1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. So if you have 4 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: ever heard the phrase every day and in every way, 5 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: I'm getting better and better, you know the work of 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: today's subject that's saying, incidentally, was co opted by Tony 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: Robbins for his motivational coaching business, which today's subject really 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: would not have been cool with. It really belongs to 9 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: a pharmacist from Tooi, France, who in the early twentieth 10 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 1: century developed a method that was intended to help people 11 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: overcome illnesses and make their lives better. This kind of 12 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 1: goes back to the self help books episode that we 13 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: did earlier this year. He is tied to that and 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: was a thing that I was debating over including in 15 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: that episode and decided I wanted to do one on 16 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 1: him on his own. He's kind of a little offshoot 17 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: of that, so they make one bigger picture of this 18 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: concept of self help. The lovely thing about it is 19 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:17,039 Speaker 1: that Emil Koua was refreshingly earnest. He genuinely seems to 20 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: have wanted to help people regardless of what anyone thinks 21 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: of his system and his approach. I don't think he 22 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: was a particularly squirrely person. So it's nice to have 23 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: somebody who's not a jerk as the main person. Because 24 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: whether or not he and his ideas were effective, that 25 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: is something that is still debated, and we will talk 26 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: more about some of that at the end. Emil Kouay 27 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: was born on February twenty sixth, eighteen fifty seven, in Toi, France. 28 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: His family was not wealthy. His father was a railroad worker, 29 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: and not long after he was born, the family moved 30 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: to New jen Cercene, which was about fifty kilometers or 31 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: thirty miles northwest of Toi. Emil was smart, and all 32 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: the biographical descriptions of him make it sound like pursuing 33 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: an education was just a given, even coming from this 34 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: working class family. He attended school in New jen Cercine 35 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: until he was a teenager, and then at fifteen he 36 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: moved back to toa where he lived with an aunt 37 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: who enrolled him in school. There After that he went 38 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: to college to get a science degree. A biography of 39 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: Kua written in nineteen twenty three by his supporter Charles 40 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: Beaudoin suggests that there was some kind of issue maybe 41 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: with getting into college, but it is not really clear 42 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: what happened. All it says in this biography is quote then, 43 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: having leaning for science, he began to prepare unaided for 44 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,799 Speaker 1: his degree of Bachelor of Science, in itself fine proof 45 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: of perseverance. His first failure did not discourage him. He 46 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: tried again and won out. Initially, Kua wanted to get 47 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: a chemistry degree, but his father thought that that was 48 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: going to leave his future a bit too uncertain, and 49 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: he instead encouraged his son to get a pharmacological degree 50 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: that would include some chemistry, but it also had a 51 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: very clear career path, and Emil Kua took his father's 52 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: advice and he followed that path. When he finished his 53 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: first run of school, he served in the army for 54 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: a year, and then he started working as an apothecary assistant, 55 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: essentially in his hometown of Twaw. For a while, he 56 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 1: worked for a druggist named de Launy, who was incredibly 57 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: pleased with Emil's work ethic he kept assigning him more 58 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: and more responsibilities. One of the biographies I read suggested 59 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: that eventually Kua took on the work of three different 60 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: people who may have lost their jobs because he was 61 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: so good at his work. Next, Kua attended the College 62 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: of Saint barb in Paris. He won a government scholarship 63 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: to continue his studies while he was there. He graduated 64 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: with his pharmacology degree in eighteen seventy six. Kuway stayed 65 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: in Paris to work as a pharmacist in turn at 66 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: Niceron font Malade Hospital. After that, he moved back to Toye, 67 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: where he started working as a pharmacist at an apothecary 68 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,799 Speaker 1: owned by a man named Chalmineaud. Kuway became a full 69 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: partner in this store, and then after just a few 70 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: years of working there, he became owner of the shop 71 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: after Cholmineaud died. One of the kind of charming anecdotes 72 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: about his work in this shop is that he would 73 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:35,799 Speaker 1: include brief upbeat notes personalized for his clients with every prescription, 74 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: and he felt that when he praised how effective a 75 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: medication was, those patients seemed to do better than if 76 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,799 Speaker 1: he did not specifically call out the treatment as good. 77 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: When he was sending these little notes. While attending a 78 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: wedding intoin in the early eighteen eighties. Emil meant two sisters, 79 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 1: Marie and Lucy. Lemoin and Lucy hid it off and 80 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: they began a courtship. They were married in Nulcia on 81 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: August thirtieth, eighteen eighty four. Lucy's father, incidentally, was a 82 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: famous horticulturist in France. If you are fond of lilacs, 83 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: you have probably admired his work. He developed many of 84 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: the breeds of plant that remained popular today, and particularly 85 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: the double bloom lilacs that were first popular in France 86 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 