Boris Sidis

Boris Sidis
Born	(1867-10-12)October 12, 1867 Berdychiv, Russian Empire
Died	Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Sarah Mandelbaum

Boris Sidis (/ˈsaɪdɪs/; 12 October 1867 – 24 October 1923) was a Ukrainian American psychologist, physician, psychiatrist, and philosopher of education. Sidis founded the New York State Psychopathic Institute and the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. He was the father of child prodigy William James Sidis. Boris Sidis eventually opposed mainstream psychology and Sigmund Freud, and thereby died ostracized. He was married to a maternal aunt of Clifton Fadiman, the noted American intellectual.

Life

Born in Russian Empire to Jewish parents, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1887 to escape political persecution. Due to the May Laws, he was imprisoned for at least two years, according to William James Sidis' biographer, Amy Wallace. He later credited his ability to think to this long solitary confinement. His wife, Sarah Mandelbaum Sidis, M.D., and her family fled the pogroms about 1889.

Boris completed four degrees at Harvard (a B.A., M.A., Ph.D. and M.D.) and studied under William James. He was influential in the early 20th century, known for pioneering work in psychopathology (founding the New York State Psychopathic Institute and the Journal of Abnormal Psychology), hypnoid/hypnotic states, and group psychology. He is also noted for vigorously applying the Theory of Evolution to the study of psychology.

He vehemently opposed World War I, viewing war as a social disease, and denigrated the widely held concept of eugenics. He sought to provide insight into why people behave as they do, particularly in cases of a mob frenzy or religious mania. With the publication of his book Nervous Ills: Their Cause and Cure in 1922, he summarized much of his previous work in diagnosing, understanding and treating nervous disorders. He saw fear as an underlying cause of much human mental suffering and problematic behavior.

Sidis applied his own psychological approaches to raising his son, William James Sidis, in whom he wished to promote a high intellectual capacity. His son has been considered among the most intelligent people ever (with a ratio IQ broadly estimated at 250–300), though research has shown that this claim was wildly exaggerated. After receiving much publicity for his childhood feats, he came to live an eccentric life, and died in relative obscurity. Boris Sidis himself derided intelligence testing as "silly, pedantic, absurd, and grossly misleading."

William James Sidis in 1914

Boris Sidis

With Boris' fulminations against mainstream psychology and Sigmund Freud, he died ostracized by the community he had helped create.

Major publications

• The Psychology of Suggestion: A Research into the Subconscious Nature of Man and Society. New York: D. Appleton & Co. (1898)
• Psychopathological Researches: Studies in Mental Dissociation. London: Stechert (1902)
• Multiple Personality: An Experimental Investigation into the Nature of Individuality. New York: D. Appleton (1904; with Simon P. Goodhart)
• An Inquiry into the Nature of Hallucinations. New York: Macmillan (1904)
• Studies in Psychopathology. Boston: Heath (1907)
• The Doctrine of Primary and Secondary Sensory Elements. Lancaster, PA: The Review Pub. Co. (1908)
• An Experimental Study of Sleep. Boston: Badger (1909)
• Hypnoidal Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Functional Nervous Diseases. New York: Moffat, Yard (1910)
• Philistine and Genius. New York: Moffat Yard (1911)
• The Psychology of Laughter. New York: D. Appleton (1913)
• The Foundations of Normal and Abnormal Psychology. Boston: Badger (1914)
• Symptomatology, Psychognosis, and Diagnosis of Psychopathic Diseases. Boston: Badger (1914)
• The Causation and Treatment of Psychopathic Diseases. Boston: Badger (1916)
• The Source and Aim of Human Progress: A Study in Social Psychology and Social Pathology. Boston: Badger (1919)
• Nervous Ills: Their Cause and Cure. Boston: Badger (1922)

Selected articles

• "A Study of the Mob," Atlantic Monthly, Vol. LXXV, 1895, pp. 188–197.
• "A Study of Mental Epidemics," The Century Magazine, Vol. LII, 1896, pp. 849–853.
• "The Nature and Principles of Psychology," Transactions of the American Medico-Psychological Association, Vol. VI, 1899, pp. 337–348.
• "An Inquiry into the Nature of Hallucinations," Part II Psychological Review, Vol. XI, 1904, pp. 15–29; 104–137.
• "Are There Hypnotic Hallucinations?", Psychological Review, Vol. XIII, 1906, pp. 239–257.
• "An Experimental Study of Sleep," Part II, Part III, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. III, 1908, pp. 1–32; 63–96; 170–207.
• "The Doctrine of Primary and Secondary Sensory Elements," Part II, Psychological Review, Vol. XV, 1908, pp. 44–68; 106–121.
• "Fear, Anxiety, and Psychopathic Maladies," Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. VI, 1911, pp. 107–125.
• "The Theory of the Subconscious," Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. XXVI, 1912, pp. 319–343.
• "The Psychopathology of Neurosis," New York Medical Journal, Vol. CI, No. 16, 1915, pp. 765–770.
• "Neurosis and Eugenics," Medical Review of New York, Vol. XXI, 1915, pp. 587–594.
• "A Clinical study of A Dream Personality," Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. XIII, 1918, pp. 137–157.
• "The Source and Aim of Human Progress," Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. XIV, 1919, pp. 91–143.
• "A Lecture on the Abuse of the Fear Instinct in Early Education," Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. XIV, 1919, pp. 333–348.
• "Precocity in Children." In: Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Education. New York: Pitman & Sons, 1922, pp. 1331–1332.

See also

• Ira Van Gieson (1866–1913), a collaborator

Notes

• ^ Sidis' birthplace is commonly listed as Kiev. However, a biographical note from his daughter sidis.net says he was born in "Berditchev," a small town about 150 km SW of Kiev.
• ^ His writings are available at sidis.net

References

• Wallace, Amy, The prodigy: A biography of William James Sidis, America's greatest child prodigy, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. 1986. ISBN 0-525-24404-2
• "Boris Sidis." Dictionary of American biography base set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005. galenet.galegroup.com
• See External Links for source of much of the details of Sidis's life from unpublished archive documents by his wife and daughter.

External links

• Boris Sidis Archives
• Works by Boris Sidis at Hathi Trust
• Works by Boris Sidis at Internet Archive