William Mustarfitz’ Theory of Planar Importation and Refined Thought

William Mustarfitz’s Theory of Planar Importation and Refined Thought

A Brief and Unfinished History

Early Life

William Mustarfits was born in 1875 to Harriet and Edgar Mustarfitz. He was baptized Catholic at two months, and attended Burket Elementary. He attended Knox College as a graduating class of 1897, and attended graduate school nearly 20 years later at Northwestern University, and received his masters in philosophy. At Northwestern he made the acquaintance of neurophysiology professor Geoffrey Sonnabend, after taking his class on memory. It is believed that this meeting is what inspired Mustarfitz’s later exploration into the human brain.

The Truths of Reality Pamphlet

William Mustarfitz originally published the first iteration of what would eventually become a two part volume titled Theory of Planar Importation and Refined Thought, in 1908 as a pamphlet that Mustarfitz wrote and copied by hand. Because of this informal format, none of the pamphlets remain, and what we can gather about the information listed therein is from contemporary writings referencing his work and history.

The pamphlet was somewhere between 4 and 8 pages, and was titled The Truths of Reality. On its publication and subsequent distribution, it was received poorly by critics. One wrote that it was “Not worth the ink or paper of its creation.” (Edinburg, 1908) Another wrote that it was “A slurry of utter hogwash.” (Alphonze, 1909)

However there were contemporaries of Mustarfitz that were enamored with its contents. Mustarfitz’s professor, Sonnabend, was particularly enamored with his research, stating that Mustarfitz was “one of the greater minds of the century.” But many readers sided with the critics.

Other Publications

Along with the pamphlet and two volumes of philosophical and neurosatirical publication, Mustarfitz published a series of essays regarding his time spent on a fishing boat in the Atlantic in between his schooling. Mixed into the essays are poems, notes, and biographical pieces. The publication was not met with much fanfare, and even after his later success from Theory of Planar Importation and Refined Thought many readers looking into his other worlds found it to be boring and the poetry quite lacking. It is safe to say that Mustarfitz was not an accomplished creative writer.

Theory of Planar Importation and Refined Thought

A publisher, L & E Publishing, ended up publishing the subsequent volumes by Mustarfitz, with some changes from the original manuscripts written between 1910-1918. It is worth noting that Mustarfitz finishes writing the second volume of Theory of Planar Importation and Refined Thought during World War 1, which may have influenced the darker turn the essays take towards the end of that volume. We have evidence that he sent correspondence to and from the front lines, but it is unclear where he served and who served with him.

The book, separated into two volumes, explores the human mind's perception of reality, through a metaphor that he calls “planar importation.” Some of Mustarfitz’s fans believe that planar importation is not a metaphor at all, and instead a real shift from other planes. The majority of the essays and reports detail his experiments looking into the theory of alternate realities and their effect on cognition. Mustarfitz posits that alternate selves, which Mustarfitz coined ‘seolf’ experience time dilation at different speeds. (Seolf comes from the supposed old English word for self.) Mustarfitz writes, “time passes through realities at varying lengths and degrees which gives way to longer shifts in time over long periods. Thus these realities become invisible to us, and are only visible through the subconscious.” (Mustarfitz, 89) What Mustarfitz goes on to explain, is that our cognition is linked to our other selves, and thus messages can be passed from one to another subliminally. Thoughts from future seolfs appear to us as deja-vu and ones from past appear as sudden recollection. This is his theory of planar importation; the import of ideas from alternates.