When Mark Twain Got His Head Checked

Mark Twain visits a phrenologist.

Hi.

It is me. Arjun from Psychology with Arjun. You may know me as the guy who writes interesting stories about the discipline of Psychology and its intersections with philosophy and politics.

You might also know me as the guy who said he was going to be more regular with his newsletter and then went on a 4 week's hiatus.

My bad. Life has not been easy. Words seem to have deserted me. To the point, I am surprised this story is not just a bunch of “ooga-booga” noises. I am trying my best to turn the oogas and boogas into words.

Bear with me.

Today’s story comes from the USA of 18th century. It was a time when the USA was still finding itself at a global scale. A sense of intellectual inferiority compared to Europe was popular among the intellectual class of USA. For them, US just did not offer the kind of intellectual stimulation that Europe could.

One of these intellectuals was Mark Twain, the satirist who famously wrote “when in doubt, speak the truth” and also the less known quote, “Americans be dumb fr.”

On one such visit in London, he chanced across the clinic of Lorenz Fowler, a prominent phrenologist of the time.

Actually prominent is an understatement. He was THE phrenologist of his time. He and his brother had popularized the science in the whole of US. To the point employers were looking out for specific phrenological traits in prospective employees.

What is phrenology? You may ask. Well, simply put, it is the “scientific” belief that human personality traits, competencies and life outcomes can be predicted by contours on a person’s head.

Phrenologists believed that different zones of the brain gave different abilities to people and strengths and weaknesses could be identified by a close study of the human skull.

When Twain visited the clinic in London, phrenology was already considered an established science in the US with its own journal, although, there were still some skeptics around.

Mark Twain Ran A Single-Blind Analysis

When he entered Folwer’s clinic, Twain did not reveal his identity. He was a famous writer known for his humour but he did not let Fowler know that.

The inspection went as well as one can expect. It might have been like visiting a general physician at a government hospital in a remote city of India. The doctor is tired and bored and simply wants to head home.

Fowler might have felt similarly. He careful analyses Twain’s skull and its hidden secrets. It went some thing like this:

“You have a lot of courage, the mount for it is huge. But what a pity, it seems like the mount for caution is bigger. You might have been the bravest man in the world if not for your cautiousness.”

Twain played along until Fowler reached a spot on his head that was meant to account for humor. Apparently, Twain’s head had a cavity as deep as the Mariana Trenches where one would have a sense of humor.

He left the clinic as he came, not letting his identity be known.

The real blow, though, came three months later when Twain visited Fowler once again.

This time he had his arrival announced in advance. Some people may have also gathered to see the skull of one of the most popular writers of the time be analysed.

What did Fowler find this time?

The Mariana Trenches had been replaced by Mount Olympus!

—the cavity was gone, and in its place was a Mount Everest—figuratively speaking—-31,000 feet high, the loftiest bump of humor he had ever encountered in his life-long experience!

Mark Twain

And that was pretty much all Mark twain interacted with phrenology.

Something that had been a fun curiosity for him was now a practice he did not respect. Although, he never really spoke out vociferously against the practice of phrenology.

It seems like as time went on, Twain understood that people often spend their whole lives believing and working on things that are mere fantasies. He had his own share of failed investments which he batted for until his last days.

The only reason we know these readings happened is because a newspaper editor in London misconstrued Twain’s words to make him sound like a follower of the discipline.

In anger and rage, Twain shared his actual experiences with the world. We may never know what would have happened if his hand hadn’t been pushed.

By the time the 20th century came around phrenology fell out of favor with people in the US. But at least it could boast of having influenced the writings of some of the most influential literatis in history such as Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville.

What has your pseudoscience achieved in its lifespan?

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And that is it for this week!

I swear I am trying to be more regular with the newsletter but the last month has just been one miserable after another. Maybe, with time, I will end up being used to this misery. Either way, I can assure you that there is still a lot more to come. Stories from Psychology are just getting started!

Best,

Arjun

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