82 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



The belief that in some yet unexplored region of the earth or on 

 some of the other planets, e. g., Mars, there is to be found a race of 

 beings intellectually, morally and physically superior to the remainder 

 of mankind is a belief of a different character from those already con- 

 sidered. In regard to this kind of belief we have no definite evidence 

 that gives us the right to say that this is not true, but neither has the 

 individual any evidence that the belief corresponds with actual fact. 

 Such a belief rday arise because of some religious considerations, as, for 

 example, that since the known races of man are imperfect God has also 

 created perfect men, or has caused a race of superior beings to be 

 developed. Or such a belief may be the consequence of a vivid dream, or 

 a too realistic acceptance of a novelist's tale. Such a belief corresponds 

 with the character of the belief of a child in the phenomena of birth, 

 that babies are brought by storks or are to be found in cabbage patches, 

 or with the belief that the moon is made of green cheese, or that there 

 is a race of giants which eat ordinary-sized men, or that there are good 

 and bad fairies which oversee the actions of man and reward or punish 

 accordingly. 



All of the be.liefs which we have considered may be false, but simply 

 because of their falsity they are not necessarily delusions. Character- 

 istics other than that of falsity must be present to warrant the designa- 

 tion of a particular belief a delusion. Let us consider the false belief 

 regarding the day of the week. If the individual who expresses the 

 belief that " to-day is Sunday " when in reality it be Tuesday does not 

 listen to reason, if, for example, he is taken to various churches and is 

 shown that these buildings are closed at the time of day that Sunday 

 services are announced upon the bulletin boards, and if he is taken to 

 the business districts and is shown that the shops are open and that 

 people are coming and going and making purchases as on a week day, 

 and if, furthermore, the newsboys with morning or evening papers sell 

 him a copy which shows by its date line that it is issued on Tuesday, 

 and he still persists in his belief, there is something added to the false 

 belief. If these evidences do not sufficiently appeal to his reason so 

 that he gives up the belief, it may be said that, in addition to being 

 false, the belief is unreasonable and opposed to the experiences of others 

 in his community. There is, therefore, more reason for calling the false 

 belief a delusion. 



Although mistakes (such as that of the day of the week) may result 

 in appropriate kinds of reactions, this has been considered to be a typical 

 characteristic of delusions. Certain false beliefs are, however, of such a 

 character that they lead to no reaction, although most frequently delu- 

 sions do bring about behavior appropriate to the belief. The associa- 

 tion of special activities with special beliefs is not any more character- 

 istic of delusions than of true beliefs, and the fact that a false belief is 



