William James' Account of a Deconversion (1901-1902)
From William James, " Varieties of Religious Experience " (1901-1902), pages 173-174fn This second case exemplifies how small an additional stimulus will over- throw the mind into a new state of equilibrium when the process of preparation and incubation has proceeded far enough. It is like the proverbial last straw added to the camel's burden, or that touch of a needle which makes the salt in a supersaturated fluid suddenly begin to crystallize out. Tolstoy writes: “ S., a frank and intelligent man, told me as follows how he ceased to believe: — “ He was twenty-six years old when one day on a hunting expedition, the time for sleep having come, he set himself to pray according to the custom he had held from childhood. “ His brother, who was hunting with him, lay upon the hay and looked at him. When S. had finished his prayer and was turning to sleep, the brother said, ‘ Do you still keep up that thing? ’ Nothing more was said. But since that day, now more th...