In Pursuit of the Answers to the Mind
(continued)
"I was basically researching in the field of endocrinology to determine whether or not structure monitors function or function monitors structure. I had the run of the medical library and the doctors were very pleasant concerning my examination of their records on Japanese war prisoners. It was obvious that the ex-prisoners of war had damaged endocrine systems. They found that by administering amino acids and testosterone to these prisoners, they could bring some of them back to health; however, this was not true of all of the prisoners. I argued to myself that if the mind regulated the body and not the body regulated the mind, then the endocrine system would not respond to hormones if there was in existence a mental block.
"All I was trying to establish was whether or not the mind regulated the body or the body regulated the mind. Therefore, if on some of these patients hormones did not work and on some of them they did, there might be a mental reason. If those patients on whom it did not work had a severe mental block, then it was obvious that regardless of the amount of hormone or medical treatment the person received, he would not get well. If the mind was capable of putting this much restraint upon the physical body then obviously the fact that was commonly held to be true, that structure monitors function, would be false. I set out to prove this.
"Using nothing but Freudian Psychoanalysis and using a park bench as a consulting room, I set out to find out whether or not those who would not assimilate hormones had mental blocks.
"I found out that those on whom the treatment did not work did indeed have mental blocks. Freudian Analysis is, of course, very limited but can be properly and quickly used, particularly to diagnose. Those on whom the hormones were working did not have mental blocks.
"I did not at first acquaint my friends in the Research Unit exactly what I was doing or why, but watched their records in case one of my ’patients’ started to respond. One of them finally did after a few short interviews, realizing that he had sworn off women because of being jilted by his wartime sweetheart. He immediately and directly responded to the treatment of amino acids and testosterone. It was the thought at this time that these two things would make it possible for a starved, malnutritioned, debilitated prisoner to regain his ability to break down protein and utilize it.
"There was a sufficient number of these done to make it very plain that those who could assimilate hormones did not have severe mental trauma, and those who could not assimilate it did have mental traumas.
"It was in this way that I put together guidelines for further research. I was not interested in endocrinology but in resolving whether or not function monitored structure or structure monitored function."
The important discoveries Ron made while working at Oak Knoll Hospital established firm guidelines for the direction his research was to take him next.
In later years, reflecting on the tests he had done, Ron noted: "You could change the man’s diet; you could change his exercise; you could do anything you pleased with him; you could change his operating environment; and you did not change the environmental factor enough to make the endocrine dosages work.
"In other words, with the changed-mind conditions, why, hormones would work; but with changed physical conditions, the aspect of the hormones did not change. That was a very, very fundamental thing, because it laid in my lap something very interesting – thought could change matter." "This was the first broad test of it all. Thought was boss. Thought was king. Thought could change structure."
In no uncertain terms it was a revolutionary concept cutting across misconceptions which had plagued Western philosophy and science for centuries.
"So I had solved the basic problem of ’What did you study – structure or function?" If it had been function, I would have gone into function on an engineering level and tried to knock the problem apart from that angle. But structure was not the answer or the road to an answer, because you couldn’t do anything with structure. You could use the most rigorous tests you could set up and observe as close as you wanted to, and nothing happened. Nobody had ever tried to do this before in the history of the examination of man."
With this new viewpoint and the knowledge and experience he now had, Ron set out to unravel the mysteries of thought.
