'Normal Man' Is Exception, Adler Avers
Noted Psychologist Holds, However, That a Child Is Normal if It "Gives No Trouble"
LONDON, June 10.—Confessing that he did not know of any "normal" person, Dr. Alfred Adler, famous Viennese psychologist, was closely questioned by members of his audience when he lectured on "Individual Psychology" here.
One questioner asked Dr. Adler whether he would describe a man of 24, who was not interested in the opposite sex, as abnormal, and what was the remedy.
The doctor described this condition — "if it really existed" as a form of lack of social interest, and said that this tendency would show itself in other ways.
"What are the signs of normal consciousness in a child?" was another question. "If the child does not give any trouble," was Dr. Adler's ready reply.
A great deal of the lecture had dealt with the human desire to overcome difficulties, and Dr. Adler was asked what he had to say about a man who had protested that he had no aim in life at all.
"The man does not necessarily tell you what his aim is," said the doctor, "but he must have one."
One questioner tried to draw Dr. Adler on his opinion of certain Freudian theories.
"That is a very inconvenient question," was the reply. "Freud is this year celebrating his 80th year. All the world is "worshipping him, and I am not going to utter a word of criticism.
"So many books," said the doctor, "speak of adolescence as though it was an illness. It is merely a continuation of childhood, except that the adolescent has more power to express himself and wishes to prove that he is 'grown up.'"
Other points from the lecture were:
"We can live in one house for 20 years and have no idea who is our neighbor. Therefore, to love our neighbor is a little difficult.
"It is part of the structure of life to conquer, to overcome things. We cannot love without thinking of striving for success, for achievement. As long as that striving persists, life is granted. As soon as the personality does not see any possibility of success, the possibility of death appears."
Fuente: «'Normal Man' Is Exception, Adler Avers. Noted Psychologist Holds, However, That a Child Is Normal if It "Gives No Trouble"», Schenectady Gazette, Schenectady (N.Y.), jueves 11 de junio de 1936 (edición de mañana), p. 14, despacho sin firma fechado en Londres el 10 de junio (agencia no indicada). Transcripción hecha sobre la imagen de la página en Fulton History (Schenectady NY Gazette 1936 Grayscale - 3349), cuya cabecera, legible en la imagen, confirma la fecha y la página que el índice del archivo daba por deducidas. Se conservan las comillas descolocadas del impreso («is "worshipping him», sin cierre al final del párrafo) y «We cannot love without thinking», quizá errata por live. La conferencia londinense y su crónica original no están en los materiales del archivo. Las palabras partidas a final de línea se unen.