Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Le Bon Gustave
Title : Applications of Psychology to the Classification of Races
Year : 1886

Link download : Le_Bon_Gustave_-_Applications_of_Psychology_to_the_Classification_of_Races.zip

The works of Dr. Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931), arguably history's greatest forgotten scientist, show clearly that over 125 years ago science had already conclusively proven that the races of mankind, by their varying phsycial, psychological, and intellectual qualities, differ substantially from one another. As evidence of this fact, one does not need to look any further than Dr. Le Bon's sensational 1879 masterpiece, "Anatomical and Mathematical Researches into the Laws of the Variations of Brain Volume and Their Relation to Intelligence," which at the time was accorded an award by the French Academy of Sciences, but which nowadays has been consigned to oblivion. Today I present to you another masterful work of Dr. Le Bon's, similarly so consigned, his remarkably incisive "Applications of Psychology to the Classification of Races." Published in 1886 in Revue Philosophique, the author begins his paper with an explanation and presentation of relevant fundamental truths, such as: "The outcome of race-mixing is entirely harmful if the elements which are joined together strongly differ by their civilization, their past, and their character." He then demonstrates how a properly-designed analytical approach can accurately determine the general psychological make-up of a particular people-in this case, the Hindus of India serve as Dr. Le Bon's example. Besides his being a very extraordinary scientist (he was the founder, in fact, of Social Psychology), Dr. Le Bon was an activist who tirelessly and effectively championed rational social policies. He did so, not just by his writings, but also by constantly meeting with and influencing the leading conservative and pragmatic politicians of his day (one close friend of his was President Theodore Roosevelt). Were Dr. Le Bon with us today, it is most certain that he would proclaim that what is now needed, as his classic 19th Century works so well highlight, is not additional "beat a dead horse" research into defining racial differences. Instead, he would urge each and every one of us to focus our energies on taking practical action directed towards the introduction and adoption of laws which: 1) provide incentives for increasing the numbers of those individuals which science has revealed are highly likely to lead productive, responsible, law-abiding lives, and 2) strongly penalize, or at least stop rewarding or subsidizing, those individuals who, for whatever reason, engage in unproductive and/or irresponsible and/or criminalistic behavior. Robert K. Stevenson (translator, editor). ...