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FIRST LESSON.

THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE

SYSTEM.

THE faculty to recall or to have back ideas which had previously been in the mind has been given to all creatures, from the lowest to the highest; in fact, it is the basis of all intellectual activity.

Being rather uncertain in its operations, means have been sought to improve it.

The ancients already proposed all sorts of means to facilitate remembrance, and various processes have been invented to attain this end. I will not waste time and try your patience in showing what has been recommended for this purpose. It will suffice to say that artificial means of strengthening the memory must fail, necessarily, because they are based upon a false understanding of the mind and its functions. The fact is, we think that the facility or difficulty of remembrance depends upon the memory; but this is a mistake. Memory has very little to do with the facility or difficulty of remembrance. This may seem paradoxical, but it is easily proved. It is not the things which we have committed to memory which are the easiest to be remembered. There are things which we saw, heard, or experienced only once in our lives, which we never

forget, whereas things learned by heart are often soon forgotten, though we had a great deal of trouble in committing them to memory. Old people will tell you that they remember things of their childhood, some sixty or seventy years ago, and that they are unable to recollect events of yesterday. If loss of memory were responsible, it should be much easier to remember recent things than remote ones, but just the contrary is the fact. We try sometimes to remember certain things, and, notwithstanding great efforts, we do not succeed, and find later on that these very things come back suddenly to the mind, without any apparent reason. All this would be impossible, if memory had anything to do in the matter. If I have a good memory, let us say for proper names, I ought to be able to recall a name which I know, whenever I wish, and there seems no reason why I should not be able to do so when I desire to recall it, and why that same name should come back when I do not require it, even against my will. All this shows that the facility of remembrance does not depend upon the memory.

There is a very curious process going on in the mind, not when we remember, but when the ideas first come to it, which I will endeavor to explain. The things which we see, hear, read, etc., are ideas coming to the mind. When ideas come to the mind, they generally find other ideas present which they usually expel; e.g., if I succeed in fixing your attention on what I have just said, all other ideas disappear from your mind for the moment. This is not always the case; sometimes the ideas which were there previously not only do not disappear,

but they do not even admit newcomers. This is shown in the fact that, if something preoccupies us, we neither see nor hear what is going on around us. The fact is that, like in the physical world where the stronger beats the weaker, stronger ideas expel weaker ones from the mind. If the ideas which come to the mind are stronger than those they find present, they will expel the weaker ones; if the ideas present are stronger than those which try to come in, they will not admit the weaker ones, as is shown in the above facts. But suppose the two ideas are of equal strength: what will happen then? Neither can expel the other, because they are of equal strength; they cannot remain isolated, they cannot go to different compartments of the brain, as some people would have it, because there are no compartments. Then all they can do is to shake hands, that is to say, to blend together. This blending, which is constantly going on in the mind without our co-operation, is the real association of ideas, and is the basis not only of memory but of all intellectual activity.

We know from experience that if two ideas have blended together, and if, later on, one of them comes back, or we recall it, it will recall the other with which it blended. This recalling of one idea by another is remembrance, or recollection. But the facility or difficulty with which one idea recalls another depends entirely upon the strength with which they blended together in the first place, and this, again, depends upon their intrinsic strength. If the ideas are strong, they will blend strongly together. This is why things.

which make a strong impression, pleasant or unpleasant, are easily remembered, whereas indifferent things, or those to which we have paid but little attention, are soon forgotten.

All this shows that memory has very little to do with the facility or difficulty of remembrance, which depends entirely upon the strength of the blendings explained above, which take place not when we remember, but when the ideas first come to the mind, memory being the faculty to recall or to have back ideas which had previously been in the mind.

The only way to facilitate remembrance, then, would be, not to deal with memory at all, but to find means of strengthening first impressions, for if a thing makes an impression we are sure to remember it. Now the easiest and surest way to strengthen impressions is by comparison, because, if we compare two things, we are compelled to pay equal attention to both of them, as we have to find out in which respect they are similar and in which they differ. This strengthens the impression which they make on us, consequently they blend strongly together. The result will be that if, later on, one of the two ideas comes back to the mind, or is in any way recalled, it will recall the other idea with which it blended. But in comparing, it is most essential always to start from the known, and to compare the unknown with it. Moreover, as too many ideas simultaneously present in the mind weaken each other, it is essential always to concentrate your attention on as few ideas as possible at one time. In many cases, where the connection between two ideas is obvious, such as

"6 soap " and "water," it is quite sufficient to concentrate attention for one moment only on two such ideas in order that they make a strong impression and naturally blend strongly together. As a proof of this, I will now give a series of words arranged in pairs, and will ask you to go over them slowly and attentively, one pair at a time, allowing the mind to dwell for a few seconds. on each pair, until you are satisfied that you see the comparison between the two words or ideas it contains. Let us begin with

Agriculture and Shovel.
Shovel and Dig.

Dig and Garden.

Garden and Plants.

Plants and Leaves.

Leaves and Green.

Green and Color.

Color and Painting.
Painting and Landscape.
Landscape and Sky.
Sky and Clouds.

Clouds and Rain.

Rain and Water.

Water and Drink.

Drink and Glass.

Glass and Window.

Window and House.
House and Furniture.
Furniture and Table.
Table and Wood.

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