What is human memory definition. What is memory. Types of memory. memory processes. memory qualities. Performance. Psychological features of memory development

The term " memory It is used not only in psychology. We hear about the memory of computers and the corresponding units of its measurement. It turns out that under heat treatment conditions, some metal alloys can " memorize" And " reproduce» your form. However, here we are talking at best about the technical modeling (by the way, very incomplete) of human memory. The memory that we have to study should also be distinguished from species memory, thanks to which, according to biological laws (and not psychological ones), any organism is recreated - from a plant to a person. In other words, it is a genetic program by which an organism inherits the essential features of its ancestors. Instinctive behavior is also a realization of species memory resources. The subject of psychology is the individual memory of a person (and similar memory of an animal) as one of the most important regulators of his behavior and activities.

Memory- this is a cognitive mental process, which consists in remembering, saving and subsequent reproduction by a person (or animal) of his experience under the influence life circumstances. Memory is "a process that is a product of the previous and a condition for the upcoming action (process, experience)." The last point is important to emphasize: memory only makes sense in the context of using the experience in the future.

The work of memory creates conditions for the assimilation of knowledge by a person and their use in new conditions, for the development of speech, the development of thinking and imagination. Outside of this work neither learning nor teaching is possible. What would happen if the images of objects and phenomena that arise in the psyche (consciousness) immediately disappeared without a trace? A person, in the words of I.M. Sechenov, would remain "forever in the position of a newborn."

Synonymous with " memory"can be considered a word of Greek origin -" mnema”, easily associated with the name of the goddess of memory and the nine muses Mnemosyne. This explains the widespread use in psychology of such concepts as " mnemonic function" (memory function), " mnemonic task"(memorization task)," mnemonics" or " mnemonics"(a set of memorization techniques), etc.

The oldest theory of memory is the association theory. If impressions arise in consciousness simultaneously or immediately after each other, then a connection (association) arises between them. Subsequently, the actualization in the mind of any one of the elements of the connection entails the reproduction of other elements. From Aristotle comes the distinction of associations by similarity (having met a person, you can remember another, something similar to him), by contrast (a schoolchild listening to a story about the Sahara Desert inadvertently “pops up” in memory previously formed ideas about the Arctic), according to adjacency (a few months after attending the concert, a person heard a song on the radio that was then performed, and immediately remembered a friend whom he met during the intermission). In this case we are talking about the contiguity of events in space and time. Later, generic, causal, generalized and other associations became the subject of research.

The doctrine of associations helps to understand many phenomena related to the mental activity of a person and his thinking. Of course, associative processes are of great importance in learning activities, in assimilation and reproduction educational material. However, the doctrine of associations should be distinguished from associationism, in the classical version of which the concept of associations became the explanatory principle of the entire cognitive sphere of man.

With development natural sciences began to open up physiological mechanisms memory. In particular, researchers were attracted by electromechanical changes in synapses (in areas of contact nerve cells with each other) during the passage of a nerve impulse through a group of neurons, as well as the fact of multiple passage of an impulse through the same synapses. In this fact, the process of consolidating the memory trace was seen as a mechanism for transferring information from short-term memory to long-term memory. There is also a "chemical hypothesis" of memory - about the role of RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules in mnemic processes. It is assumed that these processes are associated with a change in the sequence of bases in these molecules.

These and other similar studies do not always lead to results that are consistent with each other, which should probably be considered natural on the way to the formation of a unified theory of memory.

Memory is a process that takes place in the human psyche, due to which the display, saving and accumulation of material is carried out. In psychology, the definition of memory is the ability of the brain to remember, recreate, and store experiences. This process enables a person to recall events and experiences of the past, thinking consciously about its value in personal history, as well as comprehend the emotions and feelings associated with it.

This process helps that a person becomes able to expand their own cognitive abilities. in psychology have complex structure, which consists of processes that ensure the perception of information and fixing it. This is a very complex process in which the accumulation, perception, systematization, storage and instant reproduction of the information received once is carried out.

Memory

This is a definition of the ability of an individual to remember, forget, reproduce and store information. personal experience. This property helps a person to instantly move in time and space. There are various theories that have their own view of this concept. Association is key concept in association theory. It carries out in memory the connection of the parts of the resulting material. When a person remembers something, he is looking for a connection between these materials, as well as those that need to be reproduced.

Associative laws of memory in psychology: similarity, contrast and adjacency. Similarity is manifested in the remembered material, which is then reproduced through a connection with similar similar material. Contrast occurs when the material to be memorized is strikingly different from what is being stored. Adjacency is expressed in the fact that the incoming material is remembered because of the previous material.

Kinds

This is a multilevel and multifunctional process. This complexity suggests the emergence of several of its types. Consider the classification of memory in psychology.

figurative memory

Figurative memory is the process of memorizing images formed on the basis of data from sensory systems. Functions of memory in psychology in the figurative process:

  • visual (fixation of images of people or objects with which there was frequent contact);
  • taste (various tastes that a person once felt);
  • auditory (sounds that a person once heard);
  • olfactory (smells with which an individual can associate a certain memory);
  • tactile (tangential sensations reminiscent of people or objects).

motor memory

Considering the properties of memory in psychology, it is also worth mentioning motor memory. This is a kind with which a person learns to memorize a dance, ride a bicycle, swim, play games, make various appropriate movements and any work activity.

emotional memory

This psychology has the following: the ability to remember experiences of fear, feelings, remember emotions, as well as their relativity to a certain situation at a particular moment. If a person did not have such a mental process, he would become “emotionally dull” (the definition of the state of an individual in which he looks uninteresting, unattractive to others, a robot-like object). The ability to express emotions is the foundation of mental health.

implicit

This is the memory of an adult and a child for unconscious information. At the same time, memorization occurs regardless of consciousness, is closed and cannot be directly observed. This process is carried out with the need to find a solution in a certain situation, but then even the knowledge that a person has is not amenable to awareness. An example of this process is that in the process of socialization a person perceives the norms of society absolutely, and in his behavior is guided by them, without realizing the theoretical principles.

Explicit memory

In this case, such a definition of memory in psychology is applicable - this is conscious use acquired knowledge. They are recalled, retrieved when there is a need to solve a certain problem using this knowledge. This process can be arbitrary and involuntary. In the last process, traces remain from the images that have arisen automatically, unconsciously. developed more in childhood, it weakens with age.

Verbal-logical memory

This is memory, in psychology, the definition of which is divided into thoughts, judgments and words. It is also logical and mechanistic. The latter includes the memorization of material due to its regular repetition, when there is no awareness of the meaning of the information. The logical one makes connections according to the meaning in the memorized objects. Memory can be of 2 types according to the level of understanding of the memorized material: explicit and implicit.

Arbitrary memory

Arbitrary memory is a definition in psychology that is responsible for the purposeful memorization of an image. Regarding the duration in time, it is divided into short-term, instantaneous, long-term, operational.

instant memory

It is also called sensory, it is expressed in the retention of information that was perceived by sensory analyzers. In turn, it is divided into echoic and iconic.

echoic memory

This is post-image memory. It contains images of some 2-3 seconds after the auditory stimulus has arisen.

