerably more efficient by the active use of auto-suggestion, as I -have indicated, directed partially to the cause and partially to the -result desired. Thus, the form which suggestion should take in the case -of the man, whom we quoted in the last chapter as being over-impatient -in the restaurant, would be somewhat as follows:</p> - -<p>He would have to impress upon himself several suggestions; and in the -case of each of these suggestions he would be required to form a mental -picture of himself in the conditions to which the suggestions referred. -Firstly, “In circumstances in which I have been accustomed to react -with impatience, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> will no longer act as I did when I was a little -child.” (In repeating this to himself in the manner to be referred to -shortly, he should hold a picture of himself reacting impatiently when -a child, and contrast it with the manner in which he ought to have -acted.) Secondly, “Under conditions which have previously caused me to -react with impatience, I will in future, at once think out the <i>real</i> -circumstances of the case.” (And another suitable mental picture should -be visualised here, as also in each of the following suggestions.) -Thirdly, “Under conditions which previously caused me to react with -impatience, I will no longer be impatient.” Fourthly, “Under conditions -to which I have been accustomed to react with impatience, I shall now -devote my energy to perfecting myself, in reality.” Thus, he is taking -himself through the stages from childhood onward, and re-educating -himself in each stage by means of a forced education in which the -individual “grows up” in reality from the point at which he stopped in -childhood.</p> - -<p>Not one, but all these thoughts, and possibly even intermediate ones -that may develop,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> should be impressed upon the unconscious mind, so -that they may act automatically. As to the method which should be -adopted by the patient in giving himself suggestions, I recommend the -following. That he first of all write down briefly the results of his -self-examination, that he should take those results in chronological -order, and write down from them suitable suggestions dealing with -the various stages, such as I have just written with regard to the -impatient man. That every night and morning, or at any other time -during the day, he should for five or ten minutes lie down, relax -himself, and close his eyes; that he should then repeat to himself -fifteen or twenty times each of the suggestions, taking the earliest -first, then the next, and so on. They need not be repeated out loud, -but if repeated under the breath and accompanied by a suitable movement -of the lips, it will suffice. Effort should be avoided; suggestion -is not an effort of will so much as an impression effected by the -imagination. When an individual is giving himself suggestion, he is not -fighting an active battle, he is merely allowing ideas to sink into his -mind; and if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> they are repeated often enough, like drops of water which -in time wear a channel in the stone, they will make their mark and -produce their effects in due course.</p> - -<p>Suggestion, in fact, minimises the need for the use of will-power, -at any given moment in a difficult situation. If the battle has been -fought out beforehand in imagination, it will automatically succeed -when the time comes. The will has played its part previously when -adopting the method of suggestion.</p> - -<p>This is not a text-book on suggestion, and I do not propose to go -further into the method here. I merely wish to point out the practical -efficiency of the use of a certain amount of auto-suggestion when -applied in conjunction with the other methods of combating Narcissism -already outlined, and when applied in an intelligent manner, so that -not merely the symptoms, but the original causes themselves shall be -affected by it.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XIV</span> <span class="smaller">CONCLUSION</span></h2> - -<p>The previous portion of this book has been devoted to showing how -Narcissism may be harmful, and how in its endeavour to obtain -satisfaction it may render the individual unhappy in the utmost -degree. It is possible that the reader will have gathered that the -author regards Narcissism as wholly and completely a useless and -detrimental element in life; the more so, since at various points -we have had to emphasise that in one form or another very little of -it persisting in adult life may be a great deal too much. It should -be realised, however, that Narcissism to a slight extent, and at -certain periods, plays an important and also necessary part in the -individual’s life. We mentioned at one place that a certain amount of -identification was beneficial in choosing one’s life partner. Whereas -too much identification might lead to one’s choosing a sexual partner -of the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> sex, a small amount of identification might lead to one’s -choosing a partner with the same tastes, and would further lead to a -tendency to enjoy whatsoever the other one enjoyed, and to dislike what -the other one disliked, and this similarity would lead to a certain -harmony in life. <i>Narcissism is a normal thing in the new-born infant, -and Narcissism is the root of many virtues; but its final adult form -must be sublimated and very much attenuated.</i> It is like the salt in -cooking; a little is essential to bring out the flavour, but a very -little more spoils the whole dish.