Nikola Tesla's Remembrances about His Mentality

 

In Tesla's article "Some Personal Recollections" published in the June 5, 1915 issue of Scientific American and also the similar remembrance in the third chapter of The Life of Tesla (By Nikola Tesla) included in the 1973 book The Wall of Light by Arthur H. Matthews, the renowned inventor recalled that when he was in his 20s he knew entire poetry books by heart and could read them from memory word by word.  One of these books was Faust.

 

As I spoke the last words [of a stanza mentioning what would be translated in English as "new fields of life" and "wings that lift the mind"], plunged in thought and marveling at the power of the poet, the idea came like a lightning flash.  In an instant I saw it all, and I drew with a stick on the sand the diagrams which were illustrated in my fundamental patents of May, 1888, and which [Mr.] Szigety understood perfectly.  

 

It is extremely difficult for me to put this experience before the reader in its true light and significance for it is so altogether extraordinary.  When an idea presents itself it is, as a rule, crude and imperfect . . . It was different with my invention.  In the very moment I became conscious of it.  I saw it fully developed and perfected . . . My imaginings were equivalent to realities.  I had carried out what I had undertaken and pictured myself receiving wealth and fame.  But more than all this was to me the revelation that I was an inventor.

The six chapters of the Matthews version of The Life of Tesla present some variations with what was published in issues of Electrical Experimenter magazine in 1919 when Tesla's age was 63.  Tesla's autobiographical writings were presented "edited, with an Introduction, by Ben Johnston" in 1982 to become My Inventions — The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. 

 

This blog article presents some excerpts of notable passages and identifies differences between the Johnston version and the Matthews version.  Each of the texts has an introduction statement about Tesla being "no common mortal" yet Matthews also has the additional observations: "He always said he would live to the age of one hundred and fifty, so perhaps he is alive on Venus? . . . Tesla said that he believed he came from the planet Venus, and during the landings of a space ship on my property, the members of that ship said that Tesla was a child from Venus."

 

In Johnston's version the statement about "no common mortal" is followed by a few sentences mentioning "a charmed life" even considering his being "struck down" by illnesses and concluding with the declaration to "read his own words.  You have never read the like before."

A comparison of The Life of Tesla and My Inventions presents a few contrasting words and some other variations with the text.  There is on the first page of the Matthews version in parantheses: "(I will explain my remark about my 'earth parents' later.)"  The Johnson version part I refers only to "His premature death left my parents disconsolate." The sentence in part II "altho fifty-six years have elapsed since" is presented in the Matthews version as "altho so many years have elapsed since."  In the second article clothing measurements are stated as having been "taken nearly 35 years ago" while in the Matthews version this time range is "nearly fifteen years ago."

 

In the Johnston version the mention of the word whiskey contrasts with the Matthews version statement in parantheses "(Which did not interest me very much, as I had altered my opinion concerning strong drink)"; a measurement of "powerful discharges of 100 feet" has been increased to 1,000 feet; and voltage quantities have been increased in three different places.  There are stated referrals in the Matthews version to "The gift of mental power comes from God," to the Bible and to Christ. 

There are some details offered by Matthews about his own background in The Wall of Light.  In a chapter presenting a tribute to Tesla in 1943 at the time of his death, Matthews stated: "At the age of eleven, I had two teachers, Mother and Tesla.  From her I learned about God.  Electricity fascinated me even at that age and my first reader was Tesla's investigation of high frequency currents . . ."  He further stated that he and his brother built a working model of Tesla's wireless power transmitter.  Another comment by Matthews is: "I have lived and breathed Tesla the best part of my life."  One clue offered is Matthews mentioning that his father had worked in England for Lord Kelvin, who honored Tesla with a visit in New York during the summer of 1897.

In both the published original articles and the Matthews version, the following reflections by Tesla can be found.  

 

There was another and still more important reason for my late awakening.  In my boyhood I suffered from a peculiar affliction due to the appearance of images, often accompanied by strong flashes of light, which marred the sight of real objects and interfered with my thought [the word thoughts is  used in the Matthews version] and action.  They were pictures of things and scenes which I had really seen, never of those I imagined.  When a word was spoken to me the image of the object it designated would present itself vividly to my vision and sometimes I was quite unable to distinguish whether what I saw was tangible or not.  This caused me great discomfort and anxiety.  None of the students of psychology or physiology whom I have consulted, could ever explain satisfactorily these phenomena.  They seem to have been unique altho I was probably predisposed as I know that my brother experienced a similar trouble.  

 

 

. . . suppose that I had witnessed a funeral or some other nerve-wracking spectacle.  Then, inevitably, in the stillness of night, a vivid picture of the scene would thrust itself before my eyes and persist despite all my efforts to banish it.  Sometimes it would even remain fixt in space tho I pushed my hand thru it.  If my explanation is correct, it should be possible to project on a screen the image of any object one conceives and make it visible.  Such an advance would revolutionize all human relations.  I am convinced that this wonder can and will be accomplished in time to come; I may add that I have devoted much thought to the solution of the problem.