Iconic

It is a specific sensory recorder of visual stimuli. With the help of it, information is recorded in a general form. Man never distinguishes between objects environment and iconic memory. If iconic information is replaced by other types of information, the visual sensation becomes more receptive. If the material comes to a person too quickly, there is a layering of information over the one that is still in the memory, and has already passed into long-term memory. This is called the reverse masking effect.

short term memory

Often, when a memory test is carried out, we are talking about short-term memory. It contributes to the memorization of images after a short-term, one-time perception and instant reproduction. In this process, it matters total number stimuli that are perceived as well as physical nature, but their information load is not taken into account.

This memory has a formula, followed by the number of stored objects. It sounds like "7 ± 2". When a person is shown stimulus material depicting a certain number of objects, he is able to remember five or nine of them in 30 seconds.

biological

Biological (genetic) memory is explained by the mechanism of heredity. This refers to the possession by a person of some patterns of behavior characteristic of people in the early periods of evolution, which is demonstrated in instincts, reflexes.

long term memory

It can store traces of images for a long time and makes it possible to use them later in future activities. Due to such memorization, a person can accumulate knowledge that he can then extract. This can be done at will or with the help of hypnosis when interfering with the brain and memory.

Depending on the target research activity, there are special types of this mental process: episodic, biological, reproductive, associative, autobiographical, reconstructive.

Memory training

Training happens at a time when people do not even notice it, as numerous books on psychology and memory tell us. Perception related to remembering the list of products to be purchased at the store, dates of birth, names of acquaintances - these are all considered training. At the same time, for development there are more specific exercises that contribute to the best memorization, as well as concentrating on the development of such abilities. If memory develops, other mental processes (perception, thinking, attention) develop along with it.

Mechanisms of memory in psychology

Known memory mechanisms are divided into semantic (logical) and mechanical.

Logical is directed to the meaning of the received information. At the same time, intensified work of thinking is proposed. The second type of memorization is associated with the form of the information received: sounds, words, images. The semantic content of the material does not completely lose its meaning when memorizing, but fades into the background.

This is the memorization of movements, the text of a poem, phone numbers. It is worth noting that in practical activities it is difficult to draw a line between mechanical and logical memorization. This is clearly seen in the most popular memorization technique - repetition.

Today, there are a huge number of memory tests that can always be taken online. There are exercises for its development, the most common of which we will describe in the article.

Development of memory in adults

Exercise can be very different. Especially popular exercises are those that contribute to the development of attention, peripheral vision, visual memory, speed reading and observation. Vision, looking for consecutive numbers, fixes only a few cells, thus remembering the place of the required cell, as well as the cells of other numbers.

Development of photographic memory

Such an exercise according to the Aivazovsky method is to look at a certain object for 5 minutes. Next, you need to close your eyes and restore the image of this object in your head very clearly. In addition, these images can be drawn, which will only help improve the effectiveness of the exercise. It should be performed from time to time so that visual memory develops well.

"The match game"

This exercise helps to train visual memory. To do this, put 5 matches on the table, and for a long time at their location, then turn away, take another 5 matches and try to recreate the location of those that you managed to remember on another surface.

"Roman Room"

This exercise contributes to the development of the ability to structure the information received, while it also trains visual memory. You should remember the sequence of various objects, their color, details, shapes. As a result, more information is trained and remembered.

There are also exercises aimed at training auditory memory.

Exercises for its development in adults must obey strict rules. Initial exercise- reading aloud. The features of memory in psychology are different in that when a person voices the material that he has remembered, he develops his own vocabulary, improves intonation, diction, improves the ability to give brightness and emotional coloring to his speech. In addition, the auditory components of the read are better remembered. You need to read easily, as if you were just talking.

There are some rules: you need to pronounce the words clearly, with a certain arrangement, expressively pronouncing each word, do not “eat” the ending, pronounce the text as if it were the words of a speaker or a diplomat, laying out his thoughts on a serious issue. Moreover, if, adhering to the rules, you read for at least 10 minutes daily, you can notice good results in auditory memory and oratory skills in one month.

Daily study of poems is an easy and good way to practice. When studying a poem, one should understand its meaning, as well as highlight the techniques used by the author.

Auditory memory is excellently developed through eavesdropping. Once in a place full of people (on the street or in transport), you need to focus on the conversation between other people, comprehend the information, trying to remember it. Then, having come home, speak the heard conversations with the appropriate intonation, and also remember the expression on the faces of those people who spoke. Practicing in this way very often, you can learn to perceive the text fluently by ear, become much more sensitive and attentive to tone and intonation.

In today's world, almost everyone is used to the fact that they always have a tablet, phone, organizer at hand, where the necessary information is stored and which you can always peep there. Work, overloading the process of memorization with unnecessary information, inability to systematize this information leads to a weakening of memory development. A good example is a scout who cannot save a map, an operation plan on his phone, he does not have time to scroll through his notebook. All the necessary information should be stored in his head, any details in order to reproduce them clearly at the necessary moment.

Memory Development

This is a huge plus of a person's personality at work and in Everyday life. The study of memory in psychology is valued because in most professions it is a huge advantage, which helps to achieve great achievements at work and take on great responsibility. There are certain ways suitable for developing this process. To remember something, you need to focus on the material itself, on the process. It is necessary to comprehend the information, look for parallels in it regarding your experience. The more chances there are to establish this connection, the better memorization will be.

If you need to remember a certain element, for example, a phone number, name, number, you should not immediately rush to the Internet or a notebook for an answer. For two minutes, you need to abstract from the external, look into the depths of your own brain and try to remember yourself.

If you need to remember something important, you should recreate in your head some kind of image regarding this, a very vivid association. The brain is much easier to remember something original, so it will be easier to remember the necessary thing. In order to make it easier to remember numbers, you should divide them into groups, or create associations, as in the previous method.

An effective method of development is considered to be a simulator that develops cognitive abilities, which is called the Wikium project.

In order to remember something well, after perceiving the information, it is necessary to say it, then retell it to someone, it will be much easier to remember, and also better understand the meaning of what was said.

A simple method is to solve simple arithmetic problems in your mind.

Besides, the easy way the development of memorization is the scrolling of the events of the day in the head. It is advisable to do this before going to bed at the end of the day, recreating all the episodes and details, experiences, feelings, emotions. In addition, you should evaluate your own actions and deeds.

Understanding the meaning of the text involves effective memorization. It is very unprofitable to memorize material mechanically without retelling it.

To effectively develop memory, you should train yourself to repeat all the new information. Initially, to memorize, you will need to repeat many times, after that the brain will be very developed in order to quickly memorize information.

a form of mental reflection, in the consolidation, preservation and subsequent reproduction of past experience. The main physiological mechanism of P. is the formation, preservation and revitalization of temporary nerve connections in the cerebral cortex. P. is genetic, long-term, individual, short-term, sensory, etc.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

MEMORY

psychophysiol. a process that performs the functions of consolidating, preserving and subsequently reproducing past experience (in the form of images, thoughts, actions, feelings). Provides the accumulation of impressions about the world around, serves as the basis for the acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities and their subsequent use. The preservation of experience creates an opportunity for learning a person and developing his psyche (perception, thinking, speech, etc.).

