748 THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-CREATION
As I have already stated in many different ways, there is a well-
founded hypothesis that when one concentrates one's mind on a given
subject, facts of a nature closely related to that subject will "pour"
in from every conceivable source. The theory is that a deeply seated
desire, when planted in the right sort of" mental soil;' serves as a center
of attraction for everything that harmonizes with the nature of the
desire.
Dr. Elmer Gates of Washington, D. c., is perhaps one of the
most competent psychologists in the world. He is recognized both
in the field of psychology and in other directly and indirectly related
fields of science, throughout the world, as being a man of the highest
scientific standing.
After Dr. Gates has followed a line of investigation as far as is
possible through the usual channels of research, and he has all the
recorded facts at his command, he takes a pencil and a notepad and
"sits" for further information, by concentrating on that subject until
thoughts related to it begin to flow in upon him. He told me that
many of his most important discoveries came through this method.
It was more than twenty years ago that I first talked with Dr. Gates
on this subject. Since that time, through the discovery of radio, we
have been provided with a reasonable hypothesis through which to
explain the results of these "sittings:' The ether, as we have discovered
through the modern radio apparatus, is in a constant state of agitation.
Soundwaves are floating through the ether at all times, but these waves
cannot be detected, beyond a short distance from their source, except
by the aid of properly attuned instruments.COMMENTARY
In Napoleon Hill's reference here to the discovery of "the modern radio
apparatus, " we are reminded that when he was writing this the average person:S
knowledge of radio was less than twenty-five years old.