The article below, originally published in 1917, quotes Nikola Tesla’s belief that electricity to the brain could cure the stupid out of the rest of us.
If you are interested in learning more about this theory or are considering using electric currents to increase your brainpower, read “Popular electric brain stimulation method used to boost brainpower is detrimental to IQ scores.”
Finds Electricity Can Build Up Brains
Building brains with electricity is the newest triumph of science over nature.
Nikola Tesla, famous electrical wizard and inventor, is responsible for this new application of the high frequency current, which may revolutionize educational methods, turn dullards into persons of high intelligence and produce genius from ordinary intellect.
“A high-frequency current intensifies the action of the brain,” says Tesla. “It is a mental stimulant like alcohol, but instead of being hurtful to the brain cells, the electricity is beneficial.
“My attention was first attracted to the possibility of brain stimulation by the high-frequency current by observing one of my assistants, who, while making high-frequency tests, seemed to be very stupid in carrying out orders. After a time I noticed this assistant became brighter and did his work better. After careful observation and certain tests I found the high-frequency current was responsible.”
Tesla has no doubt as to the beneficial effects which would follow the installation of electrical wires, carefully insulated, in classroom walls and saturation of the atmosphere in the rooms with millions of electric waves.
This novel method of awakening dormant brain cells has been subjected to trial on an extended scale in Stockholm, Sweden. Two sets of 50 children each, averaging the same age and physical condition, were placed in separate classrooms, exactly alike except for concealed wires in one room. The regular school work was pursued and the test lasted six months.
The results were startling. The children in the magnetized room increased in stature two and a half inches, those in the unmagnetized room increased one and one-fourth inches. The former also showed an increase in weight and physical development greater than the latter.
The remarkable difference, however, was in the mentality developed. Those exposed to the electric rays averaged 92 per cent in their school work, compared with an average of 72 per cent for children in the other rooms. Fifteen pupils in the electrified room were marked 100; only nine in the other rooms attaining this mark.
Mr. Tesla has had conferences with the superintendent of schools of New York City, looking to the possibility of establishing an “electrified schoolroom” there.
Source: The day book. (Chicago, Ill.), 06 July 1917.