P serves as a necessary condition for the unity of the mental. human life, his personality.

Physiol. the basis of P. is the formation of temporary neural connections that can be restored, updated in the future under the influence of decomp. irritants.

In accordance with P.'s functions, its main is distinguished. processes of memorization, preservation, reproduction, and also forgetting. Chief among them is memorization, which determines the strength and duration of the preservation of the material, the completeness and accuracy of its reproduction. Main the conditions for the productivity of memorization are related to whether it proceeds in the form of an involuntary or voluntary process. The use of acquired experience by a person is carried out by restoring previously acquired knowledge, skills and abilities. Naib. its simplest form is recognition carried out under conditions of repeated perception of objects that were previously fixed in P. A more complex form is the reproduction of such objects of past experience that are not currently perceived. Recognition, as well as reproduction, can be arbitrary or involuntary. Forgetting manifests itself in different ways - from otd. errors in recall and recognition to the point of impossibility not only to recall, but also to recognize previously perceived Forgetting can be stable, long-term and temporary.

There are different types of P, functioning in each person, and at the same time, the most. the type of P. characteristic of a particular person. Types of P. differ depending on the nature of the material being remembered, the method of remembering it and the time it is retained in P.

In accordance with the type of memorized material, verbal (verbal), figurative, motor and emotional P. are distinguished. A detailed description of these types of P. was given by P. Blonsky, who considered them as genetic. stages of P.'s development - from motor to emotional, figurative and further to verbal as the highest type of P. of a person. Depending on which parser accepts naib. participation in the perception of the memorized material, allocate visual, auditory, tactile, and other types of P.

The relationship between the two ways of classifying the types of P. is expressed both in the fact that material of the same type can be perceived through different modalities, and in the fact that different types of material can be perceived with the help of one modality.

From con. 50s 20 century, mainly in connection with the study of problems of engineering psychology, special importance is attached to the study of the issue of the duration of information storage. On this basis, P. is divided into sensory (storage no more than 1.5 s), short-term (no more than 30 s) and long-term storage).

There are individual distinctions of P., to-rye are shown in preim development of one of P.'s types - verbal, figurative, emotional or motive The information corresponding to the prevailing P.'s type is better remembered and restored. Within the specified P.'s types exist otd. subtypes (eg, P. to persons, to numbers, etc.). Widely known individual differences P, due to the way (modality) of perception of information. In this case, one of the following types of information, visual, auditory, tactile, etc., is remembered better than others. For example, persons with more developed visual P. better remember verbal material perceived visually, and those who have better developed auditory P. , remember the same text more easily if they perceive it by ear.

One of the factors that determine the individual differences of P. are the features of functioning nervous system. However decisive factor there are differences in the activities carried out by people. Accordingly, Naib. those types of P. reach development, to-rye are more often used by the person.

P. of any person is individual, unique, because it is a reflection of the unique "pattern" of the activity of a particular individual.

The study of individual differences in P. is important both for determining the general patterns of functioning of P. and for identifying the reserves of its development in a particular person.

Since ancient times, P. has been given great importance, but the first attempts to objectively study it were made only at the end. 19 in In accordance with the associationist concept of P., the entire mechanism of memorization is reduced to the formation of associations between impressions that immediately follow each other (G Ebbinghaus, G Müller, F Schumann, A Pilzecker, etc.) Experimental studies of associationists revealed a number of important patterns in the field of P. However, due to the fact that the associateists studied only the quantitative and temporal factors of P. (change in the number of memorized elements with a different number of repetitions of the presented series and depending on their distribution in time, the dependence of the preservation of the elements of the series on time between memorization and reproduction and etc.), their research did not affect such important issues, as P.'s dependence on the direction and content of the subject's activity, P.'s connection with perception, thinking, speech, and personality as a whole.

Representatives of Gestalippsychology (V Koehler, K Koffka, M Wertheimer) emphasized the importance of structuring the material when memorizing K Levin, unlike other representatives of this direction, emphasized the role of the needs and intentions of the subject in the processes of P, but interpreted this role as a means of changing the tension in the power a field in which a gestalt is formed.

According to And Bergson's representations, there are two types of P. P - habit, P. of a body, at the heart of a cut lie fiziol. mechanisms of the brain, and P. - memory, P. of the spirit, not directly connected with the brain. This theory of two types of P. subsequently served as the basis for a number of authors as the basis for a sharp opposition of mechan-nich and semantic P.

The concept of P. in behaviorism is close to the associationist one. E. Thorndike, K. Hull, B. Skinner emphasized the role of reinforcement in the event of a reaction to a stimulus, but did not take into account the dependence of this reinforcement in humans on their conscious activity and personality traits Based on the recognition of commonality in animal behavior and the person, behaviorists investigated questions of assimilation and training of Ch. arr. on animals, which did not allow to give an exhaustive meaningful description of P.'s processes in humans.

The dependence of P.'s phenomena on a person's personality was noted by 3. Freud. According to Freud, everything that does not correspond to the subconscious inclinations of a person is forced out of P., and, on the contrary, everything pleasant for him is preserved. This dependence has not received experimental confirmation. Freud's position on the primary role of the subconscious in the activity of P.

P. Janet considered P. as an action that gradually becomes more complex and changes in its content in the course of the East. development He emphasized the social conditionality of the development of human P. and showed its dependence on the activities of people. F. Bartlett pointed to the social aspect of P. of a person, explaining with the help of social connections the distortions of the memorized material that arise during the reproduction of the material.

The social nature of the development of P. was studied by L. S. Vygotsky, giving a special role in cultural development humanity to the invention and use of signs and considering that with their help there is a transformation of directly flowing psychic. processes into mediated ones, Vygotsky saw the essence of memory in active memorization with the help of signs. P. I. Zinchenko and A. A. Smirnov made a great contribution to the study of memory.

Modern P.'s research abroad is carried out mainly by representatives of cognitive psychology (R Atkinson, A Badley, etc.) One of the main. principles of this direction - the idea of ​​the inseparable connection of all mental. processes that represent a single cognitive (cognitive) sphere of a person. Accordingly, P. is considered as one of the aspects of the general process of processing information in a person. Under the influence of a technical (cybernetic) approach, a block model of information processing appeared, in accordance with is a set of information. storages (blocks) where the processing of the received material is carried out. P.'s trace passes sequentially through all blocks until it enters the block of long-term P. for permanent storage.

In the fatherland psychology, the problems of operational P., the structure of me-mich are being studied. actions, coding of information, P.'s volume, identification mechanisms, etc. The development of philosophy is being carried out. theory problems P.

P.'s development and ways of its education. P. of a child up to about 4 years of age is involuntary. Already at the 1st month of life, elementary sensory impressions, movements, emotional states are fixed in him. By the end of the 1st half of the year, recognition appears, and then the reproduction of images of missing objects. As the child masters the skills of walking and speech, P. begins to develop rapidly as a result of the expansion of the child's contact with objects and verbal communication. In the process of enriching sensory experience and consolidating it in the speech, the children's speech becomes more and more solid. If a 1-year-old child has impressions for 1-2 weeks, then by the end of the 3rd year they can last up to 1 year. In the upbringing of P. already in the 1st year of life, it is necessary to use the child's tentative reactions to new objects. In the future, it is necessary to expand and deepen the child's need for familiarization with objects, his practical. And gaming activity.

