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Speaker 1: Memory its importance. It needs very little argument to convince

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the average thinking person of the great importance of memory,

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although even then very few begin to realize just how

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important is the function of the mind that has to

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do with the retention of mental impressions. The first thought

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of the average person when he is asked to consider

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the importance of memory is its use in the affairs

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of everyday life along developed and cultivated lines, as contrasted

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with the lesser degrees of its development. In short, one

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generally thinks of memory in its phase of a good memory,

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as contrasted with the opposite phase of a poor memory.

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But there is a much broader and fuller meaning of

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the term than that of even this important phase. It

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is true that the success of the individual in his

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everyday business, profession, trade, or other occupation depends very materially

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upon the possession of a good memory. His value in

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any walk in life depends to a great extent upon

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the degree of memory he may have developed. His memory

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of faces, names, facts, events, circumstances, and other things concerning

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his everyday work is the measure of his ability to

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accomplish his task, and in the social intercourse of men

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and women, The possession of a retentive memory, well stocked

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with available facts, renders its possessor a desirable member of society,

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and in the higher activities of thought, the memory comes

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as an invaluable aid to the individual in marshaling the

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bits and sections of knowledge he may have acquired, and

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passing them in review before his cognitive faculties. Thus does

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the soul review its mental possession. As Alexander Smith has said,

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a man's real possession is his memory. In nothing else

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is he rich. In nothing else is he poor. Richter

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has said memory is the only paradise from which we

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cannot be driven away. Grant but memory to us, and

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we can lose nothing by death. Lactantius says, memory tempers prosperity,

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mitigates adversity, controls youth, and delights old age. But even

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the above phases of memory represent but a small segment

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of its complete circle. Memory is more than a good memory.

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It is the means whereby we perform the largest share

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of our mental work. As Bacon has said, all knowledge

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is but remembrance and Emerson, memory is a primary and

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fundamental faculty without which none other can work. The cement,

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the bitumen, the matrix in which the other faculties are embedded.

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Without it, all life and thought were an unrelated succession.

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And Burke there is no faculty of the mind which

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can bring its energy into effect unless the memory be

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stored with ideas for it to look upon. And Bazile.

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Memory is the cabinet of imagination, the treasury of reason,

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the registry of conscience, and the council chamber of thought.

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Kant pronounced memory to be the most wonderful of the faculties.

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K one of the best authorities on the subject, has

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said regarding it, unless the mind possessed the power of

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treasuring up and recalling its past experiences, no knowledge of

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any kind could be aired. If every sensation, thought, or

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emotion passed entirely from the mind the moment it ceased

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to be present, then it would be as if it

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had not been, and it could not be recognized or

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named should it happen to return. Such an one would

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be not only without knowledge, without experience gathered from the past,

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but without purpose, aim, or plan regarding the future, for

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these imply knowledge and require memory. Even voluntary motion or

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motion for a purpose could have no existence without memory,

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For memory is involved in every purpose. Not only the

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learning of the scholar, but the inspiration of the poet,

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the genius of the painter, the heroism of the warrior,

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all depend upon memory. Nay, even consciousness itself could have

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no existence without memory, For every act of consciousness involves

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a change from a past state to a present, and

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did the past state vanish the moment it was passed,

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there could be no consciousness of change. Memory therefore must

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be said to be involved in all conscious existence, a

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property of every conscious being. In the building of character

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and individuality, the memory plays an important part, for upon

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the strength of the impressions received and the firmness with

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which they are retained, depends the fiber of character and individuality.

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Our experiences are indeed the stepping stones to greater attainments,

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and at the same time our guides and protectors from danger.

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If the memory serves us well in this respect, we

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are saved the pain of repeating the mistakes of the past,

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and may also profit by remm membering and thus avoiding

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the mistakes of others. As Beattie says, when memory is

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preternaturally defective, experience and knowledge will be deficient in proportion

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and imprudent conduct and absurd opinion are the necessary consequence,

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Bain says, a character retaining a feeble hold of bitter

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experience or genuine delight, and unable to revive afterwards the

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impression of the time is, in reality the victim of

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an intellectual weakness under the guise of a moral weakness.

