human
But it is not only in sleep that this dream-personality takes the place of that which we call the real self. The opium-eater inhabits a world, opened to him by his drug, and closed, even to his memory, when the effects of that drug wear off. Then, there is that curious phase of dipsomania in which the victim, apparently possessed of all his faculties, goes through actual experiences--travels, talks with people, transacts business--and when he recovers from his fit of intoxication finds it impossible to remember a single circumstance of the many known to him while under the sway of alcohol. The phenomena of hypnotism give instances of similar independent mental divisions in a single human personality. All this is the familiar material of modern psychology, out of which the scientists build strange and varied theories. I call these divided, or lost, personalities 'ghosts.'
gpt
Ghosts of the living, not of the dead.
human
More uncanny than the old-fashioned kind, mused Una.
gpt
Fancy meeting one's own ghost!
human
Cases of such meetings are on record; Shelley's, for instance,
gpt
The thing is strange and worth investigating. But, added David laughingly,
human
I am not an investigator.
gpt
It is fascinating, declared Una emphatically.
human
Tell us more about it, Uncle Harold. You spoke of an experiment----
gpt
The experiment, by all means, said David.
human
Just what is it?
gpt
Trapping a ghost,
human
And if you succeed in trapping it----?
gpt
Ah, then--science generally leaves its ghosts to take care of themselves. It's a good rule.
human
You say you are going to trap a ghost: you don't really mean that,
gpt
Remember, there are two kinds of ghosts. As a scientist I am not interested in the ghosts of the dead. If they exist outside of fairy tales and theology let some one else hunt them. But I am interested in the other and more profitable kind--the ghosts of the living.
human
I don't understand,
gpt
It needs explanation. Remember what I said as to the phenomena presented by the dreamer, the hypnotic subject, the dipsomaniac, the narcomaniac. In each of these cases one human mind seems capable of division into two independent halves. And each half seems to forget, or to be ignorant of the doings of its mate. Now, I am hunting for this Ghost of the Forgotten.
human
Sounds romantic, remarked David.
gpt
According to your theory, don't you need a hypnotized subject--or at least a dipsomaniac--for your experiment?
human
No. The Ghost of the Forgotten lurks in all of us. The man or woman in whom this Ghost is not to be found is exceptional. I doubt if such a being exists--a being whose Book of the Past is as clear, as legible, as his Book of the Present.
gpt
But, your experiment, Uncle, demanded Una;
human
I need help for a satisfactory trial. An experiment isn't a picture, or a book, you know. It needs a victim of some kind. What do you say, David?
gpt
You want me for the victim? laughed David.
human
I'm ready. Feel just like my namesake before he tackled that husky Philistine. Tell me what I'm to do.