MEMORY, HOW TO DEVELOP, TRAIN AND USE IT/PART 9
CHAPTER IX.
TRAINING THE EYE.
Before
the memory can be stored with sight impressions—before the mind can recollect
or remember such impressions—the eye must be used under the direction of the
attention. We think that we see things when we look at them, but in reality
we see but few things, in the sense of registering clear and
distinct impressions of them upon the tablets of the subconscious mind.
We look at them rather than see them.
Halleck
says regarding this "sight without seeing" idea: "A body may be
imaged on the retina without insuring perception. There must be an effort to
concentrate the attention upon the many things which the world presents to our
senses. A man once said to the pupils of a large school, all of whom had seen
cows: 'I should like to find out how many of you know whether a cow's ears are
above, below, behind, or in front of her horns. I want only those pupils
to raise their hands who are sure about the position and who will promise to
give a dollar to charity if they answer wrong.' Only two hands were raised.
Their owners had drawn cows and in order to do that had been forced to
concentrate their attention upon the animals. Fifteen pupils were sure that
they had seen cats climb trees and descend them. There was unanimity of opinion
that the cats went up heads first. When asked whether the cats came down head
or tail first, the majority were sure that the cats descended as they were
never known to do. Any one who had ever noticed the shape of the claws of any
beast of prey could have answered the question without seeing an actual
descent. Farmers' boys who have often seen cows and horses lie down and rise,
are seldom sure whether the animals rise with their fore or hind feet first, or
whether the habit of the horse agrees with that of the cow in this respect. The
elm tree has about its leaf a peculiarity which all ought to notice the first
time they see it, and yet only about five per cent of a certain school could incorporate
in a drawing this peculiarity, although it is so easily outlined on paper.
Perception, to achieve satisfactory results, must summon the will to its aid to
concentrate the attention. Only the smallest part of what falls upon our senses
at any time is actually perceived."
The
way to train the mind to receive clear sight-impressions, and therefore to
retain them in the memory is simply to concentrate the will and attention upon
objects of sight, endeavoring to see them plainly and
distinctly, and then to practice recalling the details of the object some time
afterward. It is astonishing how rapidly one may improve in this respect by a
little practice. And it is amazing how great a degree of proficiency in this
practice one may attain in a short time. You have doubtless heard the old story
of Houdin, the French conjurer, who cultivated his memory of sight impressions
by following a simple plan. He started in to practice by observing the number
of small objects in the Paris shop windows he could see and remember in one
quick glance as he rapidly walked past the window. He followed the plan of
noting down on paper the things that he saw and remembered. At first he
could remember but two or three articles in the window. Then he began to
see and remember more, and so on, each day adding to his power of perception
and memory, until finally he was able to see and remember nearly every small
article in a large shop window, after bestowing but one glance upon it. Others
have found this plan an excellent one, and have developed their power of
perception greatly, and at the same time cultivated an amazingly retentive
memory of objects thus seen. It is all a matter of use and practice. The
experiment of Houdin may be varied infinitely, with excellent results.
The
Hindus train their children along these lines, by playing the "sight
game" with them. This game is played by exposing to the sight of the
children a number of small objects, at which they gaze intently, and which are
then withdrawn from their sight. The children then endeavor to excel each other
in writing down the names of the objects which they have seen. The number of
objects is small to begin with, but is increased each day, until an astonishing
number are perceived and remembered.
Rudyard
Kipling in his great book, "Kim," gives an instance of this game,
played by "Kim" and a trained native youth. Lurgan Sahib exposes to
the sight of the two boys a tray filled with jewels and gems, allowing them to
gaze upon it a few moments before it is withdrawn from sight. Then the
competition begins, as follows: "'There are under that paper five blue
stones, one big, one smaller, and three small,' said Kim in all haste. There
are four green stones, and one with a hole in it; there is one yellow stone
that I can see through, and one like a pipe stem. There are two red stones,
and—and—give me time.'" But Kim had reached the limit of his powers. Then
came the turn of the native boy. "'Hear my count,' cried the native child.
'First are two flawed sapphires, one of two ruttes and one of four, as I should
judge. The four rutte sapphire is chipped at the edge. There is one Turkestan
turquoise, plain with green veins, and there are two inscribed—one with the
name of God in gilt, and the other being cracked across, for it came out of an
old ring, I cannot read. We have now the five blue stones; four
flamed emeralds there are, but one is drilled in two places, and one is a
little carven.' 'Their weight?' said Lurgan Sahib, impassively.
