We can infer that Sir Francis Galton's aim was to measure people's ability to picture past experiences
to discover what his colleagues had eaten for breakfast
to find out how much attention his colleagues paid to their domestic surroundings
to assess the incidence of colour-blindness
to provide practice in making pictures in one's head
The writer states that most people cannot visually recall events as recent as that morning
some people are completely unable to guess at the weight of something
past experiences become less important to us as we grow up
there is no difference between feathers and lead
not all people have the same ability to visualize things
People's ability to recall past experiences visually. depends on how far in the past they were
often diminishes with the passing years
eventually decreases despite exercise
enables us to keep precise pictures of them
varies according to the words used to describe them
39 THE WILL TO LIVE A very old lady who had devoted her life to pioneer work in education once told about a dangerous illness she had suffered in her middle years. She lay hovering between life and death, in the twilight of half-surrender, when she overheard two of her co-workers talking just outside her hospital room. "If we could only reach her!" one of them said passionately. "If we could only make her understand how much we need her!" The words did reach her, and with the forces of life and death hanging in the balance, they resurrected her will to live. In that moment of discouragement and wavering faith, the intensity of her colleague's plea reassured her and gave her courage to take up the struggle again. If we truly wish to live, if we have something to live for, then the will to live becomes a powerful force in combatting illness. Within each of us there are two strong instinctual drives, the will to live and the desire to destroy ourselves. The powerful instinct to remain alive is bolstered by our desire to create, to discover and to accomplish. Doctors make obeisance to it when, in a crisis of illness, they say, "We have done all we can - now it is up to the patient."