M. F. A. L.--(I here said something about myself, I forget; I think it was about being proud.)
- Date of account
- Published 1916
- Source
- Raymond; or, Life and Death With examples of the evidence for survival of memory and affection after death.
- Reference
- Raymond; or, Life and Death With examples of the evidence for survival of memory and affection after death. · selected passage 134
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-24
Record summary
Why should telepathy be unfamiliar to us?
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyWhy should telepathy be unfamiliar to us? Why should it seem only an exceptional or occasional method of communication? There is probably, as M. Bergson has said, an evolutionary advantage in our present almost exclusive limitation to mechanical and physical methods of communication; for these are under muscular control and can be shut off. We can isolate ourselves from them, if not in a mechanical, then in a topographical manner: we can go away, out of range. We could not thus protect ourselves against insistent telepathy. Hence probably the practical usefulness of the inhibiting and abstracting power of the brain; a power which in some lunatics is permanently deficient.
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThe passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.
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