SelfDefinition.Org
Practical Memory Training
'Theron Q. Dumont'William Walker Atkinson
(1916)
Lesson 17 The Principle of Perception
We are aware of the existence of the things of the outside world solely by reason of the reports of the five senses, received through the several sense organs, transmitted over our nervous system, perceived by our consciousness, and then more or less considered by our reflective faculties. We do not actually become aware of the things of the outside world, themselves, and directly. We do not really perceive these outside things themselves. We really perceive and become aware of certain sensations within ourselves, which experience teaches us to connect with certain things outside of us, and to thus identify and recognize those things.
For example, your mind does not actually come in contact with the page which you are now reading, and thus know it to be there. What really happens is that a ray of light, falling upon the page, is reflected to the wonderful optical instrument which you call your "eye." Passing through the little lens of the eye, and thus becoming focused to a tiny point, the ray falls upon the retina of the eye, which is an extremely sensitive nervous membrane lining the inner back portion of the eye. Connected with the retina and terminating therein, are a multitude of tiny nerve filaments, the other ends of which terminate in the brain. These nerve filaments gather up the vibrations set up in the retina by the focused light waves, and carry them to the brain, where in some mysterious way they are "perceived" in consciousness.
The lens of the eye is merely a mechanical device—an artificial one would do the same work—so the perception is not performed by the lens. The retina, and the nerve filaments, are but receivers and transmitters of the vibrations set up by the light waves—so they do not perceive, either, though their office is higher than that of the lens. The real perception is performed by that wonderful, and unexplainable something, which we call Mind, which operates through and in the brain. The real connection between brain and mind is not known to science—the matter remains a leading subject of psychological and philosophical argument, but does not concern us here.
SENSE OF HEARING. We become aware of certain vibrations in the air, known to us as sound, first by means of a peculiar membrane called the tympanum, or "ear drum." This membrane is located at a focal point in the ear, where it receives the vibrations of the outside air, which reach it by means of an ingenious arrangement of the ear-cavity which brings these vibrations to a focus at the point at which the tympanum is located. The tympanum intensifies and magnifies the sound vibrations reaching it, and transmits them to the auditory nerves in the internal ear, which in turn, carry them to the brain. Here the mind perceives the "sound," and by experience identifies it with some outside source or cause.
SENSE OF SMELL. We become aware of the presence of certain things of the outside world by means of very minute particles of the outside substance entering our nostrils, coming in contact with the sensitive mucous membrane thereof, where it sets up an irritation of the nerve-ends which terminate there. This nerve irritation transmits a vibration to the brain, where the mind perceives it as "smell" and identifies it with something in the outside world, by reason of its past experience.
SENSE OF TASTE. We become aware of certain qualities in outside substances which we have taken into our mouth, by means of certain tiny cells on the tongue, known as "taste buds," which connect with certain nerves which terminate in the brain. Reaching the brain the taste vibration is perceived by the mind and identified, by experience, with qualities of certain outside substances.
SENSE OF TOUCH, OR FEELING. Extending to all parts of the body, are countless tiny nerve filaments, of great sensitivity, connected by means of larger nerve cables with the brain. There is a great difference in the respective degree of sensitiveness of these nerves, depending upon their location. For instance the nerves of the finger-ends, tip of the tongue, etc., are far more sensitive than those of many other parts of the body; while those of the back are far below the average in degree of sensitiveness. These nerves are sensitive to the contact of outside objects, and transmit vibrations, arising therefrom, to the brain. These vibrations are perceived by the mind, and recognized as indicating the presence of the outside thing, as well as certain qualities inherent in it such as roughness, hardness, etc., as well as degrees of temperature.
Many of the best scientific authorities hold that all the five senses are, at the last, merely modifications and adaptations of the original sense of touch or feeling. The sense of touch, or feeling, is believed to be the elementary, or rudimentary, sense, from which the other four have evolved in order to meet the requirements of the advancing forms of life.
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
SENSATION. These reports of the sense organs are taken up by the brain and translated by consciousness into what are called "sensations." Just how the vibration of the nerve and brain substance becomes that wonderful thing called "consciousness," nobody knows. As that eminent scientist, Huxley, [1] profoundly stated it: "How it is that anything so remarkable as a state of consciousness, comes about by the result of irritating nervous tissue, is just as unaccountable as the appearance of the jinnee when Aladdin rubbed his lamp." This becomes all the more remarkable when it is remembered that, unless the attention is turned upon the report of the sense organs and nerves, these reports are not translated into conscious sensation—are not perceived by the mind.
[1. en.wikipedia.org/
That which we call Mind is the great perceiver, consciousing power, and knower. The mechanism of sensation are but the wires, sending and receiving instruments, receivers, transformers, and transmitters, by which the mind becomes aware of the messages from the outside world. Without this thing we call Mind, these messages would not be perceived or known. The brain is the great central station, which is used by the mind, or mental powers, to receive all messages from the outside world, where it exercises its choice in the matter of selecting those which it wishes to perceive and know in consciousness. As choice is held to be a power of the will, it would seem that, at the last, the will was in control of the process of perception and knowing—but, then, what is IT that wills? This question remains unanswered by science, and speculation regarding it is outside of the field of our present inquiry.
