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Speaker 1: The subconscious record file. The old writers on the subject

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were wont to consider the memory as a separate faculty

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of the mind, but this idea disappeared before the advancing

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tide of knowledge, which resulted in the acceptance of the

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conception now known as the new psychology. This new conception

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recognizes the existence of a vast out of consciousness region

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of the mind, one phase of which is known as

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the subconscious mind or the subconscious field of mental activities.

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In this field of mentation, the activities of memory have

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their seat. A careful consideration of the subject brings the

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certainty that the entire work of the memory is performed

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in this subconscious region of the mind. Only when the

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subconscious record is represented to the conscious field and recollection

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or remembrance resultults does the memorized idea or impression emerge

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from the subconscious region. An understanding of this fact simplifies

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the entire subject of the memory and enables us to

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perfect plans and methods, whereby the memory may be developed, improved,

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and trained by means of the direction of the subconscious activities,

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by the use of the conscious faculties and the will.

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Hearing says, memory is a faculty not only of our

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conscious states, but also, and much more so, of our

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unconscious ones. Kay says it is impossible to understand the

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true nature of memory or how to train it aright,

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unless we have a clear conception of the fact that

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there is much in the mind of which we are unconscious.

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The highest form of memory, as of all mental powers,

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is the unconscious, when what we wish to recall comes

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to us spontaneously, without any conscious thought or search for it. Frequently,

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when we wish to recall something that has previously been

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in the mind, we are unable to do so by

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any conscious effort of the will. But we turn the

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attention to something else, and after a time the desired

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information comes up spontaneously when we are not consciously thinking

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of it. Carpenter says, there is the working of a

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mechanism beneath the consciousness, which, when once set going, runs

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on of itself, and which is more likely to evolve

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the desired result when the conscious activity of the mind

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is exerted in a direction altogether different. This subconscious region

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of the mind is the great record file of everything

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we have ever experienced, thought, or known. Everything is recorded there.

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The best authorities now generally agree that there is no

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such thing as an absolute forgetting of even the most

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minute impression. Notwithstanding the fact that we may be unable

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to recollect or remember it owing to its faintness or

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lack of associated indexing, it is held that everything is

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to be found in that subconscious index file, if we

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can only manage to find its place. Kay says, in

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like manner, we believe that every impression or thought that

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has once before consciousness remains ever afterward impressed upon the mind.

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It may never again come up before consciousness, but it

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will doubtless remain in that vast, ultra conscious region of

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the mind, unconsciously molding and fashioning our subsequent thoughts and actions.

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It is only a small part of what exists in

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the mind that we are conscious of of. There is

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always much that is known to be in the mind

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that exists in it unconsciously and must be stored away somewhere.

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We may be able to recall it into consciousness when

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we wish to do so, but at other times the

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mind is unconscious of its existence. Further, everyone's experience must

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tell him that there is much in his mind that

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he cannot always recall when he may wish to do

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so much that he can recover only after a labored search,

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or that he may search for in vain at the time,

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but which may occur to him afterwards, when perhaps he

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is not thinking about it again, much that we probably

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would never be able to recall, or that would not

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recur to us under ordinary circumstances, we may remember to

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have had in the mind when it is mentioned to

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us by others. In such a case, there must still

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have remained some trace or or scintilla of it in

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the mind before we could recognize it as having been

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there before. Morrell says, we have every reason to believe

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that mental power, when once called forth, follows the analogy

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of everything we see in the material universe. In the

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fact of its perpetuity, Every single effort of mind is

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a creation which can never go back again into nonentity.

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It may slumber in the depths of forgetfulness, as light

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and heat slumber in the coal seems, but there it

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is ready, at the bidding of some appropriate stimulus, to

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come again out of the darkness into the light of consciousness.

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Beatty says, that which has been long forgotten, nay, that

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which we have often in vain endeavored to recollect will,

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sometimes without an effort of ours, occur to us on

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a sudden and if I may so speak of its

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own accord, Hamilton says, the mind frequently contains whole systems

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of knowledge, which, though in our normal state they may

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have faded into absolute oblivion, may in certain abnormal states,

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as madness, delirium, somnabulism, catalepsy, etc. Flash out into luminous consciousness.

