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before; or some perception; or some other experience; the state of
which we above declared to be memory; it is then; and then only;
that this recovery may amount to a recollection of any of the things
aforesaid。 But; (though as observed above; remembering does not
necessarily imply recollecting); recollecting always implies
remembering; and actualized memory follows (upon the successful act of
recollecting)。
But secondly; even the assertion that recollection is the
reinstatement in consciousness of something which was there before but
had disappeared requires qualification。 This assertion may be true;
but it may also be false; for the same person may twice learn (from
some teacher); or twice discover (i。e。 excogitate); the same fact。
Accordingly; the act of recollecting ought (in its definition) to be
distinguished from these acts; i。e。 recollecting must imply in those
who recollect the presence of some spring over and above that from
which they originally learn。
Acts of recollection; as they occur in experience; are due to the
fact that one movement has by nature another that succeeds it in
regular order。
If this order be necessary; whenever a subject experiences the
former of two movements thus connected; it will (invariably)
experience the latter; if; however; the order be not necessary; but
customary; only in the majority of cases will the subject experience
the latter of the two movements。 But it is a fact that there are
some movements; by a single experience of which persons take the
impress of custom more deeply than they do by experiencing others many
times; hence upon seeing some things but once we remember them
better than others which we may have been frequently。
Whenever therefore; we are recollecting; we are experiencing certain
of the antecedent movements until finally we experience the one
after which customarily comes that which we seek。 This explains why we
hunt up the series (of kineseis) having started in thought either from
a present intuition or some other; and from something either
similar; or contrary; to what we seek; or else from that which is
contiguous with it。 Such is the empirical ground of the process of
recollection; for the mnemonic movements involved in these
starting…points are in some cases identical; in others; again;
simultaneous; with those of the idea we seek; while in others they
comprise a portion of them; so that the remnant which one
experienced after that portion (and which still requires to be excited
in memory) is comparatively small。
Thus; then; it is that persons seek to recollect; and thus; too;
it is that they recollect even without the effort of seeking to do so;
viz。 when the movement implied in recollection has supervened on
some other which is its condition。 For; as a rule; it is when
antecedent movements of the classes here described have first been
excited; that the particular movement implied in recollection follows。
We need not examine a series of which the beginning and end lie far
apart; in order to see how (by recollection) we remember; one in which
they lie near one another will serve equally well。 For it is clear
that the method is in each case the same; that is; one hunts up the
objective series; without any previous search or previous
recollection。 For (there is; besides the natural order; viz。 the order
of the pralmata; or events of the primary experience; also a customary
order; and) by the effect of custom the mnemonic movements tend to
succeed one another in a certain order。 Accordingly; therefore; when
one wishes to recollect; this is what he will do: he will try to
obtain a beginning of movement whose sequel shall be the movement
which he desires to reawaken。 This explains why attempts at
recollection succeed soonest and best when they start from a beginning
(of some objective series)。 For; in order of succession; the
mnemonic movements are to one another as the objective facts (from
which they are derived)。 Accordingly; things arranged in a fixed
order; like the successive demonstrations in geometry; are easy to
remember (or recollect) while badly arranged subjects are remembered
with difficulty。
Recollecting differs also in this respect from relearning; that
one who recollects will be able; somehow; to move; solely by his own
effort; to the term next after the starting…point。 When one cannot
do this of himself; but only by external assistance; he no longer
remembers (i。e。 he has totally forgotten; and therefore of course
cannot recollect)。 It often happens that; though a person cannot
recollect at the moment; yet by seeking he can do so; and discovers
what he seeks。 This he succeeds in doing by setting up many movements;
until finally he excites one of a kind which will have for its
sequel the fact he wishes to recollect。 For remembering (which is
the condicio sine qua non of recollecting) is the existence;
potentially; in the mind of a movement capable of stimulating it to
the desired movement; and this; as has been said; in such a way that
the person should be moved (prompted to recollection) from within
himself; i。e。 in consequence of movements wholly contained within
himself。
But one must get hold of a starting…point。 This explains why it is
that persons are supposed to recollect sometimes by starting from
mnemonic loci。 The cause is that they pass swiftly in thought from one
point to another; e。g。 from milk to white; from white to mist; and
thence to moist; from which one remembers Autumn (the 'season of
mists'); if this be the season he is trying to recollect。
It seems true in general that the middle point also among all things
is a good mnemonic starting…point from which to reach any of them。 For
if one does not recollect before; he will do so when he has come to
this; or; if not; nothing can help him; as; e。g。 if one were to have
in mind the numerical series denoted by the symbols A; B; G; D; E;
Z; I; H; O。 For; if he does not remember what he wants at E; then at E
he remembers O; because from E movement in either direction is
possible; to D or to Z。 But; if it is not for one of these that he
is searching; he will remember (what he is searching for) when he
has come to G if he is searching for H or I。 But if (it is) not (for H
or I that he is searching; but for one of the terms that remain); he
will remember by going to A; and so in all cases (in which one
starts from a middle point)。 The cause of one's sometimes recollecting
and sometimes not; though starting from the same point; is; that
from the same starting…point a movement can be made in several
directions; as; for instance; from G to I or to D。 If; then; the
mind has not (when starting from E) moved in an old path (i。e。 one
in which it moved first having the ob