The Jungle of the Mind
REVIEWS :Author: Edgar James Swift. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1931.
In The Jungle of the Mind the author has stated in scientific terms, and yet in a style both entertaining and witty, certain psychological facts of wide popular interest. Man’s naive and flattering opinion of himself is that he is a thinking animal. He can think, of course, but does he? Dr Swift’s verdict is that he does not, except in rare instances. We find him a ready prey to the insidious appeal of innumerable cults, superstitions, suggestions, pseudoscientifie jargons, false logic. He yields to the lure of astrology, electric belts, weather prophets, brain waves, formulas for success. He is manacled by habits and prejudices, and, truly indeed, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing for him. The golden era of science through which we are now passing has made nothing seem impossible to the lay mind, and charlatans need only to make their promises extravagant enough, in order to win devoted converts, whether it be “cures” by blood-washing and the use of sani-tractors, or the achievement of success through charging one’s soul batteries with M rays, or by the purchase of a psychophone.
Some of the topics treated so delightfully by Dr Swift are: wishful thinking (It’s Easy To Believe), mental telepathy, memory systems (If I Could Only Remember), mental healing, suggestion, habit (Iron Clad Manacles), the subconscious (Power Behind The Throne), psychoanalysis, dreams, and behaviorism (Have Human Beings Minds?). The author’s tilt with Dr. John B. Watson with regard to the concept of consciousness seems to the reviewer the most intriguing chapter in the book. It is probably the only topic discussed on which the opinion of psychologists might differ to any degree. To the psychologist, of course, Dr Swift’s arguments on the above topics are for the most part familiar, but his illustrations and anecdotes, as well as his manner of treatment are refreshingly new. In these examples he contrasts the befogged thinking of the misguided and those who exploit them, with the clear thought of the greatest scientists.
The Jungle of the Mind should prove to be a very satisfactory reference for eager students who crave answers to the questions raised in this book, but who are still too immature and impatient to be referred to more extensive and less entertaining treatises. The very persons, however, for whom the reading of this book would act as a most desirable mental purge, will probably only in isolated instances ever scan its pages. Jungle thinkers are, after all, very human. They will always prefer to bask in the warmth of their own uncritical thought; and the attempt to strike down old habits of thought and to cultivate new ones will always meet with resistance. The sedative effect of foggy thought is both vicious and circular. For those who have genuine intellectual curiosity, however, and who are not yet wholly crystallized in their mental habits, this book should prove to be an excellent aid in their orientation toward right thinking.
Mildred Loring Sylvester 192
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