1: and now are all over the world. In eighteen eighty five, 87 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: Kue met the physician m Boise Auguste Libau, who was 88 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,359 Speaker 1: thirty four years older than Emil. In spite of that 89 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,720 Speaker 1: age difference, these two men really got along. Like Kue, 90 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: Libo was from a working class family and had sought 91 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: a career in science. Libau had become a doctor and 92 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: was also interested in magnetism. Not magnetism in the context 93 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: of physics, but magnetism as it related to Mesbrism. Franz 94 00:05:55,520 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: Anton Mesmer had put forth the idea that animal magnetism 95 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: was a mysterious force that could influence people, and he 96 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: used that in the context of hypnosis. Libau was so 97 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: fascinated with hypnosis and so eager to study it himself 98 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: that he offered to treat medical patients for free if 99 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: they would consent to being hypnotized. He believed that he 100 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: could influence patients subconsciously in ways that would help their 101 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: body heal. He was said to have achieved almost miraculous 102 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: results with these methods. He wrote a book about his work, 103 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: which was published in eighteen sixty six under the title 104 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: Sleep and Analogous States, Considered mainly from the point of 105 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: view of the influence of moods on physical well being. 106 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,919 Speaker 1: The initial meeting of Kua and Libo is often described 107 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: as being an encounter for Kua that, in the words 108 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: of one biographer quote, decided his entire life. Once these 109 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: two men met, Kua was invited by Libau to assist 110 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: with some of his cases, and this led the pharmacists 111 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: to really dive as deeply as he could for the 112 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: next decade plus into the study of hypnosis and suggestion. 113 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: He soon determined that le Beau was not really being 114 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: as methodical as he could or should with this, and 115 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: that there were actually far more possibilities for suggestion treatment 116 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: if only a clear process for its use could be established. 117 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: He did not think that he knew what that process was, 118 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: though he instead wanted to study a lot more so 119 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: he spent a great deal of time observing doctors and patients, 120 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: making notes about every aspect of their interactions, their medical cases, 121 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: whether they were being treated with medications, etc. This was 122 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: also around the time that mesmerism and ideas like mind 123 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: cures had become very popular throughout Europe and the United States, 124 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: so a growing number of papers and books were being 125 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: produced on these topics. Kuway read them all, or at 126 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: least tried to like as many as he could get 127 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: his hands on, and some of them he found to 128 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: be total garbage, but he included these in his study 129 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: of alternative treatments. It doesn't seem like he took them 130 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: at face value, though he recognized that a lot of 131 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: the writing was muddled by the kind of eagerness that 132 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: can just obliterate a scientific understanding, and some of it 133 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: was just straight up charlatanism. But he did think that 134 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: even those kinds of texts might have kernels in them 135 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: that were worth studying, even if it was to see 136 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: what sorts of claims held the most appeal for the 137 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: general public viewed through that lens. Every piece of information 138 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: had some value to Kua. One of these pieces of 139 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: writing was a book on hypnotism written in the United States. 140 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: Precisely what book that was remains a little bit unclear. 141 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: There are different things cited depending on what biography of 142 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: Kua you look at. Some name a specific book book, 143 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:05,199 Speaker 1: other accounts will differ. In Kuway's New York Times obituary, 144 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,199 Speaker 1: it mentions that this book came from Rochester, New York. 145 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: But that leaves a couple of interesting possibilities. One of 146 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: these is Hypnotism and Hypnotic Suggestion, a scientific treatise on 147 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: the uses and possibilities of hypnotism, suggestion and allied Phenomena 148 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: by thirty authors. That book was edited by stage hypnotist 149 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: and patent medicine peddler E. Virgil Neil, as well as 150 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: medical assistant Charles S. Clark. I will say I could 151 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: not find any information on Clark or the veracity of 152 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: his credentials. E. Virgil Neil, though, is one hundred percent 153 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: on my list for a future episode because he was 154 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: a big, old, fascinating mess. He was accused of mail 155 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,319 Speaker 1: fraud and for a while he actually fled the country. 156 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: He is a minor character here today, though. This book 157 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 1: does have a section titled how to Hypnotize and Awaken 158 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: a Subject, and that was written by Edward H. Eldridge 159 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: of Temple College. This is interesting because as I did 160 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 1: some digging, I discovered that Eldridge and a handful of 161 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: other academics issued a disclaimer in Science magazine in November 162 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: nineteen hundred that they did not willingly have their work 163 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:25,960 Speaker 1: included in that book. Their various researches and their papers 164 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,319 Speaker 1: had been requested by the publisher, they were told for 165 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 1: research purposes. Only. Another candidate for what book this was 166 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: was Hypnotism As it Is a Book for Everybody, which 167 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: was published in eighteen ninety seven and was written by 168 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:47,239 Speaker 1: ex LaMotte Sage, who had a number of dubious credentials. 