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Show THE POWER OF ATTENTION. The fact that the mind of man is easily distracted distract-ed from any subject in contemplation accounts for the slowness of the development of most minds, and for the extreme slowness of the development, of the human mind collectively. There are historical periods per-iods when general enlightenment seems to have ad- ? vanced by leaps and bounds; but when one takes cognizance of the tens of thousands of years that man has been at play in the Kindergarten of Creation, Crea-tion, one is aware of the- very gradual and deliberate delib-erate character of human progress as a whole; and this deliberateness of growth, and the remains of ignorance and superstition even in minds regarded as educated, come largely from the inability of men to keep their thoughts employed steadfastly on the various objects and problems of matter, mind and life. The faculty of attention is strikingly lackiug in the savage man; it increases as civilization civiliza-tion increases, and in a large factor in the advance of civilization and of culture. When the power of attention is exceptional in the individual, he is set apart from his fellows: he is a genius in the business' world, or perhaps a poet, artist, inventor, discoverer, philosopher, reformer, statesman or conqueror. When the power of attention at-tention in a community is stimulated by one attentive at-tentive mind, or by a group of attentive minds, tin-world tin-world passes through periods of great mental at tivity; great reforms take place; there is great nuc-terial nuc-terial or intellectual advance or there are revivals in letters and in the plastic arts. The supreme object of the teacher is to cultivate culti-vate attention in his or her charges. When a child has learned how to pay attention, he has learned how to study and to learn. "Object lessons" are favorite devices for fixing attention. According to the orthodox theologies, religion has been taught to mankind largely through object lessons, in the form sometimes of "progressive revelations;" and the system of symbols in all religions may be ealle-Jt simply devices for fixing the wandering attention of souls, for their sustenance and lasting benefit. We see, year in and year out, the coming and going of beliefs, customs; popular heroes and mere popular pets; best sellers among books; sports, movements and fads of all kinds, which figure prominently only as long as they are able to claim the attention of large groups or of the entire community. com-munity. The whole system of business advertising, and the infinite number of publicity departments-publicity departments-publicity as to all ort of wares and all manner of causes are nothiug but means of securing atterv tion; of spreading information and inducing actiei through suggestion. From an editorial in the April Century,-. i, . 1 |
