The nonfiction pieces that people write are supposed to be true. And we are supposed to believe their accounts. Which brings me to where I never expect to be—Ben Carson's autobiography.

I am a historian. I check history. "History" is academically defined as things that happen at least 25 years in the past. In more recent history, we rely upon the words of participants. Thus we privilege the words of eyewitnesses. Absolutely best is to rely, or at least use, the first-person accounts of the participants.

Here is Ben Carson, from his first book, which he wrote in the 1980s (bold emphasis mine).

"I felt as though I could never face anyone again. How could I look my mother in the eye? Would she know? How could I ever see Bob again? How could he help but hate me? How could he ever trust me again? "Lord," I whispered, "You have to take this temper from me. If You don't, I'll never be free from it. I'll end up doing things a lot worse than trying to stab one of my best friends." Already heavy into psychology (I had been reading Psychology Today for a year), I knew that temper was a personality trait. Standard thinking in the field pointed out the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of modifying personality traits. Even today some experts believe that the best we can do is accept our limitations and adjust to them. Tears streamed between my fingers."

Wow. Powerful. And very specific. Here's an excerpt from the next chapter, called "ROTC Triumph" (again, bold emphasis mine).

"Although I had no question about wanting to be a doctor, the particular field of medicine wasn't always so clear. For instance, when I was 13 my focus changed from being a general practitioner to becoming a psychiatrist. Watching TV programs featuring psychiatrists convinced me, for they came across as dynamic intellectuals who knew everything about solving anybody's problems. At that same age I was very aware of money and figured that with so many crazy people living in the United States, psychiatrists must make a good living. If I had any doubts about my chosen career they dissolved after my thirteenth birthday when Curtis gave me a subscription to Psychology Today. It was the perfect gift. Not only a great brother but a good friend, Curtis must have really sacrificed to spend his hard-earned money for me. He was only 15, and his after-school job in the science lab didn't pay a lot. Curtis was generous but also sensitive to me. Because he knew I was getting interested in psychology and psychiatry, he chose that way to help me. Though I found Psychology Today tough reading for a kid my age, I grasped enough from the different articles that I could hardly wait for each issue to arrive. I also read books in that field."

Ben Carson was born in September 1951.​ By his own account, then, the precocious future-surgeon got his subscription to Psychology Today in 1964.

The problem? Psychology Today was not founded until 1967.

I can be reached, as always, at R_Bateman_LTC@hotmail.com.