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To have constantly before us an estimate of the things

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that affect us, true to the reality, is one precious

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condition for having our will always stimulated with an accurate

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reference to our happiness. The thoroughly educated man in this

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respect is that he can carry with him at all

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times the exact estimate of what he has enjoyed or

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suffered from every object that has ever affected him, and

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in case of encounter, can present to the enemy as

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strong affront as if he were under the genuine impression.

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A full and accurate memory, for pleasure or for pain

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is the intellectual basis both of prudence as regard self

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and sympathy as regards others. So we see that the

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cultivation of the memory is far more than the cultivation

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and development of a single mental faculty. It is the

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cultivation and development of our entire mental being. The development

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of ourselves. To many persons, the words memory, recollection and

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remembrance have the same meaning, but there is a great

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difference in the exact shade of meaning of each term.

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The student of this book should make the distinction between

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the terms, for by so doing he will be better

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able to grasp the various points of advice and instruction

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herein given. Let us examine these terms. Locke, in his

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celebrated work The Essay concerning Human Understanding, has clearly stated

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the difference between the meaning of these several terms. He says,

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memory is the power to revive again in our minds

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those ideas which, after imprinting, have disappeared or have been

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laid aside, out of sight. When an idea again recurs

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without the operation of the like object on the external sensory,

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it is remembrance. If it be sought after by the mind,

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and with pain and endeavor, found and brought again into view,

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it is recollection. Fuller says, commenting on this, memory is

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the power of reproducing in the mind former impressions or percepts.

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Remembrance and recollection are the exercise of that power, the

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former being involuntary or spontaneous. The latter volitional. We remember

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because we cannot help it, but we recollect only through

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positive effort. The act of remembering, taken by itself, is involuntary.

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In other words, when the mind remembers without having tried

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to remember, it acts spontaneously. Thus it may be said,

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in the narrow contrasted sense of the two terms, that

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we remember by chance, but recollect by intention, And if

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the endeavor be successful, that which is reproduced becomes, by

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the very effort to bring it forth, more firmly entrenched

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in the mind than ever. But the new psycho pology

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makes a little different distinction from that of Locke as

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given above. It uses the word memory not only in

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his sense of the power to retrieve, etc. But also

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in the sense of the activities of the mind, which

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tend to receive and store away the various impressions of

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the senses and the ideas conceived by the mind, to

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the end that they may be reproduced voluntarily or involuntarily. Thereafter,

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the distinction between remembrance and recollection as made by Locke

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is adopted as correct by the new psychology. It has

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long been recognized that the memory, in all of its

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phases is capable of development culture, training, and guidance through

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intelligent exercise. Like any other faculty of the mind or

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physical part muscle or limb, it may be improved and strengthened.

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But until recent years, the entire efforts of these memory

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developers were directed to the strengthening of that phase of

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the memory known as recollection, which you will remember Locke

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defined as an idea or impression sought after by the mind,

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and with pain and endeavor, found and brought again into view.

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The new psychology goes much further than this. While pointing

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out the most improved and scientific methods for recollecting the

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impressions and ideas of the memory, it also instructs the

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student and the use of the proper methods, whereby the

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memory may be stored with clear and distinct impressions which

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will thereafter flow naturally and involuntarily into the field of

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consciousness when the mind is thinking upon the associated subject

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or line of thought, and which may also be recollected

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by a voluntary effort with far less expenditure of energy

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than under the old methods and systems. You will see

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this idea carried out in detail as we progress with

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the various stages of the subject in this work you

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will see that the first thing to do is to

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find something to remember, then to impress that thing clearly

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and distinctly upon the receptive tablets of the memory. Then

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to exercise the remembrance in the direction of bringing out

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the stored away facts of the memory. Then to acquire

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the scientific methods of recollecting special items of memory that

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may be necessary at some special time. This is the

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natural method in memory cultivation, as opposed to the artificial

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systems that you will find mentioned in another chapter. It

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is not only development of the memory, but also development

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of the mind itself in several of its regions and

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phases of activity. It is not merely a method of recollecting,

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but also a method of correct seeing, thinking, and remembering.

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This method recognizes the truth of the verse of the

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poet Pope, who said, remembrance and reflection how allied what

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thin partition sense from thought, divide