A T T RA C T I N G A T T E N T I O N 37
foo th ol d i n th e s t ream. Th e rel ationship may
be pic tured by imagi ning two pl at fo rm s, o ne
( th e mind ) m oving, and th e oth e r ( th e obj ec t
o f att entio n ) s tati ona ry. To step from th e
l a t te r to th e fo rm e r re qui re s c on si de rabl e
eff ort. If, h oweve r, w e sta rt th e sec on d in
m o ti on in th e sa m e directio n a n d a t th e same
rat e a s th e fi rst , w e c a n m ake th e transition
easily. I t i s th u s th a t a m ovi ng obj ec t fi t s
into th e na ture of th e onward-flo wing m ental
p roc esse s.
In a dditi on to thi s o nwa rd flo w of th e tota l
st ream th e re i s a form of m ovemen t wi th in
th e stream itself. E ddi es a re p re sen t, wh ic h
kee p th e c ont en ts of th e s trea m oscilla tin g
to a nd fro. Th e mind is so constit ute d tha t
i t ca nno t h ol d an obj ec t i n th e ce nte r fo r
l on ge r th a n a n in sta nt. Th e rea der m ay tes t
thi s fo r him self by a tt emp ting to fix a te
stea dily th e l e t ter 0. Th ough h e m ay try
hi s best to m aintain i t unch a nged in th e cen te r
o f his a tte nti on, h e will fin d th a t h e c ann ot.
Hi s a tt ention will wande r from on e p ar t o f
th e l et te r to an oth er, from top to b ottom, from
side to side ; and p re sently, o ff th e l e tte r em
tirel y to a nea rby flaw i n th e p ap e r.
In fixing th e limit s to th e tim e du rin g
which one ca n h ol d a n obj e ct i n a t ten tion
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