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How to remember places. There is
a great difference in the various degrees of

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development of the sense of locality in
different persons, but these differences may be

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traced directly to the degree of memory
of that particular phase or faculty of the

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mind, which in turn depends upon
the degree of attention, interest, and

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use which has been bestowed upon the
faculty in question. The authorities on phrenology

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define the faculty of locality as follows, cognizance of place, recollection of the

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looks of places, roads, sceneries, and the location of objects where on

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a page ideas are to be found
and positioned. Generally, the geographical faculty

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the desire to see places and have
the ability to find them. Persons in

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whom this faculty is developed to the
highest degree seemed to have an almost intuitive

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idea of direction, place and position. They never get lost or mixed up

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regarding direction or place. They remember
the places they visit and their relation in

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space to each other. Their minds
are like maps upon which are engraved the

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various roads, streets, and objects
of sight in every direction. When these

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people think of China, Labrador,
Terra del Fuego, Norway, Cape of

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Good Hope, to bet or any
other place. They seem to think of

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it in this direction or that direction, rather than as a vague place situated

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in a vague direction. Their minds
think north, south, east, or

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west, as the case may be, when they consider a given place.

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Shading down by degrees, we find
people at the other pole of the faculty

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who seem to find it impossible to
remember any direction or locality or relation and

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space. Such people are constantly losing
themselves in their own towns and fear to

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trust themselves in a strange place.
They have no sense of direction or place,

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and fail to recognize a street or
scene which they have visited recently,

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not to speak of those which they
traveled over in time past. Between these

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two poles or degrees, there is
a vast difference, and it is difficult

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to realize that it is all a
matter of use, interest, and attention

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that it is. But this may
be proven by anyone who will take the

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trouble and pains to develop the faculty
and memory of locality within his mind.

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Many have done this, and anyone
else may do likewise if the proper methods

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be employed. The secret of the
development of the faculty and memory of place

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and locality is akin to that mentioned
in the preceding chapter in connection with the

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development of the memory for names.
The first thing necessary is to develop an

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interest in the subject. One should
begin to take notice of the direction of

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the streets or roads over which he
travels, the landmarks, the turns of

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the road, the natural objects along
the way. He should study maps until

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he awakens a new interest in them, just as did the man who used

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the directory. In order to take
an interest in names, he should procure

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a small geography and study direction,
distances, location, shape and form of

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countries, etc. Not as a
mere mechanical thing, but as a live

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subject of interest. If there were
a large sum of money awaiting your coming

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in certain sections of the globe,
you would manifest a decided interest in the

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direction, locality, and position of
those places and the best way to reach

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them. Before long you would be
a veritable reference book regarding those special places.

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Or if your sweetheart were waiting for
you in some such place, you

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would do likewise. The whole thing
lies in the degree of want to regarding

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the matter. Desire awakens interest.
Interests employ attention, and attention brings use

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development and memory. Therefore, you
must first want to develop the faculty of

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locality, and want to hard enough. The rest is a mere matter of

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detail. One of the first things
to do after arousing an interest is to

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carefully note the landmarks and relative positions
of the streets or roads over which you

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travel. So many people travel along
a new street or road in an absent

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minded manner, taking no notice of
the lay of the land as they proceed.

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This is fatal to place memory.
You must take notice of the thoroughfares

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and the things along the way.
Pause at the crossroads or the street corners,

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and note the landmarks and the general
directions and relative positions until they are

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finally imprinted on your mind. Begin
to see how many things you can remember

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regarding even a little exercise. Walk, and when you have returned home,

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go over the trip in your mind
and see how much of the direction and

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how many of the landmarks you are
able to remember. Take out your pencil

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and endeavor to make a map of
your route, giving the general directions and

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noting the street names and principal objects
of interest. Fix the idea of north

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in your mind when starting, and
keep your bearings by it during your whole

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trip and in your map making you'll
be surprised how much interest you will soon

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develop in this map making. It
will get to be quite a game,

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and you will experience pleasure in your
increasing proficiency in it. When you go

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out for a walk, go in
a roundabout way, taking as many turns

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and twists as possible in order to
exercise your faculty of locality and direction.