169 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: This book is laid out as an informational examination of 170 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: hypnotism that seems to have been motivated to just largely 171 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: bust myths about the practice. Sage lays out early in 172 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:05,680 Speaker 1: the book that his eleven fundamental propositions of hypnotism. This 173 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,959 Speaker 1: list begins with quote one. Hypnotism within itself is absolutely 174 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,439 Speaker 1: harmless two, no one can be hypnotized against his will. 175 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: From there, it includes the ideas that hypnotism is not 176 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: a special power, that being hypnotized does not mean that 177 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: a person is weak, that hypnotism is temporary and cannot 178 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: affect a person's will forever, et cetera. There's also discussion 179 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: in the book of various methods of hypnotism, but not 180 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: specific how to's on how to do it. It's also 181 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: a plot twist Explamotte Stage was a pseudonym of E. 182 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil. So whichever book it was, and it may 183 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: have actually not been a book but a correspondence course 184 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: depending on what source you look at. But whatever material 185 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,680 Speaker 1: it was that Koua got from the United States, it 186 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: seems like e. Virgul Neil was behind it. He did 187 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,839 Speaker 1: incidentally offer a correspondence course in hypnotism, so that may 188 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: hold water. It doesn't seem as though Kua knew about 189 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: that disclaimer that Eldridge and other academics had been a 190 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: part of. But after reading whatever this material was, he 191 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: started to implement its techniques in hypnotism, offering, as Libau did, 192 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: his services to clients for free if they were gamed 193 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: to be hypnotized, and over time he started to develop 194 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 1: his own theory about why hypnosis worked. This is again 195 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: an instance where we assumed that Kua, as one biographer 196 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,559 Speaker 1: put it, quote, brushed aside all that was nothing better 197 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: than puffery and humbug, and he likewise rejected the mystical 198 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: postulates which underlay some of the theories coming up. We'll 199 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 1: talk about the ways that Emil Kouay started to expand 200 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: his understanding of hypnosis and what he thought was even better, 201 00:12:54,600 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: but first we will pause for a sponsor break. Kuay 202 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:11,719 Speaker 1: was really developing some very strong opinions about suggestion as 203 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: it related to health and well being, but he also 204 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: recognized that his own small experiments were not giving him 205 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: nearly enough information to draw any real conclusions. So sixteen 206 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: years after his first meeting with Libau, Kuay started to 207 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: study hypnotism and suggestion in earnest under him as well 208 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: as another man, Epolite Bernheim. Bernheim, who was originally from Mulous, France, 209 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: was right between Kua and Libau. In age. He had 210 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: gotten his medical degree in Strasburg and became the chair 211 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: of ambulatory medicine in Nancy in eighteen seventy nine. Then 212 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,959 Speaker 1: after an eighteen eighty two meeting at Libau's clinic, he 213 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: came away convinced that hypnosis had great potential in the 214 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: field of medicine, and he became an ardent supporter and 215 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: student of Libau. His work helped cement what came to 216 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,839 Speaker 1: be called the Nunci School, which encompassed the scientific hypnotism 217 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: work being done by Libou and others who wished to 218 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: get out from under that mystical and CD and kind 219 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: of wu woo assortment of associations that came with the practice. 220 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,560 Speaker 1: As Kua worked with Libau and Bernheim, he started to 221 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: think that there was a key element to the way 222 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: people thought then enabled them to get the body over 223 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: obstacles in their treatment to actually get better, and that 224 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: element was imagination. This was linked not only to medical outcomes, 225 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: but also to behavior. So he thought, if someone thinks 226 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: things like I can't help it in regard to a 227 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: behavior that they would like to stop, they're very unlikely 228 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: to stop because they can't imagine a version of themselves 229 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: without that behavior. Kuwa came to believe that imagination was 230 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: more important than a person's WI because even if somebody 231 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: wanted very badly to change their own behavior. If they 232 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 1: can't imagine it, they won't succeed. And you can see 233 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: seeds of his eventual method here, something that he would 234 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: come to call auto suggestion. So this meant taking the 235 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: idea of giving a subject a suggestion through hypnosis the 236 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: way Libau and others had been working, and transitioning it 237 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: to give the power of the suggestion to the patient themselves. So, 238 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: in very concrete terms, it's the difference between a hypnotist 239 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: telling someone you will no longer crave cigarettes, and having 240 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: the subject tell themselves, I will no longer crave cigarettes. 