the unknown guest(陌生客)-第46节
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prematurely out of his appointed plane。
13
And the riddles accumulate which we cannot hope to solve。 It has
been said that these abnormal faculties are communications or infiltrations；
themselves abnormal； which have found their way through the partitions
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that separate our consciousness from our subconsciousness。 This is very
likely； but it is only a minor side of the question。 It would be important
before all to know what that subconsciousness represents； whither it tends
and with what it itself is communicating。 Is the impersonal form of
knowledge a necessary or an accidental stage？ Is the impersonal form
which it takes in the subconsciousness the only true one？ Is there really； as
everything seems to prove； a hopeless incompatibility between our
intellectual faculties and those families of uncertain origin； to such an
extent that the latter are unable to manifest themselves except when the
former are weakened or temporarily suspended？ It has； at any rate； been
observed that they are hardly ever exercised simultaneously。 Are we to
believe that； at a given moment； mankind or the genius that presides over
its destinies had to make an exclusive and awful choice between cerebral
energy and the mysterious forces of the subconsciousness and that we still
find traces of its hesitations in our organism？ What would have become of
a race of man in which the subconsciousness had triumphed over the brain？
Is not this the case with animals； and would not the race have remained
purely animal？ Or else would not this preponderance of a subconscious
more powerful than that of the animals and almost independent of our
body have resulted in the disappearance of life as we know it； and should
we not even now be trading the life which we shall probably lead when we
are dead？ Here are a number of questions to which there are no answers
and which are nevertheless perhaps not so idle as one might at first
believe。
14
Amidst this antagonism； whose triumph are we to hope for？ Is any
alliance between the two opposing forces for ever impossible so long as
we are in the flesh？ What are we to do meanwhile？ If a choice be
inevitable； which way will our choice incline； and which victim shall we
sacrifice？ Shall we listen to those who tell us that there is nothing more to
be gained or learnt in those inhospitable regions where all our bewildering
phenomena have been known since man first was man？ Is it true that
occultismas it is very improperly called； for the knowledge which it
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seeks is no more occult than any otheris it true that occultism is marking
time； that it is becoming hopelessly entangled in the same doubtful facts
and that it has not taken a single step forward since its renaissance more
than fifty years ago？ One must be entirely ignorant of the wonderful
efforts of those fruitful years to venture upon such an assertion。 This is not
the place to discuss the question； which would require full and careful
treatment； but we may safely say that until now there is no science which
in so short a time has brought order out of such a chaos； ascertained；
checked and classified such a quantity of facts； or more rapidly awakened；
cultivated and trained in man certain faculties which he had never
seriously been believed to possess； and furthermore none which has
caused to be recognized as incontestable and thus introduced into the
circle of the realities whereon we base our lives a number of unlikely
phenomena which had hitherto been contemptuously passed over。 We are
still； it is true； waiting for the domestication of the new force； its practical
application to daily use。 We are waiting for the all…revealing； decisive
manifestation which will remove our last doubts and throw light upon the
problem down to its very source。 But let us admit that we are likewise
waiting for this manifestation in the great majority of sciences。 In my case；
we are already in the presence of an astonishing mass of well…weighed and
verified materials which； until now； had been taken for the refuse of
dreams； fragments of wild legends； meaningless and unimportant。 For
more than three centuries； the science of electricity remained at very much
the same point at which our psychical sciences stand to…day。 Men were
recording； accumulating； trying to interpret a host of odd and futile
phenomena； toying with Ramsden's machine； with Leyden jars； with
Volta's rough battery。 They thought that they had discovered an agreeable
pastime； an ingenious plaything for the laboratory or study； and they had
not the slightest suspicion that they were touching the sources of an
universal； irresistible； inexhaustible power； invisibly present and active in
all things； that would soon invade the surface of our globe。 Nothing tells
us that the psychic forces of which we are beginning to catch a glimpse
have not similar surprises in store for us； with this difference； that we are
here concerned with energies and mysteries which are loftier； grander and
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doubtless fraught with graver consequences； since they affect our eternal
destinies； traverse alike our life and our death and extend beyond our
planet。
15
It is not true therefore that the psychical sciences have said their last
word and that we have nothing more to expect from them。 They have but
just awakened or reawakened； and； to postdate Guyau's prediction by a
hundred years； we might say； with them in our minds； that the twentieth
century 〃will end with discoveries as ill…formulated but perhaps as
important in the moral world as those of Newton and Laplace in the
astronomical world。〃 But； though we have much to hope from them； that is
no reason why we should look to them for everything and abandon in their
favour that which has brought us where we are。 The choice of which we
spoke； between the brain and the subconsciousness； has been made long
ago； and it is not our part to make it over again。 We are carried along by a
force acquired in the course of two or three thousand years； and our
methods； like our intellectual habits； have of themselves become
transformed into sort of minor subconsciousness superposed upon the
major subconsciousness and sometimes mingling with it。 Henri Bergson；
in his very fine presidential address to the Society for Psychical Research
on the 28th of May； 1913； said that he had sometimes wondered what
would have happened if modern science； instead of setting out from
mathematics； instead of bringing all its forces to converge on the study of
matter； had begun by the consideration of mind； if Kepler； Galileo and
Newton； for instance； had been psychologists：
〃We should certainly；〃 said he； 〃have had a psychology of which to…
day we can form no idea； any more than before Galileo we could have
imagined what our physics would be； a psychology that probably would
have been to our present psychology what our physics is to Aristotle's。
Foreign to every mechanistic idea； not even conceiving the possibility of
an explanation； science would have enquired into； instead of dismissing a
priori facts； such as those which you study； perhaps 'psychical research'
would have stood out as its principal preoccupation。 The most general
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