In doshk. age of the main the place is still occupied by involuntary P. Along with figurative P., preschoolers also develop verbal-logical. P. in its concrete form. By the age of 5, the child has arbitrary processes of P., the beginning is formed. memory and recall skills. In order to prepare children for school, it is necessary to stimulate their development of arbitrary logic. P., using for this not only practical. and gaming activities, but also classes in children. garden. Experiment. data testify to the big opportunities of development at preschool children of the higher forms of P. in the course of special. training and education.

P.'s further development occurs in the process of education and upbringing at school. Uch. activity makes ever higher demands on the involuntary and especially on the voluntary P. of students. The ability to manage your P. is a necessary condition for consciousness. and durable assimilation of knowledge, the formation of decomp. skills and abilities. Children entering the school, own only the beginning. skills of arbitrary P.: their verbal-logical. P. has a specific character and is closely connected with figurative P. Developing junior schoolchildren specific verbal-logical. P., it is necessary to create a basis for the development of an abstract verbal-logical. P. in schoolchildren cf. classes, improving it in the future at Art. schoolchildren.

It is important to take into account the value of arbitrary and involuntary P. in accounting. work and the relationship between them. If you focus on arbitrary P., without fully using the laws of involuntary P., then this often leads to the formal assimilation of knowledge by schoolchildren and to shortcomings in the development of P. itself. material involuntary P. reaches high productivity in the process of assimilation of certain knowledge, skills and abilities; with its results, it prepares the ground for the productive work of arbitrary P. Only under these conditions are cramming and formalism in the assimilation of knowledge excluded.

Involuntary logical. The item successfully develops as a result of systematic. performance by students uch., cognizant. tasks. Its improvement is directly related to the development of thinking in schoolchildren, with the formation of their analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization, comparison, classification, etc. Arbitrary logical. P. develops as a result of the implementation of mnemic. tasks, and its improvement is connected with the students' mastery of ways of thinking as methods of memorization and reproduction. The development of thinking, being a direct condition for the development of involuntary memory, is at the same time a necessary prerequisite for the development of arbitrary memory. Before using the classification of objects for the purpose of memorization, the student must first learn to classify in the process of performing cognition. tasks.

T. o., osn. the path of development of involuntary and arbitrary logical. P. (in its concrete and abstract form) consists in the formation in schoolchildren of the processes of understanding, thinking as specially directed cognition. mental actions, bringing them to generalized skills and abilities and using them as methods of memorization and reproduction. In order to rationally use involuntary and arbitrary P. in the assimilation of knowledge by students and create conditions for the successful development of these fundamentals. types of P. it is necessary to teach schoolchildren to distinguish cognitive. and mnemic. tasks (understand, understand the material and remember it) and equip them with the ability to perform them in different ways. This takes into account that ml. schoolchildren, the mindset usually dominates the mindset, so the latter is often replaced by the former (understanding is more difficult for them than memorization if the latter is carried out by simple repetition). Such a substitution leads to the formal nature of knowledge, the habit of mechanical. memorization, developmental delay logical. P. Meanwhile, mechanical. memorization associated only with the repetition of material, without understanding it, is not inevitable. It is the result of shortcomings in the management of the development and upbringing of P. in children. P.'s upbringing must be associated with the upbringing of all aspects of the personality of schoolchildren, with the upbringing of motives for learning, a sense of duty and responsibility, and habits of volitional efforts and so on.

Lit .: Rybnikov N. A., Memory, its psychology and pedagogy, M.-L., 1930; Leontiev A. N., Development of memory, M., 1931; Blonsky P.P., Memory and thinking, M., 1935; Smirnov A. A., Memory and its upbringing, M., 1948; his own, Problems of the psychology of memory, M., 1966; 3 a and k o v L. V., Memory, M., 1949; Questions of the psychology of memory. Sat., ed. A. A. Smirnova. Moscow, 1958. 3 and -ch with and to about P. I., Questions of the psychology of memory, in collection: Psychological science in the USSR. vol. 1, Moscow, 1959; Smirnov A. A., The development of memory, ibid.; Zinchenko P. I., Rep-kina G. V. On the formulation of the problem of random access memory, VP, 1964, No. 6; Zinchenko P.I., Sereda G.K., Involuntary memory and learning, SP, 1964, No. 12; Rogovin M. S. Philos. problems of the theory of memory, M., 1966; Age and individual differences in memory, ed. A. A. Smirnova. Moscow, 1967. Sokolov E. N., Mechanism of memory, M., 1969; Experiment. psychology. Sat. Art., ed.-comp. P. Fress and J. Piaget, trans. from French, c. 4, M, 1973; Masonry R., Human memory, trans. from English, M., 1978; Reader in general psychology. Psychology of memory, M., 1979; A t to and -son R., Human memory and the learning process, trans. from English, M., 1980.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Memory is a universal cognitive process.

Memory is a combination of three processes: 1) memorization, 2) preservation, 3) recall.

Memorization is the process of acquiring knowledge or the process of forming a skill. In two forms it is indicated: 1) imprinting (does not involve any effort on the part of the subject, everything happens at once, the extreme option is imprinting); 2) memorization (a person makes some efforts, the process is deployed in time).

Recall is the process of updating knowledge or skill (sometimes called the process of extracting knowledge). In what form can the following occur: 1) the process of implicit recall - the process of recall, in which the task of remembering something is not set at all (the process of generating associations); 2) explicit recall - the task of recall is set. Possible options: 1. recognition (test); 2. reproduction (without answer options, retrieval from memory).

Modern psychology is more interested in conservation processes. They are not well studied. Preservation - the retention of knowledge or the preservation of skills for some time (gradual completion, changes).

Types of memory.

Subject classification. Blonsky. 4 types of memory: 1) motor (motor); 2) affective; 3) figurative; 4) verbal-logical.

Motor memory - motor skills. It was first studied in behaviorism (Watson, Thorndike, Skinner).

Affective memory is memory for emotions, they tend to accumulate. First pointed out by Ribot. Freud studied in detail.

Image memory. G. Ebbinghaus. Memory is the connection of two representations, one gives rise to the other. Representation is an image.

Verbal-logical memory. First described in the works of Jean, who denied all other types of memory. Memory is a story.

Functional classification.

    By processes (memorization, preservation, recall). Forgetting is a kind of remembering.

    By connections (objective connections of memory (Ebbinghaus) and semantic (memory as restoration)).

    By the presence of a conscious intention (whether or not there is a goal to remember): involuntary and arbitrary memory. Relevant for classical psychology. We investigated Zinchenko and Smirnov. They concluded that what is remembered (involuntarily) is material that corresponds to the mainstream of activity.

    By the presence of a means of memorization (Vygotsky: knots for memory, write down, keep a diary): direct and indirect memory. Here we recall the parallelogram of development

    According to the duration of information storage (Atkinson and Shifrin): ultra-short-term or instantaneous memory (sensory register; 1 second, maybe 3), short-term (up to a minute) and long-term (indefinitely long time).