241 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,479 Speaker 1: And as Kua worked, he also came to the conclusion 242 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: that an adverse imagination, one that was prone to counter 243 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: suggestion and doubt, could actually undermine all of this work. 244 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: He called that the law of reversed effort. If that 245 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: phrase sounds familiar, it is also attributed to Aldous Huxley, 246 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: although in Huxley's case it applied to the concept of 247 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: trying too hard and thus undermining the outcome of your desires, 248 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: so kind of a different thing with the same name. 249 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: Kua believed that autosuggestion would work because he had come 250 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: to the determination that the source of the command isn't 251 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: actually the important part, it's the recipient and their imagination 252 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: doing the actual work. He founded the Lorraine Society of 253 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: Applied Psychology in nineteen thirteen to continue his work in 254 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: the field. He had sold his pharmacy Intoat and moved 255 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: back to NeSSI in the years before this. Over the 256 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: next several years he started collecting and systematizing his method 257 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: into what would become a book. He described the power 258 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: of the imagination this way quote, we can compare the 259 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: imagination to a torrent which fatally sweeps away the poor 260 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: wretch who has fallen into it in spite of his 261 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: efforts to gain the bank. This torrent seems indomitable, but 262 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: if you know how, you can turn it from its 263 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: course and conduct it to the factory, and there you 264 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: can transform its force into movement, heat, and electricity. And 265 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 1: he believed that any person could control their own imagination, 266 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: writing quote to do so, it is enough in the 267 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: first place to know that this is possible, of which 268 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: fact almost everyone is ignorant, and secondly to know by 269 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: what means it can be done well. The means is 270 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: very simple. It is that which we have used every 271 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: day since we came into the world without wishing or 272 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:34,399 Speaker 1: knowing it and absolutely unconsciously, but which unfortunately for us, 273 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: we often use wrongly and to our own detriment. This 274 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: means is auto suggestion. Kho A thought that people are 275 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: actually always giving themselves unconscious auto suggestions, and that we 276 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: just need to learn to apply conscious auto suggestions to 277 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,679 Speaker 1: self influence our lives. He instructed people to start small 278 00:17:55,840 --> 00:18:00,399 Speaker 1: by concentrating on some outcome they desired. He used example 279 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: phrases like this thing is coming, this thing is going away, 280 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: and this thing will or will not happen, and then 281 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: to repeat those phrases to themselves several times without thinking 282 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: of anything else. According to Kua, quote if the unconscious 283 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: accepts the suggestion and transforms it into an auto suggestion, 284 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: the thing or things are realized in every particular. One 285 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: of Kuay's conclusions was that it was the unconscious that 286 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,479 Speaker 1: truly held onto all of the information that a person 287 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,919 Speaker 1: is presented with in the course of their days. He 288 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: later wrote quote, if we compare the conscious with the 289 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: unconscious self, we see that the conscious self is only 290 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 1: possessed of a very unreliable memory, while the unconscious self 291 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:49,199 Speaker 1: on the contrary, is provided with a marvelous and impeccable memory, 292 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: which registers, without our knowledge, the smallest events, the least 293 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:57,959 Speaker 1: important acts of our existence. Further, it is credulous and 294 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: accepts with unreasoning docilla what it is told. Over time, 295 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: Kuway abandoned hypnotism entirely in favor of training patients to 296 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: use auto suggestion. It was through this work that he 297 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: developed phrases like every day and in every way, I 298 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,879 Speaker 1: am becoming better and better. That, of course, is a translation. 299 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 1: Kuway's French version was tou les jours a two points 300 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,920 Speaker 1: of view javedim U Zomu. He worked with patients one 301 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: on one and in group settings and developed programs to 302 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 1: help people control their pain and to recover from ailments, 303 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: with the caveat that recovery had to be in the 304 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: realm of possibility, So he wasn't looking at people who 305 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,679 Speaker 1: had some kind of terminal situation saying that he was 306 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: going to make them live right and Kuway claimed in 307 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: his treatment journals that a lot of his patients did 308 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: recover from their illness, but there's their real substantiation for 309 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: data on that. Yeah, he was very careful to be 310 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: like I can't make someone regrow a lost limb, or, 311 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: as Tracy said, like somebody that is very near death. 312 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: I can't pull them back from the brink like that's 313 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: but if they have a prognosis where they could get better, 314 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: but we don't know, they have a good chance if 315 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,640 Speaker 1: they'll apply these methods. In his Nanci research center, Kue 316 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,399 Speaker 1: would tell patients that came for treatment, quote, you have 317 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: come here in search of someone who can cure you. 318 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: You are on the wrong track. I have never cured anyone. 319 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: I merely teach people to cure themselves. I have taught 320 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: many persons to cure themselves, and that is what I 321 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: am going to teach you. The experiments in which you 322 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 1: are about to participate will always succeed, even if they 323 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 1: should seem to fail. For I have never claimed that 324 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,960 Speaker 1: my thought can realize itself in you. My claim has 325 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:50,360 Speaker 1: always been that each person's own thought realizes itself in himself. 