'Three—five—five and four ruttees, as I judge it. There is one piece of old
greenish amber, and a cheap cut topaz from Europe. There is one ruby of Burma,
one of two ruttees, without a flaw. And there is a ballas ruby, flawed, of two
ruttees. There is a carved ivory from China, representing a rat sucking an egg;
and there is last—Ah—ha!—a ball of crystal as big as a bean set in gold
leaf.'" Kim is mortified at his bad beating, and asks the secret. The
answer is: "By doing it many times over, till it is done perfectly, for it
is worth doing."
Many
teachers have followed plans similar to that just related. A number of small
articles are exposed, and the pupils are trained to see and remember them, the
process being gradually made more and more difficult. A well known American
teacher was in the habit of rapidly making a number of dots on the blackboard,
and then erasing them before the pupils could count them in the ordinary way.
The children then endeavored to count their mental impressions, and before
long they could correctly name the number up to ten or more, with ease. They
said they could "see six," or "see ten," as the case may
be, automatically and apparently without the labor of consciously counting
them. It is related in works dealing with the detection of crime, that in the
celebrated "thieves schools" in Europe, the young thieves are trained
in a similar way, the old scoundrels acting as teachers exposing a number of
small articles to the young ones, and requiring them to repeat exactly what
they had seen. Then follows a higher course in which the young thieves are
required to memorize the objects in a room; the plan of houses, etc. They are
sent forth to "spy out the land" for future robberies, in the guise
of beggars soliciting alms, and thus getting a rapid peep into houses, offices,
and stores. It is said that in a single glance they will perceive the location
of all of the doors, windows, locks, bolts, etc.
Many
nations have boys' games in which the youngsters are required to see and
remember after taking a peep. The Italians have a game called "Morro"
in which one boy throws out a number of fingers, which must be instantly
named by the other boy, a failure resulting in a forfeit. The Chinese youths
have a similar game, while the Japanese boys reduce this to a science. A well
trained Japanese youth will be able to remember the entire contents of a room
after one keen glance around it. Many of the Orientals have developed this
faculty to a degree almost beyond belief. But the principle is the same in all
cases—the gradual practice and exercise, beginning with a small number of
simple things, and then increasing the number and complexity of the objects.
The
faculty is not so rare as one might imagine at first thought. Take a man in a
small business, and let him enter the store of a competitor, and see how many
things he will observe and remember after a few minutes in the place. Let an
actor visit a play in another theatre, and see how many details of the
performance he will notice and remember. Let some women pay a visit to a new
neighbor, and then see how many things about that house they will have seen and
remembered to be retailed to their confidential friends afterward. It is the
old story of attention following the interest, and memory following the
attention. An expert whist player will see and remember every card played in
the game, and just who played it. A chess or checker player will see and
remember the previous moves in the game, if he be expert, and can relate them
afterward. A woman will go shopping and will see and remember thousands of
things that a man would never have seen, much less remembered. As Houdin said:
"Thus, for instance, I can safely assert that a lady seeing another pass
at full speed in a carriage will have had time to analyze her toilette from her
bonnet to her shoes, and be able to describe not only the fashion and quality
of the stuffs, but also say if the lace be real or only machine made. I have
known ladies to do this."
But,
remember this—for it is important: Whatever can be done in this direction by
means of attention, inspired by interest, may be duplicated by attention
directed by will. In other words, the desire to accomplish the task adds
and creates an artificial interest just as effective as the natural feeling.
And, as you progress, the interest in the game-task will add new interest,
and you will be able to duplicate any of the feats mentioned above. It is all a
matter of attention, interest (natural or induced) and practice. Begin with a
set of dominoes, if you like, and try to remember the spots on one of them
rapidly glanced at—then two—then three. By increasing the number gradually, you
will attain a power of perception and a memory of sight-impressions that will
appear almost marvelous. And not only will you begin to remember dominoes, but
you will also be able to perceive and remember thousands of little details of
interest, in everything, that have heretofore escaped your notice. The
principle is very simple, but the results that may be obtained by practice are
wonderful.
The
trouble with most of you is that you have been looking without seeing—gazing
but not observing. The objects around you have been out of your mental focus.
If you will but change your mental focus, by means of will and attention, you
will be able to cure yourself of the careless methods of seeing and observing
that have been hindrances to your success. You have been blaming it on
your memory, but the fault is with your perception. How can the memory
remember, when it is not given anything in the way of clear impressions? You
have been like young infants in this matter—now it is time for you to begin to
"sit up and take notice," no matter how old you may be. The whole
thing in a nut-shell is this: In order to remember the things that pass before
your sight, you must begin to see with your mind, instead of with
your retina. Let the impression get beyond your retina and into your mind. If
you will do this, you will find that memory will "do the rest."
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