1 2 0 TH E M IN D O F T HE BUYE R
the m en tal life o f th e infan t, w e find a s th e
fi rst fo re runner o f confidenc e a simpl e, in
c h oat e m en tal a t ti tude wh ich ca n h a rdly b e
exp resse d by any m ore defini te t e rm th a n ‘a
“ feelin g o f simpl e- reali ty” ; thi s i s a tt ach ed
to eve ry obj ec t. of experi enc e. In eve ry ac t
of p e rc eiving th e infan t impli ci tly say s, “ Ah!
I sens e som e thing h ere ; I guess I ca n rely
up on my sense s ” H e feel s th a t if h e ca n
sense th e obj ec t. i t must really b e th e re. E x
istence i s, fo r h im, simply p resenc e. Wh at
eve r i s, i s real. The re i s no hin t o f disbelief
i n a nything h e c a n sense ; th ere i s no reason
fo r a nything b u t c onfid enc e i n its exis tenc e.
Thi s feeling, c ru de an d p o si tive, which a t
tach e s to th e obj ec ts o f infantile exp eri e nc e,
m ay b e i nel ega ntly c alle d a. feeli ng of
“ th ereness. ”
This p ri meval p redec esso r o f the co nfidence
to -be h a s b ee n calle d by o ne p sych ol ogi st
( B ain ) “ p ri mitive c redul ity. ” B ain says th a t
th e mind i s so c onsti tute d th a t it t ends to
a ccep t a s t ru e eve ry st atem en t m ad e ( see
pa ge E ve ry i mp ressio n m a de upon th e
min d o f a chil d t ends to receive c red enc e, a nd
i s a ccep te d unl ess it is o fi set by a cont ra ry im
p ression. N o w i n th e min d o f th e chil d mos t
imp re ssions c ome with o u t a ny c o n tradicto ry
nextflipdebug5
(nextflipdebug5)
#1