326 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: If therefore, at the moment when I ask you to 327 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: think I cannot unclasp my hands, you think, on the contrary, 328 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: I can, you will inevitably be able to unclasp them. 329 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: You may imagine that you have convicted me of error, 330 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: but in reality you will have proved the soundness of 331 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: the principle of autosuggestion. One of the things about Kua's 332 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: work and its popularity, I think, especially in the age 333 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 1: that we're living in, people intentionally undermining the reputation of medicine, 334 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:24,879 Speaker 1: it's kind of a nice surprise that he was not 335 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: trying to replace medical treatment with his idea of auto suggestion. 336 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: He wanted people to see doctors, so unlike a lot 337 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: of other non medical approaches to maladies, he was not 338 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: touting this as something to do instead of a scientific 339 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: medical treatment. He wrote of it quote, I am not 340 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: a doctor and would much prefer to be considered in 341 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: the light of being the doctor's auxiliary. In all cases 342 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: of serious organic disability, I say to those who seek 343 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:56,119 Speaker 1: me out, are you receiving medical treatment? If they reply yes, 344 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 1: I give the advice continue with it then and practice 345 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: auto suggest question. Also, if they reply no, I say, 346 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,919 Speaker 1: consult a doctor then and follow his treatment. As well 347 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: as using auto suggestion. You will find that the two 348 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: treatments help each other. In just about any instance where 349 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,679 Speaker 1: someone tried to call him like a miracle worker or 350 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,120 Speaker 1: heap similar praise on him, Kua was always very quick 351 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: to negate those kinds of ideas. He always stated that 352 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: the work was done by the person using his method, 353 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,639 Speaker 1: not by himself, and that it could help, but it 354 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: should not be considered a miracle. Yeah, we'll have a 355 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 1: particular instance that comes up later when he's on tour. 356 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty Kua published his book self Mastery through 357 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,960 Speaker 1: Auto Suggestion, and after an initial slow start, it became 358 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,200 Speaker 1: a very big hit in France, and in nineteen twenty 359 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,119 Speaker 1: two it was published in English. Early on, in this 360 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,880 Speaker 1: writing he explains his idea of the conscious and unconscious 361 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: selves in relation to auto suggestion, writing quote, in order 362 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 1: to understand properly the phenomena of autosuggestion, or to speak 363 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: more correctly, of auto suggestion, it is necessary to note 364 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 1: that two absolutely distinct selves exist within us. Both are intelligent, 365 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,119 Speaker 1: but while one is conscious, the other is unconscious. For 366 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 1: this reason, the existence of the latter generally escapes notice. 367 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: It is, however, easy to prove its existence if one 368 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: merely takes the trouble to examine certain phenomena and to 369 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,640 Speaker 1: reflect a few moments upon them. Let us take, for instance, 370 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,880 Speaker 1: the following examples. The examples he gives are the way 371 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: that a sleepwalker can rise from bed and do various 372 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: things and then return to bed, all unconsciously while the 373 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 1: conscious mind has no memory of doing so, or what 374 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: he called the quote too frequent case of a drunkard 375 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: attacked by delirium tremens. Just in case you don't know 376 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: what that word is or those words are, Delirium tremens 377 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: is not when someone is deeply intoxicated. It is a 378 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: severe alcohol withdrawal which can result in delirium, confusion, hallucinations, 379 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,600 Speaker 1: and other symptoms. So if you have ever heard the 380 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: colloquial saying of someone who is not drinking being described 381 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: as getting the DT's, delirium tremens is what that refers to. 382 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,880 Speaker 1: In Kua's writing, he uses the example of someone in 383 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: this delirious state becoming violent, and then when they returned 384 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: to consciousness, being horrified at their own actions. Kua visited 385 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: London in nineteen twenty two to talk about his method 386 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 1: and became incredibly popular there, but there started to be 387 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: some problems in its perception. This was in the post 388 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: World War One period when the English had a fresh 389 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 1: surge of spiritualism and mysticism, and some of the work 390 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 1: Kue was doing seemed enough like magic to people that 391 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:57,320 Speaker 1: it got sort of folded into these less scientific ideologies. 392 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: That meant that even though Kua wanted to keep his 393 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 1: work strictly scientific, its reputation got a little muddled in 394 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: the public eye. This made it really easy for detractors 395 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 1: to criticize his efforts as being woo woo fluff for Charlatanism, 396 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: and that was a problem that would follow him across 397 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: the Atlantic. And we will talk about that trip across 398 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: the Atlantic after we hear from the sponsors that keep 399 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:34,159 Speaker 1: stuff you missed in history class going. In early nineteen 400 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,360 Speaker 1: twenty three, Kua made a visit to the US to 401 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: tour and to lecture about his work. Newspapers were so 402 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: expectant of his arrival that they reported everything about his 403 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: crossing that he was seasick on the voyage, but he 404 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,400 Speaker 1: had used his auto suggestion method to get rid of 405 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 1: that problem. He was already famous when he arrived, in 406 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: part because British Foreign Secretary Lord George Curzon had publicized 407 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:04,199 Speaker 1: the that Kua's method had cured him of insomnia, and 408 