Types of long-term memory: autobiographical (memory associated with a person’s personality, for events own life); semantic memory (general knowledge; for example, knowledge of the meaning of words). This division was first introduced by Henri Bergson. Terms proposed by Endel Tulving (1972). Bergson used his own terms: memory of the body (semantic) and memory of the spirit (autobiographical). The memory of the spirit is immediately and for a long time, the memory of the body is a training, gradually.

Genetic classification(according to antiquity). Blonsky puts forward arguments in favor of considering the 4 types of memory that he identified as stages of its development. Ontogenetic and phylogenetic arguments: 1. The most ancient type of memory is motor memory. In the ontogenetic argument, this memory occurs earlier than others (in the first few days, the baby in the feeding position demonstrates sucking movements). Phylogeny - Protozoa have the simplest forms of motor memory. 2. Affective memory occurs after motor memory (in the first few months). Ontogenesis: Watson, showed the children a rabbit and pulled out a rug - fears arise. In phylogenesis - experiments with worms in labyrinths. 3. Figurative memory (develops until late childhood). In ontogeny, researchers disagree about when images appear in a child: at 6 months or at 2 years. In phylogenesis, one zoopsychologist claimed that his dog was dreaming. The people we call savages have images. Perhaps even more developed than the Europeans. 4. Verbal-logical memory. Does not exist in phylogeny. In ontogeny, it occurs at the age of 6-7, develops to adolescence and beyond. The destruction of memory goes from the highest to the lowest (from the verbal-logical and further).

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Memory is the general designation for the complex cognitive abilities and higher mental functions for the accumulation, preservation and reproduction of knowledge and skills. Memory in various forms and types is inherent in all higher animals. The most developed level of memory is characteristic of a person.

The pioneer in the study of human memory is Herman Ebbinghaus, who experimented on himself (the main technique was to memorize meaningless lists of words or syllables).

Memory in neurophysiology

Memory is one of the properties of the nervous system, which consists in the ability to store information about the events of the external world and the body's reactions to these events for some time, as well as repeatedly reproduce and change this information.

Memory is characteristic of animals that have a sufficiently developed central nervous system (CNS). The amount of memory, the duration and reliability of information storage, as well as the ability to perceive complex environmental signals and develop adequate responses, are proportional to the number of nerve cells involved in these processes.

According to modern concepts, memory is an integral part of such processes as

Memory and learning

Memory and learning are sides of the same process. Learning usually means the mechanisms for acquiring and fixing information, and memory - the mechanisms for storing and retrieving this information.

Learning processes can be divided into non-associative and associative. Non-associative learning is seen as evolutionarily older and does not imply a connection between what is remembered and any other stimuli. Associative is based on the formation of a connection between several stimuli. For example, the classic version of the development conditioned reflex according to Pavlov: establishing a connection between a neutral conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus that causes an unconditioned reflex response.

Unconditioned reflexes are not included in this classification, since they are carried out on the basis of inherited patterns of connections between nerve cells.

Non-associative learning is divided into summation, habituation, long-term potentiation, and imprinting.

Summation

Summation is a gradual increase in the response to repeated presentations of a previously indifferent stimulus. The result of summation is to ensure the response of the organism to weak, but long-acting stimuli, which can potentially have some consequences for the life of the individual.

In a normal situation, the reaction develops as follows: a strong stimulus causes a whole bunch of action potentials in the sensitive neuron, which leads to a large release of the mediator from the synaptic ending of the axon of the sensitive neuron on the motor neuron, and this is enough to cause an suprathreshold postsynaptic potential and trigger an action potential in the motor neuron .

A different situation is observed in the development of summation.

One scenario for the development of summation is the rhythmic use of a series of weak stimuli, each of which is insufficient to release a neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft. At the same time, if the stimulation frequency is high enough, then calcium ions accumulate in the presynaptic ending, since ion pumps do not have time to pump them into the intercellular medium. As a result, the next action potential can cause the release of a mediator, which is enough to excite the postsynaptic motor neuron. If, at the same time, rhythmic stimulation with subthreshold stimuli is not interrupted earlier, then the incoming action potentials will continue to trigger the reflex, since the high content of Ca 2+ at the end of the sensitive neuron is preserved. If, however, a pause is made in stimulation, then Ca 2+ will be removed, and preliminary summation will again be required to trigger the reflex with weak stimuli.

Another scenario for the development of summation is observed with a single but strong stimulation, as a result of which a highly sensitive series of impulses arrives at the presynaptic ending on the motor neuron, leading to the entry of a large amount of Ca2+ ions into the ending, which is enough to excite the next neuron in the circuit with an earlier subthreshold stimulus. The duration of this effect can be seconds.

The ability to summation appears to underlie short-term neurological memory. Receiving any information through the system of analyzers (looking closely, listening, sniffing, carefully trying a new food seasoning for us), we provide rhythmic stimulation of the synapses through which the sensory signal passes. These synapses maintain an increased excitability for several minutes, facilitating the conduction of impulses, and thus retain a trace of the transmitted information. However, summation, being an evolutionarily early learning mechanism, quickly disappears and cannot withstand any strong external influences on the organism.

addictive

With repeated irritation of medium strength, the reaction to it is weakened or disappears altogether. This phenomenon is called "addiction" (or "habituation").

The reasons for addiction are varied and the first of them is the adaptation of receptors. The second reason is the accumulation of Ca2+ in presynaptic endings on inhibitory neurons. In this case, repeated signals, initially insignificant for inhibitory neurons, are gradually summed up, and then they trigger inhibitory neurons, the activity of which blocks the passage of signals along the reflex arc. Habituation can be seen as the summation of inhibitory signals. It must be emphasized that summation and habituation, like other forms of synaptic plasticity, are simply a consequence of the structure of synapses and the organization of neurons.

Long term potentiation

Long-term potentiation occurs when an animal is presented with a stimulus that it recognizes but is too weak to elicit a response. After a long pause (1 - 2 hours), the animal is presented with a strong stimulus that causes the reaction under study. The next stimulation is carried out after another 1-2 hours with the help of a weak signal that did not previously lead to the triggering of the reflex. In animals in which the nervous system is capable of long-term potentiation, a reflex response occurs. In the future, the interval between strong and weak stimulation can be increased to 5 or even 10 hours, and the excitability of the nervous system will always remain elevated.

Long-term potentiation can be considered as a variant of "long" short-term memory, extending to the daytime period of a person's wakefulness - from morning to evening.

Imprinting

This phenomenon is defined as a stable individual selectivity in relation to external stimuli in certain periods of ontogeny. The following variants of imprinting are best known: memorization of the parent by the cub; memorization of the cub by the parent; imprinting of the future sexual partner.

Unlike a conditioned reflex, this connection, firstly, is formed only in a strictly defined period of the animal's life; secondly, it is formed without reinforcement; thirdly, in the future it turns out to be very stable, practically not subject to extinction and can persist throughout the life of the individual. Imprintin was shown to be accompanied by activation of neurons in the intermediate region of the medioventral hyperstriatum. Damage to this area disrupted both imprinting and other types of memory in chickens.

