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Speaker 1: Training the eye. Before the memory can be stored with

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sight impressions. Before the mind can recollect or remember such impressions,

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the eye must be used under the direction of the attention.

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We think that we see things when we look at them,

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but in reality we see but few things in the

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sense of registering clear and distinct impressions of them upon

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the tablets of the sub conscious mind. We look at

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them rather than see them. Hallick says, regarding this sight

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without seeing idea, a body may be imaged on the

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retina without insuring perception. There must be an effort to

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concentrate the attention upon the many things which the world

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presents to our senses. A man once said to the

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pupils of a large school, all of whom had seen cows,

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I should like to find out how many of you

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know whether a cow's ears are above, below, behind, or

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in front of her horns. I want only those pupils

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to raise their hands who are sure about the position,

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and who will promise to give a dollar to charity

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if they answer wrong. Only two hands were raised. Their

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owners had drawn cows, and in order to do that,

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had been forced to concentrate their attention upon the animals.

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Fifteen pupils were sure that they had seen cats climb

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trees and descend them. There was unanimity of opinion that

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the cats went up heads first. When asked whether the

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cats came down head or tail first, the majority were

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sure that the cats descended, as they were never known

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to do. Any One who had ever noticed the shape

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of the claws of any beast of prey could have

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answered the question without seeing an actual descent. Farmers boys

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who have often seen cows and horses lie down and rise,

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are seldom sure whether the animals rise with their fore

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or hind feet first, or whether the habit of the

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horse agrees with that of the cow in this respect.

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The elm tree has about its leaf a peculiarity which

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all ought to notice the first time they see it,

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And yet only about five percent of a certain school

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could incorporate in a drawing this peculiarity, although it is

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so easily outlined on paper. Perception to achieve satisfactory results

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must summon the will to its aid to concentrate the attention.

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Only the smallest part of what falls upon our senses

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at any time is actually perceived. The way to train

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the mind to receive clear sight impressions, and therefore to

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retain them in the memory. Is simply to concentrate the

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will and attention upon objects of sight, endeavoring to see

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them plainly and distinctly, and then to practice recalling the

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details of the object some time afterward. It is astonishing

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how rapidly one may improve in this respect by a

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little practice, and it is amazing how great a degree

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of proficiency in this practice one may attain in a

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short time. You have doubtless heard the story of Houdin,

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the French conjurer, who cultivated his memory of sight impressions

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by following a simple plan. He started into practice by

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observing the number of small object in the Paris shop

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windows he could see and remember in one quick glance

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as he rapidly walked past the window. He followed the

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plan of noting down on paper the things that he

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saw and remembered. At first he could remember but two

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or three articles in the window. Then he began to

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see and remember more, and so on each day, adding

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to his power of perception and memory, until finally he

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was able to see and remember nearly every small article

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in a large shop window. After bestowing but one glance

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upon it. Others have found this plan an excellent one,

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and have developed their power of perception greatly, and at

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the same time cultivated an amazingly retentive memory of objects

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thus seen. It is all a matter of use and practice.

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The experiment of Houdin may be varied infinitely with excellent results.

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The Hindus train their children along these lines by playing

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the site game with them. This game is played by

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exposing to the side of the children a number of

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small objects at which they gaze intently, and which are

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then withdrawn from their sight. The children then endeavor to

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excel each other in writing down the names of the

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objects which they have seen. The number of objects is

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small to begin with, but is increased each day until

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an astonishing number are perceived and remembered. Rudyard Kipling, in

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his Great Book Kim, gives an instance of this game

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played by Kim and a trained native youth, Lurgan Sahib.

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Exposes to the site of the two boys a tray

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filled with jewels and gems, allowing them to gaze upon

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it a few moments before it is withdrawn from sight.

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Then the competition begins as follows. There are under that paper,

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five blue stones, one big, one smaller, and three small,

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said Kim. In all haste. There are four green stones,

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and one with a hole in it. There is one

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yellowstone that I can see through, and one like a

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pipe stem. There are two red stones, and and give

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me time. But Kim had reached the limit of his powers.

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Then came the turn of the native boy. Here, my count,

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cried the native child. First are two flawed sapphires, one

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of two ruttees and one of four. As I should judge,

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the four rutty sapphire is chipped at the edge. There

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is one turkestan turquoise plain with green veins, and there

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are two inscribed, one with the name of God in guilt,

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and the other being cracked across, for it came out

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of an old ring I cannot read. We have now

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the five blue stones. Four flame emeralds there are, but

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one is drilled in two places, and one is a

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little carvin their weight, said Lurgan sahib impassively. Three five,

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five and four rattis. As I judge it, There is

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one piece of old greenish amber, and a cheap cut

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topaz from Europe. There is one ruby of burma one

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of two rattis without a flaw, and there is a