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: he was not the only person that did this. Other 409 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 1: foreign leaders, dignitaries, and celebrities had offered similar stories of 410 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: the French pharmacists positive impact on their well being. By 411 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: the time this famed proponent of autosuggestion arrived in New York, 412 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: there were already plans for a national Kua Institute to 413 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 1: be established there. He was interviewed at a press conference 414 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,399 Speaker 1: that was literally waiting for him on the dock the 415 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: second he stepped off the ship, and he startled a 416 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 1: number of the assembled journalists and enthusiasts by making very 417 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 1: clear that he was neither a doctor nor a miracle man, 418 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: that he had never cured anyone, and that quote, I 419 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: merely help people to help themselves. While he toured and 420 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:52,400 Speaker 1: gave clinics, every minute detail of his days was reported. 421 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: Papers ran stories literally about the items he carried in 422 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 1: his hands, the phrase he most commonly used in group 423 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: sessions when talking to individual attendees, which was supp us 424 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,879 Speaker 1: or it's working, And even the way his mustache was 425 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: waxed from day to day. All of this got written 426 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: about every single day. The country very clearly had Kua 427 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,360 Speaker 1: fever at this point. Once Kua got to the US, 428 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: in addition to giving talks, he wrote articles that were 429 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: published in major newspapers all across the country, and one 430 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: of them he encouraged people using his method to just 431 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,959 Speaker 1: plant the suggestion and then kind of chill out quote, 432 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: let the imagination do its work alone. Be quite passive 433 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: through mysterious, still unexplained processes, are subconscious does marvelous things. 434 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: Think of the very commonest movements of the human body 435 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,440 Speaker 1: and ask yourself how they are operated. What has set 436 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: in motion the complicated mechanism when you stretch your arm 437 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,199 Speaker 1: to reach a glass on a table, or when you 438 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,399 Speaker 1: take a cigarette from your case. No one knows. But 439 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,240 Speaker 1: if we cannot explain the phenomenon, we do know that, 440 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: in actual fact, it is an order resulting from a 441 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,919 Speaker 1: mere suggestion which is transmitted through the nervous system and 442 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,919 Speaker 1: translated into action at a speed infinitely greater than that 443 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: of lightning. There were detractors, and the medical establishment made 444 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 1: very clear that they wanted nothing to do with autosuggestion. 445 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,719 Speaker 1: He was labeled as everything from just being a fad 446 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,919 Speaker 1: to actually being a dangerous menace. But Kuai's work was 447 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: also embraced by a lot of people, and there was 448 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: talk of Kuaism seemingly everywhere. In Boston, it was reported 449 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: that he had to make a sneaky escape after he 450 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: gave his last lecture in the city because there was 451 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 1: an eager crowd of people hoping to talk to him, 452 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: many of whom were upset that booksellers had sold out 453 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 1: of his book before they could buy a copy. Throughout 454 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: his US visit, Emil Kouay was offered massive sums of 455 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: money for various engagements, but he turned all of them down. 456 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 1: Regardless of where anyone stood in their assessment of him 457 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,000 Speaker 1: and his work, no one could claim he was a 458 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: charlatan because he didn't seem at all interested in cashing 459 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,480 Speaker 1: in on his own popularity, and when people did things 460 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: like begging him to cure the sick as though he 461 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 1: were some sort of mystic, healer or religious figure, he 462 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: actually exclaimed, I am not a saint but a man. 463 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,239 Speaker 1: I can affect no cures. I can only help you 464 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 1: to help yourselves. I get the feeling he got a 465 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 1: little frustrated in the US at times. Before Kua ever 466 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: got to the States, the phrase every day, in every way, 467 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: I am getting better and better had become so well 468 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:36,520 Speaker 1: known that riffs on it were even being used in 469 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,880 Speaker 1: advertising to claim that sales were getting bigger and bigger, 470 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:44,840 Speaker 1: for example. But then a series of claims that Kua 471 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: had not come up with this phrase began. This was 472 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: attributed to everyone from Socrates to Pliny the Elder to 473 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: our old friend in this episode e. Virgil Neil. Still, 474 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: Kua was enthusiastically greeted as he did toured around the 475 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 1: eastern half of the country for almost six weeks. He 476 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: returned again later in nineteen twenty three, but his second 477 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: US tour was pretty quiet by comparison. People had just 478 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: moved on to other things. Also in nineteen twenty three, 479 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,920 Speaker 1: while all of this touring was happening, psychoanalyst Charles Baudoin 480 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 1: wrote that biography of Kua that we referenced earlier. Baudoin 481 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,440 Speaker 1: had openly endorsed the work of Kua even before that, 482 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: and his biography began, at least to my mind, somewhat 483 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: comedically with a physical description of Kua. This is literally 484 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: how it opens. Quote thick set, somewhat short, quiet, compact strength, 485 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: a remarkably high forehead, hair brushed back, a little thinned out, 486 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:47,240 Speaker 1: and perfectly white for a number of years already, as 487 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: also the short pointed Beard. The