In the process of memorization/learning by the type of imprinting, contacts are established between groups of neurons of one nucleus with strictly defined groups of another nucleus. As learning progresses, the size of neurons, their number within the corresponding structures, the number of spines and synaptic contacts can either increase - or the number of neurons, synaptic connections and NMDA receptors in synapses can even decrease, but the affinity of the remaining receptors for a specific mediator will increase.

We can propose the following model for the development of imprinting.

Glutamic acid released from the end of the neuron acts on metabotropic receptors on the surface of the postsynaptic neuron and triggers the production of a secondary (intracellular) messenger (for example, cAMP). The second messenger through a cascade of regulatory reactions enhances the synthesis of proteins that form new synapses to glutamate, which are integrated into the neuron membrane in such a way as to capture signals from the most active presynaptic ending, which transmits information about the characteristics of the imprinting object. Embedding new receptors in the membrane increases the efficiency of synaptic transmission, and the sum of evoked postsynaptic potentials from incoming signals reaches a threshold level. Then PD will arise and the behavioral response will be triggered.

It should be emphasized that neurochemical and synaptic changes do not occur instantly, but take time. For successful imprinting, it is important to have a stable sensory "pressure" on the learning neuron, for example, the constant presence of the mother. If this condition is not met, then imprinting does not occur at all.

Trained neurons are able to maintain the concentration of receptors on the postsynaptic membrane of the "imprinted" synapse at a constant high level, which ensures the stability of imprinting, which makes it possible to consider it as a specific variant of long-term memory.

Associative learning

Associative learning is based on the formation of a connection (association) between two stimuli. As an example, we can consider the formation of a conditioned reflex, when a signal is simultaneously applied to one neuron both from some insignificant stimulus and from the center of positive reinforcement from the hypothalamus. At the same time, it is likely that different second messengers are generated at different postsynaptic sites, and a change in the expression of receptor genes for neurotransmitters acting on a given neuron will be due to the total effect of these second messengers.

memory and sleep


Work on the study of sleep deprivation (deprivation) on memory processes shows that sleep-deprived people reproduce many times less material compared to people who were not deprived of sleep. With a 36-hour deprivation, a deterioration in the ability to reproduce material by 40% is observed. An interesting pattern is revealed if we analyze separately the effect of sleep on the ability to reproduce material of different emotional coloring. First, the results indicate that emotionally charged material is remembered better than emotionally neutral material, regardless of the amount of sleep. This is consistent with the notion that memory consolidation occurs with significant involvement of emotion-forming reinforcement systems. In addition, it turns out that although the deterioration of memorization during sleep deprivation is observed in all cases, the intensity of this effect depends significantly on the emotional coloring of the material. Most difficult is the reproduction of emotionally neutral and especially emotionally positive material. While changes in the reproduction of emotionally negative material are few and statistically unreliable.

Research into the role of daytime naps on procedural memory formation shows that with instrumental learning, people only show skill improvement after a nap of at least a few hours, whether they slept during the day or at night.

There is no unambiguous answer to the question about all the mechanisms of connection between the processes of sleep and memory, just as there is no answer to the question about possible compensatory mechanisms that develop after some impact on the brain structures usually involved in the processes of sleep and memory. Some researchers criticize the position on the relationship between sleep mechanisms and memory mechanisms, arguing either that sleep generally plays only a passive (albeit positive) role in memorization, reducing the negative interference of memory traces, or that REM sleep is not involved in memory processes. In favor of the latter position, the following groups of arguments are given:

  • Behavioral: all experiments on the study of deprivation of REM sleep by the "islet method" (an experimental animal is placed in conditions where, when losing a posture - which is inevitable in the stage of REM sleep - it falls into the water and wakes up) cannot be considered convincing, due to the inadequacy of the technique.
  • Pharmacological: All three main classes of antidepressants (MAO inhibitors, tricyclics, and serotonin reuptake inhibitors) completely or almost completely suppress REM sleep, but do not cause learning and memory impairment in either patients or experimental animals.
  • Clinical: there are several reports of patients with bilateral destruction in the area of ​​the bridge - in such patients, REM sleep completely and, apparently, forever disappeared, but no complaints of learning and memory impairment have been reported from such patients.

memory and stress

memory and morality

People tend to repeat immoral acts, as the brain suppresses memories of its own such behavior. However, the serious consequences of "bad" deeds limit the possibilities of immoral amnesia.

Memory and physical activity

Scientists from the University of California (USA) have proven the connection between exercise and memory. Regular exercise contributes to an increase in the level of glutamic and gamma-aminobutyric acids in the brain, which are necessary for many processes of mental activity and mood. Exercising for 20 minutes is enough to increase the concentration of these compounds and improve memory processes.

The genetics of memory

Memory processes

  • Memorization is a memory process through which traces are imprinted, new elements of sensations, perception, thinking or experience are introduced into the system of associative links. Memorization can be arbitrary and involuntary, the basis of arbitrary memorization is the establishment of semantic connections - the result of the work of thinking on the content of the memorized material.
  • Storage - the process of accumulation of material in the structure of memory, including its processing and assimilation. The preservation of experience makes it possible for a person to learn, develop his perceptual (internal assessments, perception of the world) processes, thinking and speech.
  • Reproduction and recognition is the process of updating the elements of past experience (images, thoughts, feelings, movements). A simple form of reproduction is recognition - the recognition of a perceived object or phenomenon as already known from past experience, the establishment of similarities between the object and its image in memory. Reproduction is voluntary and involuntary. With an involuntary image pops up in the mind without the efforts of a person.

If in the process of reproduction there are difficulties, then there is a process of recall. Selection of elements necessary in terms of the required task. The reproduced information is not an exact copy of what is imprinted in memory. Information is always being transformed, rearranged.

  • Forgetting is the loss of the ability to reproduce, and sometimes even recognize, previously memorized. What is forgotten most often is that which is insignificant. Forgetting can be partial (reproduction is incomplete or with an error) and complete (impossibility of reproduction and recognition). Distinguish between temporary and long-term forgetting.

Theoretical models of memory in psychology

The sensory processes that form the visual-spatial sketch, as well as the phonological loop in the Baddley memory model, are considered within the processing levels model of Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart as processing processes.

Classification of types of memory

There are different types of memory:

At the junction between episodic and semantic memory, autobiographical memory is distinguished, which includes features of both.

You can build another classification according to the content of memory:

procedural (memory for actions) and declarative (memory for names). Within the framework of the latter, episodic (memory for events and phenomena of a person's individual life) and semantic (knowledge of things that do not depend on a person's individual life) are distinguished.

sensory memory

Sensory memory stores stimulus information that occurs when stimuli are applied to the senses. Sensory memory retains sensory information after the stimulus has ceased.

iconic memory

Iconic memory is a type of sensory memory. Iconic memory is a discrete sensory recorder of visual stimuli. A feature of iconic memory is the fixation of information in a holistic, portrait form.