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balis ruby flawed of two ruttis. There is a carved

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ivory from China representing a rat sucking an egg. And

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there is last Aha, a ball of crystal as big

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as a bean set in gold leaf. Kim is mortified

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at this bad beating and asks the secret. The answer

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is by doing it many times over till it is

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done perfectly, for it is worth doing. Many teachers have

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followed plans similar to that just related. A number of

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small articles are exposed and the pupils are trained to

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see and remember them, the process being gradually made more

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and more difficult. A well known American teacher was in

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the habit of rapidly making a number of dots on

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the blackboard and then erasing them before the pupils could

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count them in the ordinary way. The children then endeavored

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to count their mental impressions, and before long they could

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correctly name the number up to ten or more with ease.

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They said they could C six or C ten, as

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the case may be, automatically and apparently without the labor

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of consciously counting them. It is related in works dealing

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with the detection of crime that in the celebrated thieves

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schools in Europe, the young thieves are trained in a

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similar way the old scoundrels acting as teachers, exposing a

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number of small articles to the young ones and requiring

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them to repeat exactly what they had seen. Then follows

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a higher course in which the young thieves are required

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to memorize the objects in a room, the plan of houses,

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et cetera. They are sent forth to spy out the

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land for future robberies in the guise of beggars soliciting alms,

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and thus getting a rapid peep into houses, offices, and stores.

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It is said that in a single glance they will

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perceive the location of all of the doors, windows, locks, bolts,

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et cetera. Many nations have boys games in which the

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youngsters are required to see and remember after taking a peep.

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The Italians have a game called Morro, in which one

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boy throws out a number of fingers which must be

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instantly named by the other boy, a failure resulting in

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a forfeit. The Chinese youths have a similar game, while

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the Japanese boys reduce this to a science. A well

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trained Japanese youth will be able to remember the entire

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contents of a room after one keen glance around it.

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Many of the Orientals have developed this faculty to a

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degree almost beyond belief. But the principle is the same

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in all cases, the gradual practice and exercise beginning with

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a small number of simple things, and then increasing the

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number and complexity of the objects. The faculty is not

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so rare as one might imagine at first thought. Take

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a man in a small business and let him enter

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the store of a competitor, and see how many things

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he will observe and remember after a few minutes in

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the place. Let an actor visit a play in another theater,

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and see how many details of the performance he will

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notice and remember. Let some women pay a visit to

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a new neighbor, and then see how many things about

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that house they will have seen and remembered, to be

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retailed to their confidential friends afterward. It is the old

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story of attention following the interest, and memory following the attention.

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An expert whist player will see and remember every card

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played in the game, and just who played it. A

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chess or checker player will see and remember the previous

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moves in the game if he be expert and can

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relate them Afterward, a woman will go shopping and will

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see and remember thousands of things that a man would

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never have seen, much less remembered. As Houdine said, Thus,

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for instance, I can safely assert that a lady, seeing

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another pass at full speed in a carriage, will have

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had time to analyze her toilet from her bonnet to

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her shoes, and be able to describe not only the

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fashion and quality of the stuffs, but also say if

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the lace be real or only machine made. I have

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known ladies to do this, But remember this, for it

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is important. Whatever can be done in this direction by

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means of attention inspired by interest may be duplicated by

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attention directed by will. In other words, the desire to

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accomplish the task adds and creates an artificial interest just

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as effective as the natural feeling. And as you progress

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the interest in the game task will add new interest,

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and you will be able to duplicate any of the

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feats mentioned above. It is all a matter of attention,

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interest natural or induced, and practice. Begin with a set

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of dominoes, if you like, and try to remember the

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spots on one of them rapidly. Glanced at, then two,

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then three. By increasing the number gradually, you will attain

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a power of perception and a memory of sight impressions

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that will appear almost marvelous. And not only will you

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begin to remember dominoes, but you will also be able

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to perceive and remember thousands of little details of interest

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in everything that have heretofore escaped your notice. The principle

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is very simple, but the results that may be obtained

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by practice are wonderful. The trouble with most of you

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is that you have been looking without seeing, gazing but

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not observing the objects around you have been out of

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your mental focus. If you will but change your mental

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focus by means of will and attention, you will be

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able to cure yourself of the careless methods of seeing

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and observing that have been hindrances to your success. You

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have been blaming it on your memory, but the fault

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is with your perception. How can the memory remember when

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it is not given anything in the way of clear impressions.

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You have been like young infants in this matter. Now

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it is time for you to begin to sit up

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and take notice, No matter how old you may be.

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The whole thing in a nutshell is this. In order

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to remember the things that pass before your sight, you

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must begin to see with your mind instead of of

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with your retina. Let the impression get beyond your retina

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and into your mind. If you will do this, you

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will find that memory will do the rest.