rest of Baudoin's description 488 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 1: shares what a lively and upbeat personality Kua had, also 489 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: noting quote, he is the type of what is known 490 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,200 Speaker 1: in England and especially in a Mayorreka as the self 491 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: made man. He never denies his lowly origin, and you 492 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 1: feel that he loves the masses with the sympathy then 493 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: may be called organic. In late June nineteen twenty six, 494 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: Kua went on a lecture tour of the Alsace region 495 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 1: of France. He reported that he felt incredibly tired on 496 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: this tour and when he got home he felt completely 497 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:25,240 Speaker 1: worn out. Just a few days later, on July second, 498 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty six, Emil Koua died of heart failure in 499 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: his home in Nanci, France. His wife, Lucy, lived for 500 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,200 Speaker 1: almost thirty more years. She died in nineteen fifty four. 501 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: In the last years of Emil Kua's life, a number 502 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: of Kuwait institutes popped up in cities in Europe and 503 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 1: the United States, but most of those sputtered out. People 504 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,080 Speaker 1: who claimed they had been cured using his method often 505 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: reported later that their problems had come back. The enthusiasm 506 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: for autosuggestion really started lagging, and these institutes shut down. 507 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: But we see the echoes of Kua's work everywhere today, 508 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: although his name is rarely invoked. When you see or 509 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: hear a fitness trainer telling a client that they have 510 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:11,520 Speaker 1: to see themselves achieving their fitness goals in order to 511 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: more effectively achieve them, that is an implementation of Kuaism. 512 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: The very popular idea of manifestation also rooted in Kua's work, 513 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,040 Speaker 1: although in a slightly different application. Of course, Instead of 514 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 1: telling yourself that something can happen in an effort to 515 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: influence yourself to do it, you are, according to people 516 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: who believe in manifestation, telling the universe that you want 517 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,080 Speaker 1: that thing to influence it. But in reality, this idea 518 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 1: works for some people because they're practicing a different form 519 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: of auto suggestion. Right. They may think that they're drawing 520 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 1: energies to themselves, but they're kind of setting themselves in 521 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: motion to turn the thing they imagine into a reality 522 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: through their own efforts. We'll never know how Kua would 523 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 1: have reacted to these modern versions of his idea, is though, 524 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: given how concerned he was about people just throwing out 525 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:09,360 Speaker 1: scientific treatments to focus exclusively on suggestion or autosuggestion, it 526 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 1: stands to reason that he might worry a little bit. 527 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:15,800 Speaker 1: A lot of scientists have outright dismissed Kuay's work over 528 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 1: the decades or framed it as sort of quaint, but 529 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: there has actually been quite a bit of scientific study 530 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: of auto suggestion in the last century. In twenty ten, 531 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: research into autogenic training, which is a type of auto 532 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 1: suggestion that's designed specifically to teach patients how to relax, 533 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:38,880 Speaker 1: found via fMRI that the brains of study participants who 534 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 1: used auto suggestive phrases of autogenic training showed activation in 535 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 1: parts of the brain that subjects who did not use 536 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:53,040 Speaker 1: auto suggestion did not. Show. That just means something was 537 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: happening in the brain, not necessarily an effect beyond that. 538 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 1: According to researcher Mark Schlim and his team in their paper, 539 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: autogenic training alters cerebral activation patterns in fMRI, Patients who 540 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 1: had autogenic training also process their emotions differently than subjects 541 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: who didn't have it and had increased levels of self awareness. 542 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: Another study conducted in twenty seventeen, led by Nina Kamalasari, 543 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: examined auto suggestion in relation to quality of life for 544 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 1: geriatric patients. The participants in the active group were given 545 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:33,240 Speaker 1: scripts of auto suggestive phrases which they were recorded saying, 546 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:35,759 Speaker 1: and then they listened to those recordings of their own 547 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:40,520 Speaker 1: voices multiple times a day for thirty days. The control 548 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 1: group had no auto suggestion, and at the end of 549 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:45,920 Speaker 1: the thirty days, the patients who had listened to their 550 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:50,960 Speaker 1: auto suggestion recordings showed improvements in their perceived quality of life, 551 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:54,560 Speaker 1: meaning the patients felt that they had improved, as well 552 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 1: as in their serum cortisol levels and their adaptive immunity. 553 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 1: So congestion seems to have some uses that could have 554 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 1: some scientific validity, but there's also a lot of difficulty 555 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 1: measuring the specifics, even with the scientific study that includes 556 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 1: hard numbers on body chemistry. And that's because there are 557 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,359 Speaker 1: so many nuances to this whole thing, like how much 558 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 1: does visualization play a part. Someone who's telling themselves something 559 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: positive may or may not form an image in their 560 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: mind of that outcome, and it is hard to sort 561 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:33,719 Speaker 1: out that variation and its possible contribution to the efficacy 562 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:37,120 Speaker 1: even with some kind of testing. Additionally, people who are 563 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: using auto suggestive self talk specifically crafted to accompany medical 564 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:46,839 Speaker 1: treatment might also subconsciously or maybe even consciously, take better 565 