The Pelman System of Mind and Memory Training - Lessons I to XII. Anon

scientist, the teacher, the value of mental efficiency is self-evident. Its paramount importance is less obvious, though not less real for those engaged in commercial pursuits or employed in occupations more apparently connected with physical activity. For the student, mental efficiency means not only more perfect apprehension and recollection but also an immense saving of time which is set free for further work. But to the business man the benefits are no less great, since a power to grasp details, to hold them in the mind, to compare them, to remember prices, contracts, the names and addresses and peculiarities of clients and the extent of stock on hand at the moment, to foresee the probable future movements of markets, must inevitably give a man an inestimable advantage over competitors. Every external achievement is first of all an internal idea: each successful act is primarily an invisible thought. Consequently, right thinking—in the broad sense—means right action; and it is for this reason that mental efficiency is the foundation of every other kind of efficiency.

       What Students say.

      12. The qualities of mind just enumerated are developed by the assiduous practice of Pelman principles; and it may not be amiss to quote here a few phrases from the letters of past students, showing exactly the kind of results achieved.

      “I have been taught to believe in myself” says one who used to suffer from lack of self-confidence.

      “I have gained control of my attention” says another, who up to that time had been unable to concentrate.

      A student with a naturally poor memory, writes: “I passed my examination in the first division.”

      Another states: “My reading now remains with me, and I have consequently an increased delight in study.”

      These few testimonials emphasise the twofold nature of mental efficiency. On the plane of the real it means financial, or £ s. d. success¹; on the plane of the ideal it means knowledge and culture.

VI. THE RELATION OF MIND AND BODY.

      13. “So far,” you may say, “you have told me only what I could easily see for myself.” This may be true, but sometimes that which is most clearly visible is not actually seen at all. In any case, it is imperative that you should start upon this Course fully convinced that it is going to be of real use to you personally. We know that it can be of such use, and will be of such use, if you follow our instructions, and we want you to feel an equal confidence.

       Brains and Hands.

      14. “But,” you may object, “I earn my living with my hands, not with my brain.” This is a mistaken idea, whatever your occupation. The miner traces his seam and directs his pick with his brains; the ploughman plans his furrow with his brains; the drover is constantly estimating and circumventing with his brain the erratic movements of his herd; the engine-driver is studying steam-pressures and gradients and loads; the chauffeur has ever his brain on the alert for the problems of traffic; the carpenter must have some mental knowledge of the laws of stress; the bricklayer must exercise judgment in the placing of his bricks. In addition to the direct action of the brain in such employments, there is also an indirect action, and a trained brain finds its reflection in a more ready acquisition of manual dexterity.

      When certain portions of the brain, known as motor centres, are injured, paralysis of the body ensues. If you inadvertently touch with your fingers something that is very hot, you immediately and “instinctively” draw back your hand. The action of withdrawal may appear instantaneous, but what actually happened is that the sensation of excessive heat travelled from your finger-tip to your brain, and your brain has sent back to the muscles of your arm, hand and finger, a message and impulse to remove the finger from that which is causing the pain. In the case of certain diseases, interruptions may occur in the course of the transmission of these nervous and muscular messages. All this demonstrates the influence exerted by the brain over the rest of the body. Later, we shall see evidence of influences exerted by the body at large upon the brain in particular. The point to be grasped at present is that the brain is the directing power.

       Manual Skill and Mental Efficiency.

      15. It is, however, possible to train the body to manual skill without training the brain to anything like the same equivalent degree of mental efficiency. Now it is an elementary principle of economics that the market value of a commodity is governed by its scarcity. An article which is readily obtainable is cheap while an article difficult to acquire is dear. In the present state of human society, manual skill is far more common than mental efficiency, and consequently must command less remuneration. The alert and capable mind, ready for any emergency, enterprising and original in its conceptions and persevering in its execution of those conceptions, can demand and will receive its own price.

VII. IS THE MIND A FUNCTION OF THE BRAIN OR IS IT SOMETHING HIGHER?

      16. We have spoken of the body and the brain and have made passing reference to the mind. We have now to consider briefly one of the most keenly contested questions in psychology. Is the mind merely a function of the brain? Does it secrete thought as the liver secretes bile? Or does the mind possess a separate existence, using the brain as the instrument of its expression? The physical brain consists of three main portions, the forebrain (cerebrum) which is probably concerned chiefly with thought; the little brain (cerebellum) situated behind and somewhat below the forebrain, and probably concerned mainly with the maintenance of equilibrium, the balance of the body, and certain forms of motion; and the oblong marrow (medulla oblongata) or spinal bulb, which is the centre to which converge the nerves of the body. In the fore-brain are many millions of small cells and certain prolonged indentations or channels, and it is commonly believed that there is a close relationship between thought and these cells and channels. Materialists maintain that thought is nothing more than an activity of the brain cells stimulated by the senses or by other means. The idealists argue that thought is primarily a function of an immaterial mind which subsequently conveys to the brain the thought that it has conceived. Each theory presents difficulties, and for the practical purpose of this Course of Training it is quite unimportant which hypothesis is adopted.

VIII. THE PLACE OF MEMORY IN MENTAL EFFICIENCY AND IN DAILY LIFE.

      17. Among the mental powers of man, the central place is occupied by the Memory. It is memory which makes life a connected whole and gives it a rational meaning. If a man were entirely without memory he would be utterly helpless, paralytic and imbecile. The action of the feet in walking involves memory. The motion of the hand towards the mouth when eating is an exhibition of memory. In the higher aspects of life the role played by memory becomes more conspicuous. No judgment can be formed unless there are present in the memory the facts from which the judgment is to be derived. Deduction demands a recollection of the “premises”, and calculation depends on recalling numbers. Social life would be impossible without a more or less developed memory for names and faces; business life would, in the absence of this mental quality, be certain to come to a standstill; indeed, without memory intelligent life is outside the realms of possibility. The better the memory the better the chances of a larger and fuller life in every sense of the term.

IX. THE GREAT DIVISIONS OF MEMORY.

      18. Between the memory which guides the feet in walking and the memory which empowers the mind to form a judgment, there is a seeming distinction, but it is probable that much if not all of the memory which has now become racial and intuitive was at one time individual and voluntary. In psychological treatises memory is sometimes classified as conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious. The student of these lessons need not concern himself with these terms, since our attention will be devoted almost exclusively to the training of the conscious memory.