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Mental Imagery
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naturally enough supposed that those who affirmed they possessed it,
were romancing. To illustrate their mental attitude it will be sufficient to
quote a few lines from the letter of one of my correspondents, who writes
“These questions presuppose assent to some sort of a proposition regarding the
“mind’s eye,” and the “images” which it sees. . . . This points to some initial fallacy. . . . It
is only by a figure of speech that I can describe my recollection of a scene as a “mental
image” which I can “see” with my “mind’s eye.” . . . I do not see it . . any more than a man
sees the thousand lines of Sophocles which under due pressure he is ready to repeat. The
memory possesses it, etc.”
Much the same result followed inquiries made for me by a friend
among members of the French Institute.
On the other hand, when I spoke to persons whom I met in general
society, I found an entirely different disposition to prevail. Many men and
a yet larger number of women, and many boys and girls, declared that
they habitually saw mental imagery, and that it was perfectly distinct to
them and full of colour. The more I pressed and cross-questioned them,
professing myself to be incredulous, the more obvious was the truth of
their first assertions. They described their imagery in minute detail, and
they spoke in a tone of surprise at my apparent hesitation in accepting
what they said. I felt that I myself should have spoken exactly as they did
if I had been describing a scene that lay before my eyes, in broad daylight,
to a blind man who persisted in doubting the reality of vision. Reassured
by this happier experience, I recommenced to inquire among scientific
men, and soon found scattered instances of what I sought, though in by no
means the same abundance as elsewhere. I then circulated my questions
more generally among my friends and through their hands, and obtained
the replies that are the main subject of this and of the three next chapters.
They were from persons of both sexes, and of various ages, and in the end
from occasional correspondents in nearly every civilised country.
I have also received batches of answers from various educational
establishments both in England and America,