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 1: care of themselves and pay closer attention to their health 566 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:53,480 Speaker 1: because they're being reminded of it regularly. In some cases, 567 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: that could also improve their outcomes. And of course every 568 00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,239 Speaker 1: person is wired differently. Not everybody will be successful with 569 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 1: any of these methods, whether they have any merit or not. Additionally, 570 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: there are ongoing debates about whether someone self evaluating can 571 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: even report a true improvement, or if the auto suggestion 572 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:18,080 Speaker 1: actually just shifted their perception rather than their actual state 573 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:22,239 Speaker 1: of being. So while there's research on auto suggestion that 574 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: can be seen as encouraging, it's not necessarily considered definitive 575 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,880 Speaker 1: in any way. Yeah, people still argue about it in 576 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,840 Speaker 1: scientific community all the time because we don't know. But 577 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:38,440 Speaker 1: I find it fascinating. My thing is like, probably couldn't 578 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:41,439 Speaker 1: hurt if it makes you feel better, great, Yeah, I'll 579 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:44,279 Speaker 1: have plenty to say about this on Friday and are 580 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:49,720 Speaker 1: behind the scenes. Yeah. In the meantime, listen, I promise 581 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,160 Speaker 1: one day I'll stop talking about embroidery. But that day 582 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,480 Speaker 1: is not today, And it's because we keep getting so 583 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:58,120 Speaker 1: many good emails from listeners and this one touches me. 584 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:00,080 Speaker 1: So I hope I don't cry, but I might. It's me. 585 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:02,680 Speaker 1: This is from our listener, Christine, who writes Hi, Holly 586 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:07,040 Speaker 1: and Tracy, longtime listener and periodic writer. I am still 587 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:10,640 Speaker 1: stuck thinking about your embroidery episode. Needlecrafts are a huge 588 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:13,320 Speaker 1: part of my life, and when I started thinking about writing, 589 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:15,320 Speaker 1: the list of everything I wanted to tell you just 590 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,240 Speaker 1: kept getting longer and longer. I know how that happens. 591 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:21,840 Speaker 1: That's why I'm so bad at replying to emails. Christy continues. 592 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,080 Speaker 1: I learned to cross ditch so and crochet at a 593 00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:26,799 Speaker 1: young age. It keeps my hands busy and helps me 594 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:30,080 Speaker 1: calm my brain. My mom does beautiful cross ditch Christmas 595 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 1: stockings for all her grandkids and his wedding gifts. They 596 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,840 Speaker 1: make such an amazing gift for anyone who celebrates Christmas. 597 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: She follows a pattern, but also adds in some personal 598 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,319 Speaker 1: touches and puts each person's name on their stocking. It's 599 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,279 Speaker 1: a beautiful gift. That's the kind of stuff you will 600 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:45,600 Speaker 1: keep for your entire life. I love it. This is 601 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,480 Speaker 1: the part that gets me choked up. So sorry. I 602 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,920 Speaker 1: am attaching a photo of one of the most amazing 603 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,800 Speaker 1: needle art gifts my husband and I have ever received. 604 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:57,000 Speaker 1: A few years ago, our best friend tragically passed away. 605 00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,520 Speaker 1: He and my husband were close as brothers and had 606 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:02,440 Speaker 1: gotten ten tattoos not too long before his death that 607 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 1: translated to brother. When he passed, we received the attached 608 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,720 Speaker 1: needlework with the Greek lettering from the tattoo. I don't 609 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:12,080 Speaker 1: know who made it. It was an anonymous gift, but 610 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:14,440 Speaker 1: it is precious to both of us. This is the 611 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,759 Speaker 1: sweetest thing I've ever heard. Needlework has taken on a 612 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:19,760 Speaker 1: little more meaning for me in the last three years. 613 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: I hope the person who made it knows how much 614 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:27,279 Speaker 1: it means to us. So sweet and then excitement. I 615 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:29,839 Speaker 1: have also included some pet tax for you. Are two 616 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: rescue kitties, Tiger and Bean. Bean thinks it is essential 617 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:35,359 Speaker 1: to sit on the food buckets so we don't forget 618 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,359 Speaker 1: to feed her. Listen, that's just efficient. Bean knows what's up. 619 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:41,439 Speaker 1: Thank you for highlighting stories we don't hear every day, 620 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:43,680 Speaker 1: and for not shying away from the hard stuff. I 621 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: think it is too easy for many people to avoid discomfort, 622 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:49,360 Speaker 1: making it far too easy to allow harmful things to 623 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:53,040 Speaker 1: happen around us without getting involved. Keep speaking up, saying 624 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 1: the hard things, and advocating for the people and stories 625 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:59,120 Speaker 1: who have been missed in history. Christine, Christine, I obviously 626 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:04,839 Speaker 1: love this email. These kiddies are listen. Tiger and Bean 627 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,040 Speaker 1: are very precious and they need kisses and hooks and like, 628 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,560 Speaker 1: listen the food. Sometimes you got to be reminded that 629 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:12,839 Speaker 1: there's food there. If you would like to write to us, 630 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:17,320 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 631 00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:22,439 Speaker 1: We will be right back here with more episodes coming up. 632 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:24,680 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for spending this time with us. 633 00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:27,640 Speaker 1: And if you would like to subscribe to the podcast 634 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:29,319 Speaker 1: and you haven't done that yet, you can do that 635 00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:31,920 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your 636 00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:39,920 Speaker 1: favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 637 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:44,279 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 638 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:47,839 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 639 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: favorite shows.