The experiments of George Spurling are connected with the study of iconic sensory memory, its volume. In experiments, Sperling used as a procedure " general report”(Whole Report Procedure), and our own development - the procedure of the “partial report” (Partial Report Procedure). Due to the transience of iconic memory, the general reporting procedure did not allow an objective assessment of the amount of information recorded in the sensory memory, since during the reporting process itself, the portrait information was “forgotten”, it was erased from the sensory iconic memory. The partial reporting procedure showed that 75% of the visual field is registered in iconic memory. Sperling's experiments showed that information fades away in iconic memory quickly (within tenths of a second). It has also been found that the processes associated with iconic memory are not mentally controlled. Even when the subjects could not observe the symbols, they still reported that they continued to see them. Thus, the subject of the memorization process does not distinguish between the content of iconic memory and objects that are in the environment.

Erasing the information in the iconic memory with other information coming from the senses allows the visual sensation to be more receptive. This property of iconic memory - erasure - ensures the memorization of information in iconic memory, given its limited volume, even if the speed of sensory information incoming exceeds the rate of attenuation of sensory information in iconic memory. Studies have shown that if visual information arrives fast enough (up to 100 milliseconds), then there is an overlay new information to the previous one, which is still in memory, without having time to fade in it and move to another level of memory - a more long-term one. This feature of iconic memory is called reverse masking effect . So, if you show a letter, and then for 100 milliseconds at the same position of the visual field - a ring, then the subject will perceive the letter in the ring.

echoic memory

Echoic memory stores stimulus information received through the organs of hearing.

Tactile memory

Tactile memory registers stimulus information coming through the somatosensory system.

Long-term and short-term memory

short term memory

a person will be able to remember much more letters because he is able to group (combine into chains) information about the semantic groups of letters (in the English original: FBIPHDTWAIBM and FBI PHD TWA IBM). Herbert Simon also showed that perfect size for sequences of letters and numbers, whether meaningful or not, is three units. Perhaps in some countries this is reflected in the tendency to present a telephone number as several groups of 3 digits and a final group of 4 digits divided into 2 groups of two.

There are hypotheses that short-term memory relies primarily on an acoustic (verbal) code for storing information and, to a lesser extent, on a visual code. In his study (), Konrad showed that it is more difficult for subjects to recall sets of words that are acoustically similar.

Modern studies of ant communication have proven that ants are able to remember and transmit information up to 7 bits. Moreover, the influence of possible grouping of objects on the message length and transmission efficiency is shown. In this sense, the law magic number 7±2" was also performed for ants.

long term memory

Long-term memory is supported by more stable and unchanging changes in neural connections widely distributed throughout the brain. The hippocampus is important in consolidating information from short-term to long-term memory, although it does not appear to store information itself. Rather, the hippocampus is involved in changing neural connections after 3 months of initial learning.

Description of memory in mnemonics

Memory Properties

  • Accuracy
  • Volume
  • The speed of memorization processes
  • The speed of forgetting processes

Patterns of memory revealed in mnemonics

Memory has a volume limited by the number of stable processes that are basic when creating associations (connections, relationships)

The success of recall depends on the ability to switch attention to the basic processes, to restore them. The main technique: a sufficient number and frequency of repetitions.

There is such a pattern as the forgetting curve.

Mnemotechnical "laws" of memory
Law of memory Implementation Practices
Law of Interest Interesting things are easier to remember.
Law of comprehension The deeper you become aware of the memorized information, the better it will be remembered.
Installation Law If a person gave himself the installation to remember information, then memorization will happen easier.
Law of Action The information involved in the activity (i.e., if knowledge is applied in practice) is remembered better.
Law of context With the associative linking of information with already familiar concepts, the new is absorbed better.
Law of inhibition When studying similar concepts, the effect of "overlapping" the old information with the new one is observed.
The Law of Optimal Row Length The length of the memorized row for better memorization should not be much greater than the amount of short-term memory.
edge law It is best to remember the information presented at the beginning and at the end.
Law of repetition Information that is repeated several times is best remembered (see the forgetting curve).
Law of incompleteness (Zeigarnik effect) Incomplete actions, tasks, unsaid phrases, etc. are best remembered.

Mnemonic memorization techniques

Mythology, religion, philosophy about memory

  • In ancient Greek mythology, there is a myth about the river Lethe. Lethe means "oblivion" and is an integral part of the realm of the dead. The dead are those who have lost their memory. And on the contrary, some who were awarded preference - among them Tiresias or Amphiaraus - retained their memory even after their death.
  • The opposite of the Lethe River is the Goddess Mnemosyne, personified Memory, sister of Kronos and Okeanos - the mother of all muses. She has Omniscience: according to Hesiod (Theogony, 32 38), she knows "everything that was, everything that is, and everything that will be." When the Muses take possession of the poet, he drinks from the source of knowledge of Mnemosyne, which means, first of all, that he touches the knowledge of the “origins”, “beginnings”.
  • According to Plato's philosophy, Anamnesis is recollection, recollection is a concept that describes the basic procedure of the process of cognition.

see also

  • Kim Peak, a man with a phenomenal memory, remembered up to 98% of the information he read
  • Jill Price, a woman with a rare memory property - hyperthymesia

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Notes

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  5. Carter, R. "How the Brain Works." - M.: AST: Corpus, 2014. - 224 p.
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  10. Walker M.P, Stickgold R. Sleep, memory, and plasticity // Annual Review of Psychology. 57 (2006), pp. 139-166
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  13. Bremner J.D. et al. MRI-based measurement of hippocampal volume in post-traumatic stress disorder//Biological Phychiatry 41 (1997), pp. 23-32
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  15. Atkinson, R. C, & Shiffrin, R. M. (1971). The control of short-term memory. Scientific American, 225, 82-90.
  16. Craik, FIM; Lockhart RS (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior 11(6): 671-84.
  17. Zinchenko P.I. The problem of involuntary memorization // Nauchn. notes of Kharkov ped. Institute of foreign languages. 1939. T. 1. S. 145-187.
  18. K. Jung
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  20. Coltheart, Max (1980). Iconic memory and visible persistence. Perception & Psychophysics 27(3): 183-228.
  21. Sperling, George (1960). "The information available in brief visual presentations". Psychological Monographs 74: 1-29.
  22. Unwin. Baxt, N. (1871). Ueber die Zeit, welche notig ist, damit ein Gesichtseindruck zum Bewusstsein
  23. John Kilstrom Professor, University of California, Berkeley
  24. Squire, L. R., & Knowlton, B. J. The medial temporal lobe, the hippocampus, and the memory systems of the brain. In M. Gazaniga (Ed.), The new cognitive neurosciences (2nd ed., pp. 765-780). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press., 2000
  25. B. Meshcheryakov, V. P. Zinchenko, Bolshoy psychological dictionary, St. Petersburg: prime-EVROZNAK, 2003.- 672 p. Article "Memory physiological mechanisms". S. 370.
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  • Luria A. R. A little book about great memory. - M., .
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Links

  • Mechanisms of memory and forgetting. Transfer from the cycle "Night air". And .

