Life, 1918-03-07 · page 24 of 40
Life — March 7, 1918 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces of satire: **The Cartoon:** A boy, Bobby, is being scolded by his mother when he responds "Kamerad! Kamerad!"—German for "comrade." This is a post-WWI jab at anti-German sentiment and possibly at children adopting foreign expressions. The humor lies in the incongruity of a child using enemy language when disciplined. **"Hail, Mentoids!" Essay:** This is pseudoscientific satire mocking New Thought and self-help pseudoscience popular in the early 20th century. Mrs. Chapin's invented concept of "mentoids" (mental entities that do your thinking) and "electrons" (portrayed as magical workers) parodies pseudo-intellectual jargon. The article ridicules both the charlatan philosophy itself and intellectuals who promoted it—specifically mocking a "cubist poet," newspaper editorial writers, and politicians as sources of bad mentoid influence. The surgical dialogue at bottom sarcastically critiques unnecessary medical procedures justified by vague duty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE” Mother: posny! you wickep Boy! COME HERE TO ME THIS INSTANT! Bobby: KAMERAD! KAMERAD! Hail, Mentoids! T° Mrs. Mary E. T. Chapin we are indebted for a new idea. She has introduced us to a mentoid. “ Mentoids,” says Mrs. Chapin, “are all around us; they are outside of us. The brain does not think. It merely registers thought.” We had suspected this for some time. The great trick is to make things pleasant for the mentoids, so they will come in and do business for you on the premises. You should fit up your brain with attractive furnishings, and get the mentoids in the habit of liking to come there. Then you will need only to sit around and look pleasant, and the mentoids will turn out all the thoughts you wish. 3ut in addition to mentoids there are electrons, and the mentoids control these electrons, You would not notice one even if he came into the room and made as loud a noise as he could. Seventeen hundred electrons can be put into an atom, and there will still be room for one more, although the conductor would probably have to say, “ Move a little forward, please!" Electrons work for the mentoids and An electron is quite small do all that needs to be done. They create energy while you wait, and eliminate disease, and go on errands to dis- tant points. Some electrons who haven't been brought up in public school but have learned to rely on themselves, and have kept away from the doctors, are splendid, and others not so good. What a mentoid is, therefore, depends some- what on the kind of electrons it has working for it; and when you engage any number of mentoids, it is safer to look up their records, obtain references if possible. For example, suppose you should suddenly find your mind al- most completely inhabited by a lot of mentoids, with their attendant electrons, and suppose these had been living with a cubist poet, an editorial writer on the Tribune, a Kansas congressman or a member of the Ordnance Department! IRST SURGEON: Why should we remove her boy's tonsils if it isn’t necessary? Srconp Surcko: Your duty to your family, afford to throw away money in that fashion? Can you