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."