 
The Matthews version also has this sentence at this point: "I have managed to reflect such a picture, which I have seen in my mind, to the mind of another person, in another room."  Both versions of the first chapter/article include this observation:

  
As I performed these mental operations for the second or third time, in order to chase the appearances from my vision, the remedy gradually lost all its force.  Then I instinctively commenced to make excursions beyond the limits of the small world of which I had knowledge, and I saw new scenes.  These were at first very blurred and indistinct, and would flit away when I tried to concentrate my attention upon them but, by and by I succeeded in fixing them [these nine words in bold print are not included in the Matthews version]; they gained in strength and distinctiveness and finally assumed the concreteness of real things.  I soon discovered that my best comfort was attained if I simply went on in my vision further and further, getting new impressions all the time, and so I began to travel; of course, in my mind.  Every night, (and sometimes during the day), when alone, I would start on my journeys — see new places, cities and countries; live there, meet people and make friendships and acquaintances and, however unbelievable, it is a fact that they were just as dear to me as those in actual life, and not a bit less intense in their manifestations.  

 

This I did constantly until I was about seventeen, when my thoughts turned seriously to invention.  Then I observed to my delight that I could visualize with the greatest facility.  I needed no models, drawings or experiments.  I could picture them all as real in my mind.  Thus I have been led unconsciously to evolve what I consider a new method of materializing inventive concepts and ideas, which is radically opposite to the purely experimental and is in my opinion ever so much more expeditious and efficient. 

 
In the original article 2 and Matthews Chapter 2 there is description of two childhood mishaps involving foolhardy swimming misadventures where he probably would've died if not for the flashes of lights bringing visions.  There is also childhood behavior of the type usually associated with obsessive compulsive disorder in the first original article, such as: "I counted the steps in my walks and calculated the cubical contents of soup plates, coffee cups and pieces of food — otherwise my meal was unenjoyable.  All repeated acts or operations I performed had to be divisible by three and if I mist I felt impelled to do it all over again, even if it took hours."

 

This is how Tesla expressed perceptions about past circumstances related to illness and other physical conditions experienced during earthly life —

 

Now, my well being is simply the result of a careful and measured mode of living and perhaps the most astonishing thing is that three times in my youth I was rendered by illness a hopeless physical wreck and given up by physicians.  More than this, thru ignorance and lightheartedness, I got into all sorts of difficulties, dangers and scrapes from which I extricated myself as by enchantment.  I was almost drowned a dozen times; was nearly boiled alive and just mist (Matthews version spelling: missed) being cremated.  I was entombed, lost and frozen.  I had hair-breadth escapes from mad dogs, hogs, and other wild animals.  I past (Matthews version spelling: passed) thru dreadful diseases and met with all kinds of odd mishaps and that I am hale and hearty today seems like a miracle.  But as I recall these incidents to my mind I feel convinced that my preservation was not altogether accidental (Matthews version sentence has seven more words here: but was indeed the work of divine power).  An inventor's endeavor is essentially lifesaving.  

 

Whether he harnesses forces, improves devices, or provides new comforts and conveniences, he is adding to the safety of our existence. 

 
There is another passage in the Matthews version following the sentence of the Johnston text part VI "Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment and merging of races, and we are still far from this blissful realization."  The additional words are: because few indeed, will admit the reality — that God made man in His image — in which case all Earth men are alike.  There is in fact but one race, of many colours.  Christ is but one person, yet he is of all people, so why do some people think themselves better than some other people? 

 
Concerning "The Discovery of the Tesla Coil and Transformer" (the basic part of every radio and TV), Tesla mentioned commencing work in his own laboratory and facilities in April 1887: "The motors I built there were exactly as I had imagined them.  I made no attempt to improve the design, but merely reproduced the pictures as they appeared to my vision and the operation was always as I expected." 

 

In both versions the "experience which momentarily impressed me as supernatural" is an apparent prophetic dream "at the time of my mother's death":

 

I had become completely exhausted by pain and long vigilance, and one night was carried to a building about two blocks from our home.  As I lay helpless there, I thought that if my mother died while I was away from her bedside, she would surely give me a sign.  Two or three months before, I was in London in company with my late friend, Sir William Crookes, when spiritualism was discussed and I was under the full sway of these thoughts.  I might not have paid attention to other men, but was susceptible to his arguments as it was his epochal work on radiant matter, which I had read as a student, that made me embrace the electrical career.  I reflected that the conditions for a look into the beyond were most favorable, for my mother was a woman of genius and particularly excelling in the powers of intuition.  During the whole night every fiber in my brain was strained in expectancy, but nothing happened until early in the morning, when I fell in a sleep, or perhaps a swoon, and saw a cloud carrying angelic figures of marvelous beauty, one of whom gazed upon me lovingly and gradually assumed the features of my mother.  The appearance slowly floated across the room and vanished, and I was awakened by an indescribably sweet song of many voices.  In that instant a certitude, which no words can express, came upon me that my mother had just died.  And that was true.  I was unable to understand the tremendous weight of the painful knowledge I received in advance, and wrote a letter to Sir William Crookes while still under the domination of these impressions and in poor bodily health.  When I recovered, I sought for a long time the external cause of this strange manifestation and, to my great relief, I succeeded after many months of fruitless effort.

 

I had seen the painting of a celebrated artist, representing allegorically one of the seasons in the form of a cloud with a group of angels which seemed to actually float in the air, and this had struck me forcefully.  It was exactly the same that appeared in my dream, with the exception of my mother's likeness.  The music came from the choir in the church nearby at the early mass of Easter morning, explaining everything satisfactorily in conformity with scientific facts.

 

This occurred long ago, and I have never had the faintest reason since to change my views on psychical and spiritual phenomena, for which there is absolutely no foundation.  The belief in these is the natural outgrowth of intellectual development.