But while the mind is recognized as being the real perceiver and knower, we must not, therefore, depreciate or decry the importance of sensation and the senses. It has been well said that "sensation is the raw material of knowledge," and many go so far as to say that our knowledge is built entirely of sensation, and that without sensation there could be no knowledge. I shall not argue this question, on either side, but will content myself with asking you to consider what would be the mental state of a person who had been born without any of the five great avenues of the senses being open—that is devoid of properly working senses of sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch or feeling.
To such a person the outside world would be practically non-existent, no reports would come from it. No knowledge based on experience would be possible—and all of our knowledge, or nearly all, seems to be so based.
Helen Keller (1880-1968)
We can faintly imagine the state of such a person, when we think of the handicap of the person who lacks any one of the senses—the loss of more than one becomes a tragedy. Helen Keller lacked sight and hearing, but she had the sense of touch highly developed, and was able to open communications with the outside world through that one avenue. Lacking that saving sense, what would she have been? Even the person who loses one or more of his senses, has at least the experience of the outside world retained in memory—but what of the person born without them?
A popular psychologist [2] has well expressed this idea in the following paragraph:
"Marvelous as are the mind's achievements, we must note that it is as completely dependent upon the nervous system as is a plant upon sun, rain, and air. Suppose that a child of intelligent parents were ushered into the world without a nerve leading from his otherwise perfect brain to any portion of his body, with no optic nerve to transmit the glorious sensations from the eye, no auditory nerve to conduct the vibrations of the mother's voice, no tactile nerves to convey the touch of a hand, no olfactory nerve to rouse the brain with the delicate aroma from the orchards and the wild flowers in spring, no gustatory, thermal, or muscular nerves. Could such a child live, as the years rolled on, the books of Shakespeare and of Milton would be opened in vain before the child's eyes. The wisest men could talk to him with utmost eloquence, all to no purpose. Nature could not whisper one of her inspiring truths into his deaf ear, could not light up that dark mind with a picture of the rainbow or of a human face. No matter how perfect might be the child's brain and his inherited capacity for mental activities, his faculties would remain for this life shrouded in Egyptian darkness. Perception could give memory nothing to retain, and thought could not weave her matchless fabrics without materials."
[2. Quote is identified as from Ruben Post Halleck in another book by Atkinson. See lesson 12.]
To realize to what a remarkable extent our outside world depends upon our power of perceiving impressions from things outside us, and consciously perceiving them, we need not even go so far as to imagine a condition such as indicated in the immediately preceding two paragraphs. We may grasp the idea by imagining what the outside world would seem to be to an individual of a race of one-sense men—the sense of touch or feeling, for instance. His entire memory and field of knowledge would contain only the recorded perceptions of touch. His world would be very limited and small. Add the senses of taste and its half-brother, smell, and a new world would open out to him. Add to this the great sense of hearing, and realize what an aid and advantage it would be to him, and how his world would have grown. Finally, let him awaken some morning with the sense of sight gained overnight—can you not see that the world, life and mind would be entirely revolutionized by the new channel of sensation and perception?
Let us proceed still further, and imagine a new sense awakened into activity in man, and try to realize how the world would grow for us. And this is not beyond the range of possibilities. There are great fields of vibrations which are not perceptible to the mind of man, because he has no sense organs to receive and transmit them to his mind. If man had sense organs capable of receiving and transmitting the waves of electricity and magnetism, an entirely new world would seem to have been created for us. If our sensory mechanism could receive and record the vibrations of the X-Rays, we could actually "see" (!) through a stone wall, or into the interior of a building, or even view the centre of a great stone block. This would be no more wonderful than would the sense of sight seem to a race of blindmen. An ear sensitive to electrical waves would perform the services of a telephone, and enable us to hear over great distances—from here in Paris to Petrograd, from New York to San Francisco, from London to Buenos Aires, for instance! All of these things are theoretically thinkable, or imaginable!
Carpenter, [3a] the old-time psychologist, once said:
"It does not seem at all improbable that there are properties of matter of which none of our senses can take immediate cognizance, and which other beings might be formed to perceive in the same manner as we are sensible to light, sound, etc." [3b]
[3a. William Benjamin Carpenter (1813-1885) en.wikipedia.org/
[3b. Principles in Human Psychology. Google Books ]
Another old writer [4a] says:
"It may be that within the field occupied by the visible and ponderable universe there is existing and moving another element fraught with another species of life—corporeal, indeed, and various in its orders, but not open to cognizance of those who are confined to the conditions of animal organization. Is it to be thought that the eye of man is the measure of the Creator's power?—and that He created nothing but that which he has expostd to our present senses? The contrary seems much more than barely possible—ought we not to think it almost certain?" [4b]
[4a. Isaac Taylor (1787-1865)
en.wikipedia.org/
[4b. Physical Theory of Another Life, 1836. Google Books ]
A later writer [5] has said: "If a new sense or two were added to the normal number, in man, that which is now the phenomenal world for all of us might, for all that we know, burst into something amazingly different and wider, in consequence of the additional revelations of these new senses."
[5. Identified as "Professor Masson" by Atkinson in other books. ]
There is, however, a new world of conscious experience possible even to those whose senses are not above the average in number or quality. By the use of the attention, intelligently applied, every individual may open up a larger and new world of experience and knowledge, here in his everyday scenes, and using only his ordinary five senses. By so doing he will store his subconscious memory storehouse with a wealth of new records, each clear and deeply impressed and easily found when desired because intelligently indexed by association.