Memory

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

When the sight is normal, the memory is perfect. The color and
background of the letters or other objects seen, are remembered
perfectly, instantaneously, and continuously.

One of the quickest cures of imperfect sight has been gained through
the use of the memory. When the memory is perfect, the eyes at once
become normal with normal vision. A perfect memory changes the
elongated eyeball of myopia into the shorter length of the normal eye.
No matter how high a degree of myopia one may have, when he has a
perfect memory of some one thing, he is no longer myopic, but has
normal eyes with normal vision.

An imperfect memory or an imperfect imagination may produce organic
changes in the eyeball. The organic changes, which are present in many
diseases of the eye, have been relieved with the aid of a perfect
memory. In some cases the vision has been reduced to perception of
light from scars on the front part of the eyeball. Perfect memory
brings about the absorption of such opacities. A perfect memory has
cured these obstinate cases.

Conical cornea is a very serious disease. Neither operation nor the
use of drugs relieves or cures it. A perfect memory gives instant
relief, the curvature of the cornea becomes normal, and the patient
obtains normal vision.

Glaucoma has been referred to as a very treacherous disease of the
eye, because symptoms of blindness may become apparent at unexpected
moments. The pain of glaucoma may be very severe. In most cases, the
eyeball becomes very hard. The vision fails in a few hours, and all
perception of light may be lost. These very severe cases are usually
not benefited by operation nor drugs. The practice of a perfect memory
has relieved all the disagreeable symptoms, and the vision has
returned to normal.

There are patients who suffer from paralysis of one or more of the
nerves connected with the eye. By resting the nerves or the muscles to
bring about a condition of relaxation, which is best obtained by a
perfect memory, the symptoms of paralysis are relieved. Paralysis of
the nerves of the eye is caused by too great activity and is relieved
by relaxation.

When one of the eyes has been injured or has a foreign body in the
inside of the eyeball, the good eye may become affected and, in rare
cases, may even be lost before the eye that has been injured is lost.
This is called sympathetic ophthalmia. Through the use of the perfect
memory, these cases, although of many years' duration, have been
benefited and normal vision obtained. To be able to demonstrate a
perfect memory habitually or unconsciously, it is necessary first to
consciously remember with the eyes closed or open one thing perfectly,
until an unconscious habit is formed.

A person can remember what his own name is without having a mental
picture of each letter of the name. This is an example of what is
known as an abstract memory. A concrete memory is a more perfect
memory, because one remembers a mental picture of the object with the
eyes closed, as well or better, than he can see it with the eyes open.
One can remember perfectly only that which is seen perfectly. When a
letter is seen perfectly, the whiteness of the card or page in the
neighborhood of the black letter is imagined whiter than the rest of
the card or page, or that part in which there are no black letters.
The whiter that one can imagine the white in the neighborhood of a
letter, or inside of the letter, enables one to see the blackness of
the letter blacker than before. In other cases, where the whiteness in
the neighborhood of the letter is apparently of the same whiteness as
the rest of the card, the memory or the imagination of the black
letter is imperfect.

Mental pictures are imagined perfectly when the memory is perfect. A
great many patients complain that they are unable to remember mental
pictures of the letters of the Snellen test card. They can remember
what the letters are but have no mental pictures of them. To obtain
perfect mental pictures, it is necessary that the sight should be
continuously good. Most people, when they fail to imagine mental
pictures, try to remember too much at once. When remembering a letter,
it is not necessary to recall all parts of the letter. The memory of
the color or one small portion of the letter is sufficient. The
smaller the part of a black letter that you remember, the blacker it
is, and the easier it is to recall. It should be emphasized that when
one has a perfect memory, central fixation can always be demonstrated.
When central fixation is absent, the memory of the letter, as well as
the imagination or the sight, is always imperfect. One can regard a
point or a small part of a letter by central fixation for only a short
time, not longer than a few seconds, without the memory becoming
imperfect. Shifting is necessary to maintain a perfect memory, which
is continuous. In other words, when practicing central fixation, the
point regarded changes frequently.

After a demonstration that central fixation is necessary for a perfect
memory, one patient became able to imagine, with his eyes closed, a
small letter "O" with a white center as white as snow, starch, or any
other white object that he had ever seen. He had no trouble in doing
this. He said that he could remember it easily and quite continuously.
Then I requested him to remember an imperfect "O," which was a shade
of light gray instead of black. It had no white center, but was
covered with a blur or a fog. He was able to remember it quickly,
easily, for a few seconds, but when he was requested to remember the
imperfect "O" for a minute or longer, the gray shade became darker
and, at times, lighter, and the memory of the imperfect "O" became
very difficult. In spite of all the efforts he made, he was unable to
remember the "O" continuously. In strong contrast to the memory of the
perfect "O" the memory or the imagination of the imperfect "O" was
difficult. He agreed with me when I told him that in order to fail to
see perfectly, he had to stare, strain, and make a tremendous effort.
On the other hand, the memory or the imagination of the perfect "O"
was spontaneous, easy, and continuous, and he experienced a feeling of
general comfort in all his nerves. He was able to demonstrate that he
could remember the perfect "0," provided he imagined it was moving,
and that he could not remember it when he tried to imagine it
stationary.

Flashing is a great help in improving mental pictures. With the eyes
open, one may see a letter quite perfectly and have a mental picture
of that letter with the eyes closed for a fraction of a second. By
repeatedly flashing the letter in this way, the mental picture becomes
more frequent and lasts longer. When the sight becomes more
continuously good, the memory is also benefited, and with this
improvement in the memory, the mental pictures become more perfect.
The converse is also true. When the memory is improved, the sight is
improved. You cannot have a perfect memory by any effort or strain.
The more perfect your memory, the greater is your relaxation, and the
more perfect is your sight.