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But always note carefully direction and general
course, so that you may reproduce it

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correctly on your map when you return. If you have a city map,

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compare it with your own little map, and also retrace your route in imagine

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on the map with a city map
or road map. You may get lots

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of amusement by retraveling the route of
your little journeys. Always note the names

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of the various streets over which you
travel, as well as those which you

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cross during your walk. Note them
down upon your map, and you will

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find that you will develop a rapidly
improving memory in this direction because you have

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awakened interest and bestowed attention. Take
a pride in your map making. If

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you have a companion, endeavor to
beat each other at this game, both

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traveling over the same route together and
then seeing which one can remember the greatest

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number of details of the journey.
Akin to this, and supplementary to it,

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is the plan of selecting a route
to be traveled on your city map,

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endeavoring to fix in your mind the
general direction, names of streets,

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turns, return, journey, etc. Before you start. Begin by mapping

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out a short trip in this way, and then increase it every day.

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After mapping out a trip, lay
aside your map and travel it in person.

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If you like, take along the
map and puzzle out variations from time

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to time. Get the map habit
in every possible variation and form, but

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do not depend upon the map exclusively, but instead endeavor to correlate the printed

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map with the mental map that you
are building in your brain. If you

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are about to take a journey to
a strange place, study your maps carefully

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before you go, and exercise your
memory in reproducing them with a pencil.

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Then, as you travel along,
compare places with your map, and you

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will find that you will take an
entirely new interest in the trip. It

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will begin by meaning something to you. If about to visit a strange city,

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procure a map of it before starting, and begin by noting the cardinal

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points of the compass study the map, the directions of the principal streets,

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and the relative positions of the principal
points of interest, buildings, etc.

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In this way, you not only
develop your memory of places and render yourself

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proof against being lost, but you
also provide a source of new and great

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interest in your visit. The above
suggestions are capable of the greatest expansion and

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variation on the part of anyone who
practices them. The whole thing depends upon

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the taking notice and using the attention, and those things, in turn depend

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upon the taking of interest in the
subject. If anyone will wake up and

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take interest in the subject of locality
and direction, he may develop himself along

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the lines of place memory to an
almost incredible degree in a comparatively short time

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at that There is no other phase
of memory that so quickly responds to use

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and exercise as this one. We
have in mind a lady who is notoriously

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deficient in the memory of place,
and was sure to lose herself a few

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blocks from her stopping place. Wherever
she might be. She seemed absolutely devoid

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of the sense of direction or locality, and often lost herself in the hotel

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corridors. Notwithstanding the fact that she
traveled all over the world with her husband

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for years. The trouble undoubtedly arose
from the fact that she depended altogether upon

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her husband as a pilot, the
couple being inseparable. Well, the husband

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died and the lady lost her pilot. Instead of giving up in despair,

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she began to rise to the occasion. Having no pilot, she had to

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pilot herself, and she was forced
to wake up and notice. She was

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compelled to travel for a couple of
years in order to close up certain business

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matters of her husband's. For she
was a good businesswoman in spite of her

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lack of development along this one line, and in order to get around safely,

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she was forced to take an interest
in where she was going. Before

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the two years travels were over,
she was as good a traveler as her

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husband had ever been, and was
frequently called upon as a guide by others

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in whose company she chanced to be. She explained it by saying, why,

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I don't know just how I did
it. I just had to,

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that's all. I just did it. Another example of a woman's because you

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see, what this good lady just
did was accomplished by an instinctive following of

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the plan which we have suggested to
you. She just had to use maps

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and to take notice. That is
the whole story. So true are the

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principles underlying this method of developing the
place memory that one deficient in it,

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providing he will arouse intense interest and
will stick to it, may develop the

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faculty to such an extent that he
may almost rival a cat which always came

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back, or the dog which you
couldn't lose. The Indians, Arabs,

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Gypsies and other people of the plain, forest, desert and mountains have this

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faculty. He's so highly developed that
it seems almost like an extra sense.

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It is all this matter of taking
notice, sharpened by continuous need, use

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and exercise to a high degree.
The mind will respond to the need.

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If the person, like the lady, just has to the laws of attention

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and association will work, wonders when
actively called into play by interest or need,

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followed by exercise and use. There
is no magic in the process.

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Just want to and keep at it, that's all. Do you want to

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hard enough? Have you the determination
to keep at it?