1 54 TH E M IN D O F T HE BUY E R
t his. W e simply use th e m e th od s al rea dy de
sc ribed in th e c h ap te r on a tten tion ( Ch ap te r
I I ). Th e obj ec t th us fo rc e d int o th e m enta l
st rea m n ee d n ot b e physical. I t m ay b e a
c o rre sp ondenc e c ou rse i n B usine ss E n glish
th a t w e a re t rying to sell , o r a sea t o n th e
S to c k E xch a nge. Wh a teve r i t is w e m u st
p ush i t in to th e m ental st ream wit h a s li ttl e
a do a s possible. There i t finds el em ents o f
p a st experienc e which a re aki n to ‘i t, and
which “ ab so rb ” it, a s rela ted i n Ch ap te r V.
Th e n ext event— th e p ro duc tion of m uscula r
effo rts—i s m o re diffic ult to de scrib e, and to
ac hieve. I t i s h e re th a t. th e great es t amoun t
o f myste ry c enters ; a n d h e re th a t th e grea t
est am ount o f skill is dema nde d o f th e sell e r.
H ow c a n a p sychi cal thing like a n i dea ch ange
ove r i nt o physical ene rgy a nd a ssum e th e fo rm
of a m oto r ac t? And h ow can the sel ler
facilita t e such transforma tion?
Th e an swer is c ontaine d partly in th e l aw
of i deo-mo to r a c tion : “ A n idea i n th e mind
t end s to exp ress i t self i n m oveme nt. ” An
exp e rim en t pe rfo rm ed i n t h e p sych ol ogic al
l ab orato ry demon st rat e s thi s d ramatically.
Th e exp eri mente r fa sten s a reco rdin g devic e
to th e top o f a p erson ’s h ea d so as to rec ord
th e sligh test m ovemen t. Th en h e a sks th e