Page:Memory; how to develop, train, and use it - Atkinson - 1919.djvu/113

Rh and concentration on the part of the person so troubled. Kay says: “What is commonly called deafness is not infrequently to be attributed to this cause—the sounds being heard but not being interpreted or recognized sounds may be distinctly heard when the attention is directed toward them, that in ordinary circumstances would be imperceptible; and people often fail to hear what is said to them because they are not paying attention.” Harvey says: “That one-half of the deafness that exists is the result of inattention cannot be doubted.” There are but few persons who have not had the experience of listening to some bore, whose words were distinctly heard but the meaning of which was entirely lost because of inattention and lack of interest. Kirkes sums the matter up in these words: “In hearing we must distinguish two different points—the audible sensation as it is developed without any intellectual interference, and the conception which we form in consequence of that sensation.”

The reason that many persons do not remember things that they have heard is simply because they have not listened properly. Poor