Page 171 - How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY

Don't Be Absent-minded 175
of us are fortunate enough not to be absent-minded at
times.
Many people make the mistake of confusing absent-
mindedness with a poor memory. Actually, I feel that they
should be considered as two entirely different things. People
with excellent memories can also be absent-minded. You've
all heard of the absent-minded professor stories; well, be
assured that in order to be a professor you must have a good
memory to begin with. The hundreds of gags about the
absent-minded professors who wind their wives, kiss the
cat good night and put out the clock, may be true for all I
know, but it still doesn't signify that they have poor mem-
ories.
I believe that you can cure absentmindedness with just a
little effort and with the tips contained in this chapter.
However, please do not feel that you can do it by just read-
ing it. You have to make it your business to use the infor-
mation supplied here. Then, and only then, will it help
you. I assume that many people will read through a book
of this type; never try to use the information given, and
then complain that this will never help them. That, of
course, will be true, if you just read through this book with-
out attempting to apply the systems. Many adults always
claim that they are too old to learn. I believe they mean
that they are too lazy to learn—no one is too old! E. L.
Thorndike, an authority on adult education, said that "age
is no handicap to learning a new trade, profession, or any-
thing you want to do at any time of life." The italics in this
quote are mine; if you really want to learn, you can; so don't
use age as an excuse.
Actually, absentmindedncss is nothing more than inat-
tention. If you paid attention to where you put your glasses,
naturally you would know where they were when you
needed them. The American College Dictionary gives "pre-