PERSONAL POWER (Complete 12 Volume Edition). William Walker Atkinson
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Название: PERSONAL POWER (Complete 12 Volume Edition)

Автор: William Walker Atkinson

Издательство: Bookwire

Жанр: Сделай Сам

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isbn: 9788075836243

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СКАЧАТЬ business man is able to find the letter he needs, simply by going to his file and placing his hand on the proper compartment; he has an immense advantage over the one who has to hunt through a large mass of unfiled correspondence. It is not enough to have the idea of a thing—it is necessary to know where to find that idea when you want it. Psychology informs us that one may far more easily remember facts filed in the memory records according to some system of logical classification, than where the facts simply exist “‘somewhere in the mind.”

      Your classification of concepts or ideas should be according to the general nature of the ideas, their natural associations with other objects, their uses. For instance, in your mental file of “Building Materials,” there would be contained the concepts of Stone, Clay, Brick, Iron, Steel, Lumber, Concrete, Cement, Tile, etc. In your mental file of “Metals,’” there would be found the records of Iron, Copper, Gold, Silver, Nickel, Zinc, Platinum, Lead, Tin, Antimony, Manganese, Mercury, Aluminum, Cobalt, Tungsten, etc. In your mental file of “Mechanical Devices,” there would be filed your records of Axles, Shafting, Wheels, Levers, Pulleys, Cranks, Cams, Eccentrics, Winches, Windlasses, Inclined Planes, Wedges, Toggle Joints, Endless Screws, Belts, Gear­Wheels, Gearing, Couplings, etc. In your mental file of “Fibres and Textiles,” there would be placed your records of Cotton, Flax, Hemp, Jute, Linen, Manilla Hemp, Noils, Ramie, Shoddy, Silk, Organzine, Floss Silk, Wool and Worsted, Coir, Artificial Silk, Artificial Cotton, Vegetable Silk, etc. In your mental file of “Dairy Products,” you would place your records of Milk, Skim Milk, Casein, Cream, Butter, Cheese, Buttermilk, Milk Sugar, Ghee, Kephir, Koumiss, Whey, etc. The above illustrative examples should be sufficient to indicate the general idea of efficient and practical classification.

      Each general classification, moreover, should be subjected to sub­classification. Large classes should be divided and subdivided into the lesser classes. Small classes should be raised to higher and still higher classes, and so on until the highest general class is reached. The following table illustrating “Geometrical Figures” will serve as an example of such classification;

      In the above illustration we have the smallest class of figures grouped according to its most positive quality; this group raised to the respective class of Plane or Solid, as the case may be; and this last class included in the general class of “Figures.” One having at hand this table, would have a complete index of his mental images representing the various forms included in the general class of “Geometrical Figures.” He would have a map or diagram of his knowledge of the subject; it being understood that each of the above terms must be accompanied by a clear mental concept of each figure—a dear “meaning” of each, capable of being stated in the terms of logical definition.

      The ideal theoretical system of classification would really be that in which each article was classified according to all its characteristics, its uses, its possible combinations, its associations, its relations, etc. Such a system, however, would be well nigh impossible; and, for that matter, would be far too complex and cumbersome for ordinary practical use. But you should not lose sight of the general principle, nevertheless.

      The ideal for practical use would be a classification showing: (1) every possible use or end to which a certain thing might be applied, employed or directed; and (2) every possible thing which might be applied, employed, or directed to a certain use or end. The nearer you approach to this ideal, in your work of classification of the things concerned with, connected with or related to the general subject of your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal, the better will be your chances of the successful achievement of that purpose, the successful realization of that ideal.

      It is said that a certain eminent inventor possesses a very complete index, and series of cross­indexes, of nearly everything concerned with the general field in which he is working. For instance, he has lists showing (1) all the discovered uses to which each and every such thing has been put; the discovered effects of its combinations with other things; the things most nearly related to or resembling it; and, (2), each and every such thing which has been discovered to be possible of use, employment and effect in the direction of producing or effecting a certain result, effect, combination or composition. In short, he has the cause­relations and the effect­relations of every object on his list, noted and classified, indexed and cross­indexed.

      When this inventor wishes to know the possible causes of a desired effect, he turns to his indexes, and the information is at hand. Likewise, when he wishes to know the possible results and effects related to a particular thing, he puts his hand on the information in the same way. The list is kept checked up and posted by a corps of assistants who note the reports contained in the scientific journals, etc., and also the results of their employer’s own original experiments. He has built up, and maintained, a veritable encyclopaedia of information relating to the things concerned with his own particular line of work. Consequently, he not only has a wealth of valuable information on hand, but he also saves an immense amount of time and labor when he is engaged in actual experimental and inventive work.

      While the illustrated instances above cited represent extreme cases, yet they serve to bring out the principle involved. It is not expected that you should undertake any such elaborate system of classification; yet you should not fail to employ its general principle to the highest degree of which you are capable, or which you find possible under the circumstances. All else being equal, the person who has (1) the greatest store of concepts or mental images concerning the general subject of his Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal; and who (2) has that material the most thoroughly classified and indexed, either in his memory or mechanically; that person will manifest the highest degree of success in his work of Constructive Imagination.

      You will do well to impress upon your memory all new facts arranged according to their logical classification. You will do well also to use your pencil in making written lists of the things involved in your creative work. In short, in every possible manner and by every possible method seek to (1) Acquire concepts, ideas, or mental images related to your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideals; and then (2) Classify these concepts, ideas, or mental images according to a definite, logical, scientific plan, so that you may find them easily and quickly when you need them in the work of Constructive Imagination. With well­selected materials, in sufficient amount and stored away systematically so that you may “put your hand on them” when needed, you will have progressed very far on the road to the achievement of your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal by the processes of the Constructive Imagination.

      Now then, when you have (1) acquired the concepts, ideas, or mental images related to your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal; have (2) ascertained and thoroughly apprehended the full meaning of each of these items of material; and have (3) properly classified, indexed, and charted them so that you have them arranged for efficient reference; what have you at your command?

      In the first place, you have compiled what may be called a “Thesaurus” of your Image­Ideas. A “Thesaurus” is, “A treasury, or repository: the term often applied to a comprehensive reference work, a lexicon, containing lists of words arranged according to the ideas or concepts which they express.” A Dictionary contains a list of words, with the definition of each—the statement of the idea or concept which each expresses. A Thesaurus, on the other hand, contains lists of words arranged in groups, each group representing a certain general idea or concept which its several particular words express. When you wish to know the meaning of a word or term, you consult your Dictionary. When you wish to find the several words or terms expressing a certain idea or concept, you consult your Thesaurus; discovering there the term denoting the general class of ideas or concepts which you have in mind, you find arranged opposite it the several particular words or terms employed to express that class of ideas or concepts.

      In the Thesaurus of Image­Ideas which you have compiled, you will find the image­ideas related to, or associated with, the general idea or concept which you are employing in your work of Constructive Imagination. The smaller classes are grouped СКАЧАТЬ