When we anticipate a final result of an extended series of movements, it frequently happens that the movement which directly leads to that result is, for one cause or other, not immediately possible. Imagine that a person for the first time sees some one pulling a cork from a bottle, pouring some of the contents into a glass, and inviting him to drink. Seeing the bottle again calls up in his mind the idea of a delicious beverage and the movement of drinking. But drinking is impossible, for there is no glass, and the bottle is corked. In such a case the idea of the result, which because of its importance is being kept constantly in mind, unrolls the total series of ideas in the reverse order. It calls up first the thoughts directly preceding the final result, then the thoughts preceding these, and so on, until an idea is reached which can be realized by a movement. In our example the person becomes conscious of the idea of pulling the cork, of the corkscrew used for this purpose, the place where the corkscrew was found hanging, the movements of preparing it for the task, and a similar set of ideas for the glass; and he thus becomes able to carry out the whole series of movements which result in the taste of the beverage. QUESTIONS 196. Give examples of serial activities of the foreseeing kind. 197. In what ways are activities of the kind just mentioned perfected? 198. What is the relation of sensory activity, consciousness, and performance in perfected serial movements? 199. Illustrate by a pathological case the relation just spoken of. 200. What rule is illustrated by the example in the text of pulling a cork from a bottle? § 22. FREEDOM OF CONDUCT As experience of the connections, complications, and consequences of things advances, the ideas called up by any impression must clearly become very numerous. Ideas of near and remote, probable and improbable, desirable and undesirable, consequences,--ideas of fit and unfit, direct and indirect means of bringing about or preventing those consequences,--ideas of difficulties and obstacles, facilities and openings must tend to appear, to compete with each other, to disappear and reappear in rapid succession, or merely to approach consciousness ready to appear when their services should be needed. We refer to these various mental states, according as they appear in one or another form of connection, by such terms as _reflecting_, _considering_, _choosing_, _desiring_, _rejecting_, _intending_, _deciding_, and many others, all having in common the foreseeing of something to be experienced in the future as the result of our action.