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For example, there are cases in which the extinct memory

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of whole languages were suddenly restored. Lecky says, it is

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now fully established that a multitude of events which are

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so completely forgotten that no effort of the will can

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retrieve them, and that the statement of them calls up

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no reminiscences, may nevertheless be so to speak, embedded in

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the memory, and may be reproduced with intense vividness under

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certain physical conditions. In proof of the above, the authorities

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give many instances recorded in scientific annals. Coleridge relates the

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well known case of the old woman who could neither

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read nor write, who, when in the delirium of fever,

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incessantly recited, in very pompous tones, long passages from the Latin, Greek,

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and Hebrew with a distinct enunciation and precise rendition. Notes

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of her ravings were taken down by shorthand and caused

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much wonderment, until it was afterwards found that in her

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youth she had been employed as a servant in the

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house of a clergyman who was in the habit of

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walking up and down in his study, reading aloud from

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his favorite classical and religious writers. In his books were

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found marked passages corresponding to the notes taken from the

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girl's ravings. Her subconscious memory had stored up the sounds

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of these passages heard in her early youth, but of

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which she had no recollect in her normal state. Beaufort,

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describing his sensations just before being rescued from drowning, says,

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every incident of my former life seemed to glance across

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my recollection in a retrograde procession, not in mere outline,

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but in a picture filled with every minute and collateral feature,

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thus forming a panoramic view of my whole existence. Kay

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truly observes by adopting the opinion that every thought or

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impression that had once been consciously before the mind is

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ever afterwards retained, we obtain light on many obscure mental phenomena,

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and especially do we draw from it the conclusion of

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the perfectibility of the memory to an almost unlimited extent.

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We cannot doubt that could we penetrate to the lowest

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depths of our mental nature, we should there find traces

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of every impression we have received, every thought we have entertained,

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and every act we have done through our past life,

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each one making its influence felt in the way of

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building up our present knowledge or in guiding our everyday actions.

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And if they persist in the mind, might it not

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be possible to recall most, if not all, of them

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into consciousness when we wish to do so? If our

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memories or powers of recollection were what they should be.

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As we have said, this great subconscious region of the mind,

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this memory region, may be thought of as a great

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record file, with an intricate system of indexes and office boys,

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whose business it is to file away the records, to

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index them, and to find them when needed. The records

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record only what we have impressed upon them by the attention,

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the degree of depth and clearness depending entirely upon the

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degree of attention which we bestowed upon the original impression.

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We can never expect to have the office boys of

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the memory bring up anything that they have not been

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given to file away. The indexing and cross references are

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supplied by the association existing between the various impressions. The

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more cross references or associations that are connected with an idea, thought,

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or impression that is filed away in the memory, the

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greater the chances of it being found readily when wanted.

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These two features of attention and association, and the parts

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they play in the phenomena of memory, are mentioned in

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detail in other chapters of this book. These little office

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boys of the Memory are an industrious and willing lot

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of little chaps. But like all boys, they do their

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best work when kept in practice. Idleness and lack of

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exercise cause them to become slothful and careless, and forgetful

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of the records under their charge. A little fresh exercise

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and work soon take the cobwebs out of the brains,

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and they spring eagerly to their tasks. They become familiar

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with their work when exercised properly, and soon become very expert.

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They have a tendency to remember on their own part,

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and when a certain record is called for, often they

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grow accustomed to its place and can find it without

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referring to the indexes at all. But their trouble comes

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from faint and almost illegible records caused by poor attention.

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These they can scarcely decipher. When they do succeed in

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finding them, lack of proper indexing by associations causes them

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much worry and extra work, and sometimes they are unable

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to find the records at all from this neglect. Often, however,

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after they have told you that they cannot find a thing,

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and you have left the place in disgust, they will

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continue their search, and hours afterward will surprise you by

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handing you the desired idea or impression which they had

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found carelessly indexed or improperly filed away in these chapters.

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You will be helped if you will carry in your

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mind these little office boys of the memory record file,

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and the hard work they have to do for you,

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much of which is made doubly burdensome by your own

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neglect and carelessness. Treat these little fellows right, and they

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will work overtime for you willingly and joyfully. But they

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need your assistance and encouragement, and an occasional word of

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praise and common daytions