Assimilative Memory; or, How to Attend and Never Forget — John Shaqi
Assimilative Memory; or, How to Attend and Never ForgetLoisette, A. (Alphonse)
Science
Assimilative Memory; or, How to Attend and Never Forget
Loisette, A. (Alphonse)
Mnemonics
We have read the story of the rescue of Smith by Pocahontas. We have
_thought of these names together_ and they have united in our memories
by the Law of Concurrence. When we recall the name of Pocahontas, we are
apt to revive also the name of Capt. John Smith and _vice versa_.
Another case:--A gentleman was present at Ford's Theatre in Washington
when John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln. Just a moment before, he
recognised the odour of a hyacinth held by a lady in front of him. The
next moment he heard the fatal shot, and turning whence the report came,
he saw the murderous result. After the lapse of a quarter of a century,
he could not smell, see, or think of hyacinth without at once thinking
of that scene, nor could Lincoln's assassination be mentioned in his
presence without his instantly thinking of hyacinth. Nothing could have
been more purely _accidental_ than the quick succession of the sensation
of the odour and the murder of the President. But they were _experienced
together_ or nearly together. They became cemented together, so that the
revival of one is apt to call up the other, and this is concurrence.
=Capt. John Smith.= } Con.
=Anvil.= }
A proper name may be also used in other relations. The word, sound, or
name Smith may also be a general term applicable to many classes of
persons, as _coppersmith_, _goldsmith_, _silversmith_, &c. When we think
of _Capt. John_ Smith we use the word as a proper name. But when we
think of Smith and Anvil we use the word Smith in its general sense. In
either case it is an act of Concurrence. Smiths use anvils. We have
thought of these words together, and that mental act has had a tendency
to unite them together.
=Anvil.= } In. by A. & C.
=Heavy.= }
Anvil is a _concrete thing_ that possesses the attribute heaviness; and
heavy is an abstract term that applies to heavy things, but does not
state what they are. The idea or thought of heaviness is _common_ to
both words, and therefore it is a case of In., and as one term is
concrete and the other abstract, it is a case of In. by A. & C.
=Heavy.= } Con.
=Gravitation.= }
Things are heavy that press toward the earth, in consequence of the
action of gravity in their case. Gravitation, whatever that is, is what
makes them tend toward the earth. We may say it is a Cause, and as we
think of Cause producing Effect, and Effect as produced by Cause, such
cases are _thought of together_, or almost simultaneously, and hence we
have a case of Concurrence.
=Gravitation.= } Con.
=Sir Isaac Newton.= }
There is no In. or Ex. here, but Con. We have read or heard that Newton
discovered the Law of Gravitation. We have exercised our minds in regard
to these two words, in thinking of them together, and that is
concurrence.
=Sir Isaac Newton.= } Con.
="Diamond."= }
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