The sources and aim of human progress: A study in social psychology and social pathology

by Boris Sidis

Famous pioneer in many fields of psychology and psychiatry, Boris Sidis is known to have applied his knowledge of psychology by fathering the child prodigy William James Sidis, who at age 11 became the youngest person to enroll at Harvard University.
Two decades after publishing his theory of the subconscious in Psychology of Suggestion, Boris Sidis revisits the subject to apply a broader perspective to his findings, ranging from the subconscious of the individual to the advancement of humankind.

67 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 5, 2010

About the author

1867-1923
Boris Sidis was a Ukrainian-American psychologist, physician, psychiatrist, and philosopher of education. Sidis founded the New York State Psychopathic Institute and the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. He was the father of child prodigy William James Sidis. Boris Sidis eventually opposed mainstream psychology and Sigmund Freud, and thereby died ostracized. He was married to a maternal aunt of Clifton Fadiman, the noted American intellectual.

Reviews

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Fortify the resistance of the individual by freedom of individuality and by the full development ofpersonality. Immunize the individual against social, mental plagues by the full development of his rational reflective self, controlling the suggestible, automatic subconscious with its reflex consciousness. Put no barriers to man's self expression, lay no chains on man, put no taboos on the human spirit. Do not, like the savage, run man's mind and skull into ugly shapes and distorted moulds of social traditions." B. Sidis

I think this says it all. Great read overall.