That is the first point: the second is that _comparison is often complete_—paradoxical as the statement may appear—_before the second of the paired stimuli has been presented_; we are ready with our answer before the full question has been put. If, for instance, we are comparing the intensities of successive tones, and if the first tone strikes us as unusually loud, or as ridiculously faint, then we are prepared to declare the second tone ‘weaker’ or ‘stronger’ before we have actually heard it. We receive from the first tone an _absolute impression_ of loudness or faintness; and this impression—which, as we saw on p. 125, is our nearest approach to an intensive perception—suffices of itself to determine our report. Logically, we may be said to ‘compare’ the very loud or very faint tone with a tone of average intensity; psychologically, there is no comparison at all, but _a direct response to the absolute impression_ made by the first term of the stimulus-pair. It need hardly be said that these paragraphs do not offer, even in outline sketch, a psychology of comparison; they are not meant to; for here again the time is not ripe for full discussion. They should be enough, however, to drive home the lesson which the author intends: that _the course of thought, whether we take the pattern as a whole or consider separate aspects of it, is full of short cuts and condensations_. It is probably as impossible to unravel the psychology of thought, in every detail and to its first beginnings, as it is to unravel the psychology of perception. For our thinking is subject, not only to the inherited tendencies of the nervous system, but also to the stereotyped thought of our social surroundings; we are bred up in an atmosphere of meaning, and we hear words before we can speak them. If men do not use language, as Voltaire cynically said they do, to conceal their own thoughts, at least their facility of speech makes the psychology of thought almost insuperably difficult to their children. Questions and Exercises (1) We found, in the last chapter, that selective action does not follow directly upon impulsive action, but that there is between the two a stage of ‘trial and error.’ Can you instance any form of thought (from your own experience, or from drama or fiction) which corresponds with the stage of trial and error in action? (2) Can you suggest the circumstances under which an ‘intention to communicate’ might naturally arise? Your answer must be speculative; but it must also be scientifically reasonable! (3) How is articulate speech superior to gesture? Write fully; do not be satisfied with your first answer. (4) Illustrate in detail, from your answers to previous questions in this book, the advantages and disadvantages of language as the vehicle of scientific description.