</p> - -<p>A certain amount of self-love, self-appreciation, self-importance, and -self-consciousness of one’s own capacities is necessary in every one; -without it he would be ill prepared to cope with men and circumstances. -But this necessary self-importance and self-appreciation is not, as -many might think, due to Narcissism alone. It has a slight Narcissistic -element, but it is largely a resultant of other unconscious instincts, -which we have not attempted to deal with here; and we only mention -it, lest the reader should draw the conclusion that these necessary -elements in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> our character are drawn purely from a Narcissistic -basis, and that he should therefore be left puzzled as to how, if he -should eradicate Narcissism, he would be able to retain necessary -characteristics which apparently belong to this same instinct. It is -also very necessary for the reader to bear in mind that much which -may be developed from Narcissism is useful; even though the original -from which it came may be dangerous and harmful. Moreover, a certain -amount of enjoyment of phantasy such as is obtained from novels or -theatres may be in many people quite a useful and adequate form of -relaxation. With them it may be strictly cut off from real life, may -be strictly limited as regards time and place, and, in fact, entirely -under their control. In such persons it forms a useful element in their -lives. I do not say that if their early education and environment had -been different they might not possibly possess an even better form of -recreation, but merely that, taking facts as they are, in certain cases -it forms a useful factor in the working scheme of life.</p> - -<p>In others, however, in those where it has exceeded the limits of -absolute control, it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> necessary, for the time being at least, to -attempt to cut it out as completely as possible, because where it is -allowed slight free play, it is liable to get out of hand, unless it -can be dealt with absolutely at the will of the individual. Hence the -necessity for such stringent treatment as I have laid down in the -previous chapters of this book.</p> - -<p>I have attempted to show that happiness is, for the most part, -within the individual’s own grasp. Happiness comes from within the -individual and not from without. Unhappiness must not be confused -with pain, either mental or physical, for pain is a normal reaction, -to a harmful stimulus which all are liable to feel; it is for the -most part beyond the individual’s control so long as the stimulus -persists; but the peace of mind, the absence of worry, of irritability, -of perpetual uneasiness, which we call unhappiness, lies within the -control of everybody. It largely consists in continually recognising -what facts are unchangeable, and ceasing to bemoan or phantasy about -these unchangeable facts. It is true that the road to happiness may -be difficult if we have long been accustomed to tread the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> path of -Narcissism, but it is equally true that if the advice laid down in this -book be followed patiently and systematically, a very much happier -frame of mind will be attained as a result. In a few cases, Narcissism -is not a predominant factor causing the temperamental disturbance -although superficially it may appear to be so. In such cases (where -other primitive instincts are really of paramount importance) the same -degree of improvement will not be attained by this method of self -treatment and only a more prolonged course of regular psycho-analysis -is likely to produce the desired result.</p> - -<p>Happiness is not to be found by seeking happiness in the direct sense. -This, I am aware, sounds very much like a mere high-sounding thought -of a writer. It is the sort of phrase that people dismiss with the -remark, “That is all very well in theory.” This statement, however, -is not made from any moral or sentimental point of view, nor on any -purely theoretical grounds, but as a scientific fact, which has been -demonstrated as the result of psychological research. It may be -interesting to note here how much the psychology<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> of happiness is in -agreement with many of the teachings of the New Testament, although a -different terminology and mode of expression may be used.</p> - -<p>It was pointed out earlier how the individual who employed too much -phantasy thought in youth might worry himself into an early grave, -although he was the same individual who most desired a long life. It -has now been shown that happiness does not come to those who seek -happiness, but to those who can adapt themselves to realities, that -is, to those who can control their Narcissism. Narcissism is not so -very different from the word “self,” as used in Christian teachings, -and any who are interested enough to compare them will find that there -is considerable parallelism between Christian teaching and certain -psychological observations.</p> - -<p>I must emphasise the fact once more that patience, that is a -realization of the time factor, is very necessary for those who attempt -self-treatment on the lines indicated in this book. For since lack of -this is often one of their faults to start with, they may otherwise -involve themselves in a vicious circle, from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> which they do not -escape. Patience and attention to detail will, however, enable them to -accomplish that improvement which they have set out to achieve. In the -words of Horace, “Happiness is here, happiness is everywhere, if only a -well-regulated mind does not fail you.”</p> - -<p class="center space-above">THE END</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OMNIPOTENT SELF, A STUDY IN SELF-DECEPTION AND SELF-CURE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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