Thomson Jay Hudson was chief examiner of the US Patent Office and psychical researcher, known for his three laws of psychic phenomena, which were first published in 1893. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson_...
What I wanted from this book was to see how people try to find out how the brain works when technology wasn't on their side because around 1850-1900, really there wasn't a lot. As a response, yes I find out that there were much smart people on that days that somehow discover that the mind has basically 2 systems (objective, subjective). And with these two you as a people can make a lot of things, even cure you or others from some diseases that exists in your mind. Almost everything you do it depends on what you learn to do, by that means what you learn your brain to do, you will do it, no matter that you know(realize) it or don't. Some things can be hard to understand not because the author speaks in heavy terms, but because explanations are in simple words, words that you cannot associate with your current knowledge or because you don't know enough about the mental therapeutics. Learning is the key, and that can begin to know more about your brain and how it works!
First it is important to know that this book was originally published in the late 19th century (the preface was 1892). It needs to exclusively be treated as a historical document. Much of the book is about various aspects of hypnosis which were incorrect even back in the 19th century and are certainly incorrect in the 21st century. It is written in such a way as to almost be gaslighting to any present day hypnotist. It speaks in absolutes and very little of it is correct and then in the latter part of the book starts to discuss Jesus. If you are looking for actual information on hypnosis, spiritualism, or whatnot, this would not be the book to read. I will give it a 3 on LT, and a 2 on GR simply due to the value as a historical artifact.
As an historical resource and a product of its era, this book is a good general overview of psychic phenomena. Be aware that the science, especially regarding psychology and hypnosis, is very outdated and there are strong Christian overtones. This is definitely not a secular, unbiased resource. It was an entertaining read and the anecdotes mentioned within the text were fascinating. A few of them even helped generate some potential story ideas for future projects.
awesome view on the topic when it was becoming an american fad, the vocabulary of the time is very comedic archaicly. sort of an arisotlean text of the american ocult psychic phenomena.