Page:Memory; how to develop, train, and use it - Atkinson - 1919.djvu/73

Rh There are three general rules that may be given in this matter of bestowing the voluntary attention in the direction of actually seeing things, instead of merely looking at them. The first is: Make yourself take an interest in the thing. The second: See it as if you were taking note of it in order to repeat its details to a friend—this will force you to “take notice.” The third: Give to your subconsciousness a mental command to take note of what you are looking at—say to it; “Here, you take note of this and remember it for me!” This last consists of a peculiar “knack” that can be attained by a little practice—it will “come to you” suddenly after a few trials.

Regarding this third rule whereby the subconsciousness is made to work for you, Charles Leland has the following to say, although he uses it to illustrate another point: “As I understand it, it is a kind of impulse or projection of will into the coming work. I may here illustrate this with a curious fact in physics. If the reader wished to ring a doorbell so as to produce as much sound as pos-