These are not fools.

他们并非傻瓜
These are not people who are, as it were,

他们并非过去那些
bought by the Elmer Gantrys of this world.

被伪善宗教人士所收买的人
These are ordinary people or very intelligent people

他们是普通民众也是非常聪明的人
who are prepared to suspend disbelief about extrasensory perception

他们愿意去相信那些超感知觉
in order to be able to find some solace,

来寻求某种慰藉
some way of understanding the world in which they live.

寻找一些方法去理解他们所生活的世界
There was an extraordinary efflorescence,

这是唯灵论以及降神会
development of spiritualism, of seances.

发展的全盛时期
One of the great carriers of this message was Arthur Conan Doyle,

阿瑟·柯南·道尔就是一名忠实的信徒
who was the author of the great, the ultimate rationalist,

他创作了一部伟大的宣扬终极理性的作品
Sherlock Holmes.

《福尔摩斯》