In the fourteenth talk James discusses apperception, which he says is simply nothing more than the act of taking a thing into the mind. He talks about how the process of apperception is the association of ideas. He states, “the product is a sort of fusion of the new with the old, in which it is often impossible to distinguish the share of the two factors.” (p. 78)
“Few men ever do acquaint themselves with the principles of a new science after even twenty-five.” (p. 80) This passage stood out to me because I don’t know if that is true of today. I understand what he is saying and it makes sense but he was giving these talks in a completely different time. Back then most people had a job that they did and never did anything else. But, today people change jobs/careers more often, which is causing them to learn something completely different at an age well past what he says. But if what he says is true, what do we do when we are older than twenty-five having to learn principles of a new science?
What is the primary point James is making here about perception? Even if he is incorrect about perception after age 25, is he onto something here? What?
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