Doc 1/28/07

Last night I went to see a documentary called Doc, about a forgotten writer named H.L. Hume, or Doc as he was known.

He started life as a wiz-kid who was attending an Ivy League college by age 16. Soon though, he dropped out to become a beatnik in the late 50s. While in France he was one of the chief founders of the esteemed Paris Review literary magazine. A few years later he returned to the U.S. and married and had four daughters.

During these years he lived a bohemian life and tinkered with a variety of inventions. Among them designing paper houses for the United Nations that were meant for third world countries. Most of his projects were abandoned before reaching fruition.

On a dare he wrote a novel titled The Underground City that was critically acclaimed. Soon followed by a 2nd called Men Die that received equal praise and success. Around this time he became involved with a variety of activists causes and was jailed briefly. He also acted as Normal Mailer's campaign manager during Mailer's failed bid to become New York's mayor.

To escape his fear of the police Hume and his family moved to England where be began to write his third book. Before the writing got very far Hume became obsessed with the idea that the CIA was following him. His friends and family all believed this was a delusion, and as his paranoia became more acute it was assumed he was mentally ill.

Eventually his family returned to America in order to escape the situation. A few years later Hume began showing up on Ivy League campuses as a unofficial professor teaching Soctratic style lectures in public spaces. At one point he gave away $12,000, a hundred dollars at a time with the instruction that the receiver gives half of it to someone else.

Hume's lectures were a mix of visionary prophecies, anti-establishment wisdom, and flights of delusional fantasy. Some of his views, such as the belief that the media was being used to brainwash the public, seem completely lucid and even more true in the present day. While some of his other ideas were fairly deranged.

Despite the mixed blessings of his teachings, during the turmoil of the late 60's he amassed a sizable following of students who followed his teachings and lifestyle.

After his death his daughter Immy Hume began to make the documentary in review. After doing some research she found at that the CIA was in fact following him for over 30 years and at times watching his every move. This was because they believed that liberals who would create something like the Paris Review must certainly be communists.

The film made me think about mental illness. How much of it is simply a matter of conforming to popular belief systems? Is it possible to hold views that go against the mainstream and still be sane? In the old Soviet Union political dissidents were locked in insane asylums. It is not uncommon for people to believe that those who go against the social order are "maladjusted."

But for the person who holds a nonconformist view, what does that situation do to one psychologically? People often disparage homeless people by saying that they a just mentally ill people. After spending time with homeless people I came to the conclusion that the experience of being homeless makes one mentally ill. Could it be true that the experience of holding nonconformist views can also make one mentally ill? It is said that when Einstein discovered the theory of relativity he was frightened because he thought he might be seen as insane. If his ideas had not been supported by the scientific community perhaps he would have been seen as insane. Regardless of the empirical truth of his ideas.

There is another factor that plays into the scheme of things when someone is creative. Creative ideas often appear through the process of listening to the random noise that emerges from the unconscious mind. I think most people just ignore those thoughts, but a creative person may listen to those thoughts and consider their value. Most of them might be worthless, but a few might be brilliant. If the person speaks of these ideas as they work through them, might they not sound insane? Might much of their energy and time appear to be wasted in the eyes of those who do not understand this creative process?

These days we try to fix those who have what appear to be mental problems with fast acting psychotropic drugs. We see them advertised on TV commercials every day. One has to wonder what we might really be fixing away.