Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-07-01
LOOKING AND SEEING
There Is a Marked Difference Be-
tween These Two Acts.
THE POWER OF OBSERVATION


1t is the hope and desire of all par
ents that their children shall make
some sort Of mark in the world when
they grow up. They do not in the ma.
jority of cases expect that their Off
spring will become famous and make
names that will live for ages, but they
cherish the thought that they will be
successful men and women in some
profession or business. That is the
keynote-that success shall be their
portion.
Yet it is & fact that most parents
one part of the child's education which
is of the highest Importance. They do
not train the perceptive faculties.
Power of observation will help you
more than anything else in your strug-
gle for existence, and yet there are
comparatively few people who are
keen Observers. One small fact will
prove this latter statement. The man
who observes everything. he who sees
everything he looks at, is singled out
either as an inquisitive person or
clever one, and this shows that he is
an exception.
1t is easy to give instances of this
lack of perception even in the ordinary
things of life Some years ago an art
list engaged in a London firm of print
ers had to draw an advertisement in
which the central figure was cock in
the act of growing. Nothing seemed
easier, but when he set to work the
artist found himself confronted by a
difficulty-does the cock show its tongue
prominently when it crows? Every
one of the hundred men employed by
the firm had seen cock crow scores
of times, vet not one of them could
answer the question. The artist had
to so to Il friend who kept fowls and
chase the poor rooster round and round
the yard until it crowed.
A schooImaster, wishing to test the
perception of his boys, asked them
how many times they had seen Il cow
or pictures of that animal and found,
as he had expected, that all the boys
had seen the creature more times than
they could remember. Then he offered
to give small prizes to the boys who
could correctly answer this question::
care cows ears above, below, in
front of or behind its horns| Only
two boys gained prizes, and their an
swers were guessWork.
Now sit down and test yourself in
some such simple manner. You have
all seen a horse down" Can you de
scribe how it rises? Does it get up on
its fore feet first and then on its hind
feet, or does it kneeI first then get on
it's hind feet and finally on its fore
feet?
However, you need not con1inc your
self to the animal Kingdom in testing
your perceptivc faculties. Many sub
jects will suggest themselves to you.
AS an excuse for this want of obsCr-
walton it is often urged that "A man
can't know everything" but the excuse
is bad one. There is great differ
ence between knowing little or nothing
and knowing everything. When the
faculty has been trained it requires no
more effort to note the points Of the
object looked at than it does to glance
at that same object and come away
none the wiser.
The chances of success in life are on
the side of the man who knows GER
tain things because he has learned
about them by using his senses instead
of having to go to book for all that
he wishes to know. Books are indiS-
penSable, as there are so many things
which cannot come within the range of
our observation but wherever possible
we should use our senses to acquire
knowledge at first hand.
This will explain why men who can
not read or write have built up sub
stantiaI businesses. They have made
use of the power possessed by all, but
cultivated by very few.
The perceptive faculty must be train
ed during childhood and youth. After
the completion Of the twentieth year
very little progress can be made. A
grown man is unable to develop his
powers of observation to any satisfac-
tory degree Youth is full of energy,
and that is the time to inculcate the
lesson that we should see all that our
eyes rest upon.
1t should be the object Of every par
ent to teach his child to note every OBJ
ject that comes in his way. When out
for q walk in a park the child should
be told to observe the shapes Of the
leaves on the different trees, the pal
ing of the color of animals toward the
under part Of the body, and so on, and
should be told that when asked ques-
ton on the subject he must be prepar-
ed to say that it is so, not that he
thinks it is.
All children have lnquiring minds,
and after a walk or two, coupled with
such instruction as we have mention
ed, you will find the child making
great progress and acquiring quality
that will be invaluable in after life.
One of the methods adopted by Hou-
din, the conjurer. for quickening the
perception Of his son was to make him
walk rapidly past a shop window or a
stall on which a number Of articles
were displayed and then write down a
list Of the objects noticed. At first
only half a dozen articles were per-
cefved during the moment occupied in
passing the store or window, but after
having done it once n day for a month
the boy was able to make a list OF
forty bjects.-Pearson's Weekly.
The Eclipse