THE POWER OF MIND. William Walker Atkinson
plate. You wish to develop the faculty of observation. Your desire gives you an interest in the subject, and in the details of the plan, and you devote your attention to it. Important factors these—Interest and Attention—don’t forget them. But the mind has been lazy, and it will take time, patience and practice to get it down to work in earnest.
In order to remember objects, it is first necessary to see them plainly—to have the mind register a clear impression of them and store them away carefully as things of value. And the only way to get the mind to do this is to train its powers of observation. Things to be impressed upon the mind must be observed carefully and thoughtfully. This training of the powers of observation will amply repay the student for the time and labor expended, and the task itself is not irksome or dull, as the progress of the task is attended with such marked improvement of so pleasant a character that the student almost forgets that it is a task rather than a pleasant series of experiments.
In the next chapter we will give you a number of exercises calculated to develop your powers of observation—intended to help you to “see” things clearly and carefully. These exercises are useful not only in training your memory, but will give you such sharp powers of observation that you will be a much more valuable man to yourself and others than ever before. It will be a liberal education to you, along new lines.
Chapter V.
Exercises in Eye Perception.
Treating of the means whereby the faculty of careful observation and clearseeing may be developed and cultivated, to the end that the student may be able to receive and store away clear and distinct impressions of the things coming before his sight— Interesting and useful exercises are given to aid the student in “the art of seeing,” which exercises, if carefully practiced, will develop the faculty of observation to a wonderful extent, and will not only greatly improve the memory, but will make the student a careful observer and improve his general usefulness—The importance of the subject is not generally understood.
EXERCISE 1.
One of the simplest but best exercises in the training of the power of observation consists in the correct seeing of familiar objects. This may seem like a very easy thing, but after you have tried it a few times you will have more respect for it.
Begin by placing before you some familiar object (something of a bright color is preferable, as it is easier to remember bright objects). Suppose it is a book, an apple or inkstand. Look at it intently, calmly but deliberately, for a few moments, trying to get the picture impressed upon your mind. Then close your eyes, and try to remember as much as possible about the object. Try to remember its shape, its details. Fix these things in your mind. Then open your eyes and take another look, and see how many details you missed in your mental picture. Note these forgotten points carefully, then close the eyes again and endeavor to reform the picture. Then open the eyes and take stock over again, repeating until you are able to form a perfect mental picture of the object in all its details. A little practice will give you a wonderful proficiency in this experiment which will prove quite gratifying to you. But it is not alone what you have gained in this experiment, but the preliminary training you have acquired for greater things, that renders it “worth while.”
EXERCISE 2.
After you have mastered Exercise 1, take one of the same objects with which you have familiarized yourself, and, after getting a good mental impression of it, try to draw the general shape and such details as you remember, with a pencil upon a sheet of paper. Do not hesitate because you are not an artist. We are not trying to make an artist of you and wish but to develop your observation and the recalling of what you have observed. Take something easy for the first trial, and you will feel less discouraged. The success of your drawing will depend not upon its artistic merit, but upon the percentage of details, etc., you have been able to remember sufficiently well to indicate upon the paper. It is astonishing how these two exercises will develop your faculties of observation and recollection. After a bit you will be able to give one good look at a thing, and then make a rough drawing, showing all its principal points and details.
You, of course, understand that the drawing is not from the object direct, but from the mental picture of it. After you have noted all the details in your mental picture, take a look at the object and see what you have missed. Then repeat, as in Exercise 1. In both of these exercises, change your objects frequently, thus gaining proficiency and giving the mind an agreeable change.
EXERCISE 3.
Begin noticing the details of things, instead of observing only the thing in its general aspect. It has been said that intelligent observation was the most difficult of arts. Do not try to “take in” a complex object in its entirety at one look, at the start. This is something that is reserved for future practice when you have developed further. Take in the details of portions of the object; rivet these in your mind, and then proceed to the next portion, and so on.
Take faces for example. Nothing is more mortifying than to forget the faces of those whom we have met, and many a man’s chances have been injured by a lack of correct observation in this direction. The trouble with most of us is that we have been endeavoring to remember faces, by observing them as a whole, paying no attention to details. Begin practicing on your acquaintances, then proceeding to strangers, and in a short time you will be surprised at your proficiency in recalling details of countenances. Notice carefully the nose, eyes, mouth, chin, color of hair, general shape of head, etc. You will find that you will be able to recall the nose of Smith, or the eyes of Brown, or the chin of Tompkins, and so on.
Before doing this, sit down and try to describe the features of some of your most intimate friends. You will be surprised at the scantiness of your recollection of them. You have never taken a good look at them, in detail. If this is so, how can you expect to remember the faces of strangers. Begin noticing everyone you meet, and studying features carefully, and then later on taking a pencil and endeavoring to jot down a brief description of their features. This exercise will prove very interesting, and you will notice your rapid improvement from the start.
Another good exercise along this line is to observe the exterior of buildings, in detail. First, try to describe some building you pass every day. You will be able to give a fair idea of its general aspect, its shape, color and so on. But how about the number of windows on each floor, the size and location of the doors, the shape of the roof, porch, chimneys, etc. How about the cornices, the trimmings, etc.? And the angles of the roof? You find that you have not really seen the house at all, do you not? You have merely looked at it. Begin now, noticing the buildings on your road, and then later in the day, endeavor to form a mental picture of the details, seeing how many you can remember of image correctly. Next day take the same building and look for new details (you’ll find many of them) and keep this up until you know something about the building in question. This is a most valuable exercise for the training of the powers of observation.
EXERCISE 4.
We have mentioned the exercise whereby “Kim” was trained. We have also told you of how young thieves are trained by a similar exercise. This same course of training may be followed by the student, with great profit, and considerable amusement, the latter being particularly the case when two or more persons practice it together. In fact, all of these exercises may be made far more interesting if two or more persons practice them together, the friendly rivalry and keen interest thus aroused being calculated to stimulate the student and sharpen the powers of observation.
The following exercise game is interesting: Place upon a table at least seven articles covered with a cloth. Remove the cloth and count ten slowly, then replace the cloth and have those taking part in the game describe the articles as fully as possible, writing down their descriptions. This can be varied by raising the cover and counting while one person alone is at the table, allowing him to retire to another part of the room to write down his impressions, while another is looking, and so on. The number of articles on the table may be increased, in time to fifty small articles. It is wonderful what a degree of proficiency in observation may be