An excerpt characterizing memory

After talking for some time in a general circle, Speransky got up and, going up to Prince Andrei, took him with him to the other end of the room. It was evident that he considered it necessary to deal with Bolkonsky.
“I didn’t have time to talk with you, prince, in the midst of that animated conversation in which this venerable old man was involved,” he said, smiling meekly contemptuously and with this smile, as if acknowledging that he, together with Prince Andrei, understands the insignificance of those people with whom he just spoke. This appeal flattered Prince Andrei. - I have known you for a long time: firstly, in your case about your peasants, this is our first example, to which it would be so desirable to have more followers; and secondly, because you are one of those chamberlains who did not consider themselves offended by the new decree on court ranks, causing such rumors and gossip.
- Yes, - said Prince Andrei, - my father did not want me to use this right; I started my service from the lower ranks.
- Your father, a man of the old age, obviously stands above our contemporaries, who so condemn this measure, which restores only natural justice.
“I think, however, that there is a basis in these condemnations ...” said Prince Andrei, trying to fight the influence of Speransky, which he began to feel. It was unpleasant for him to agree with him in everything: he wanted to contradict. Prince Andrei, who usually spoke easily and well, now felt difficulty in expressing himself when speaking with Speransky. He was too busy observing the personality of a famous person.
“There may be grounds for personal ambition,” Speransky quietly put in his word.
“Partly for the state,” said Prince Andrei.
- How do you understand? ... - Speransky said, quietly lowering his eyes.
“I am an admirer of Montesquieu,” said Prince Andrei. - And his idea that le principe des monarchies est l "honneur, me parait incontestable. Certains droits et privileges de la noblesse me paraissent etre des moyens de soutenir ce sentiment. [the basis of monarchies is honor, it seems to me undoubted. Some rights and the privileges of the nobility seem to me to be the means of sustaining this feeling.]
The smile disappeared from Speransky's white face, and his countenance benefited greatly from this. Probably the thought of Prince Andrei seemed entertaining to him.
“Si vous envisagez la question sous ce point de vue, [If you look at the subject like that],” he began, speaking French with obvious difficulty and speaking even more slowly than Russian, but perfectly calm. He said that honor, l "honneur, cannot be supported by advantages harmful to the course of service, that honor, l" honneur, is either: a negative concept of not doing reprehensible acts, or a well-known source of competition for obtaining approval and awards expressing it.
His arguments were concise, simple and clear.
The institution that maintains this honor, the source of competition, is an institution similar to the Legion d "honneur [Order of the Legion of Honor] of the great Emperor Napoleon, which does not harm, but contributes to the success of the service, and not class or court advantage.
“I do not argue, but it cannot be denied that the advantage of the court achieved the same goal,” said Prince Andrei: “every courtier considers himself obliged to adequately bear his position.
“But you didn’t want to take advantage of it, prince,” said Speransky, showing with a smile that he, an awkward argument for his interlocutor, wants to end with courtesy. “If you do me the honor of welcoming me on Wednesday,” he added, “then I, after talking with Magnitsky, will tell you what may interest you, and besides, I will have the pleasure of talking with you in more detail. - He, closing his eyes, bowed, and a la francaise, [in the French manner,] without saying goodbye, trying to be unnoticed, left the hall.

During the first time of his stay in St. Petersburg, Prince Andrei felt his entire frame of mind, developed in his solitary life, completely obscured by those petty worries that seized him in St. Petersburg.
In the evening, returning home, he wrote down in his memory book 4 or 5 necessary visits or rendez vous [dates] at the appointed hours. The mechanism of life, the order of the day is such as to be in time everywhere, took away a large share of the very energy of life. He did nothing, did not even think about anything and did not have time to think, but only spoke and successfully said what he had managed to think over in the village before.
He sometimes noticed with displeasure that it happened to him on the same day, in different societies, to repeat the same thing. But he was so busy all day long that he did not have time to think that he did not think anything.
Speransky, both on the first meeting with him at Kochubey’s, and then in the middle of the house, where Speransky, privately, having received Bolkonsky, spoke with him for a long time and trustingly, made a strong impression on Prince Andrei.
Prince Andrei considered such a huge number of people to be contemptible and insignificant creatures, he so wanted to find in another a living ideal of that perfection to which he aspired, that he easily believed that in Speransky he found this ideal of a completely reasonable and virtuous person. If Speransky had been from the same society from which Prince Andrei was, of the same upbringing and moral habits, then Bolkonsky would soon have found his weak, human, non-heroic sides, but now this logical mindset, strange to him, inspired him all the more respect that he did not quite understand it. In addition, Speransky, whether because he appreciated the abilities of Prince Andrei, or because he found it necessary to acquire him for himself, Speransky flirted with Prince Andrei with his impartial, calm mind and flattered Prince Andrei with that subtle flattery, combined with arrogance, which consists in tacit recognition his interlocutor with himself, together with the only person capable of understanding all the stupidity of everyone else, and the rationality and depth of his thoughts.
During their long conversation on Wednesday evening, Speransky said more than once: “We look at everything that comes out of general level deep-rooted habit…” or with a smile: “But we want the wolves to be fed and the sheep safe…” or: “They can’t understand this…” and all with such an expression that said: “We: you and I, we understand who they are and who we are.”
This first, long conversation with Speransky only strengthened in Prince Andrei the feeling with which he saw Speransky for the first time. He saw in him a reasonable, strict-thinking, huge mind of a man who had achieved power with energy and perseverance and was using it only for the good of Russia. Speransky, in the eyes of Prince Andrei, was precisely that person who rationally explains all the phenomena of life, recognizes as valid only what is reasonable, and knows how to apply the measure of rationality to everything, which he himself so wanted to be. Everything seemed so simple, clear in Speransky's presentation that Prince Andrei involuntarily agreed with him in everything. If he objected and argued, it was only because he wanted on purpose to be independent and not completely obey the opinions of Speransky. Everything was like that, everything was fine, but one thing confused Prince Andrei: it was Speransky’s cold, mirror-like look, not letting in his soul, and his white, tender hand, which Prince Andrei involuntarily looked at, as they usually look at people’s hands, having power. For some reason, this mirror look and this gentle hand irritated Prince Andrei. Prince Andrei was also unpleasantly struck by the too great contempt for people that he noticed in Speransky, and the variety of methods in the evidence that he cited in support of his opinions. He used all possible tools of thought, excluding comparisons, and too boldly, as it seemed to Prince Andrei, he moved from one to another. Now he took the ground of a practical figure and condemned the dreamers, then he took the ground of a satirist and ironically laughed at his opponents, then he became strictly logical, then he suddenly rose into the realm of metaphysics. (He used this last instrument of proof with particular frequency.) He carried the question to metaphysical heights, passed into the definitions of space, time, thought, and, bringing refutations from there, again descended to the ground of the dispute.
At all main feature Speransky's mind, which struck Prince Andrei, was an undoubted, unshakable faith in the strength and legitimacy of the mind. It was evident that Speransky had never been able to get into the head of that ordinary thought for Prince Andrei that it is impossible to express everything that you think, and there never came a doubt that everything that I think and everything that I think is not nonsense. What do I believe? And this particular mindset of Speransky most of all attracted Prince Andrei.
At the first time of his acquaintance with Speransky, Prince Andrei had a passionate feeling of admiration for him, similar to the one he once felt for Bonaparte. The fact that Speransky was the son of a priest, whom stupid people could, as many people did, began to despise as a goofball and priest, forced Prince Andrei to be especially careful with his feeling for Speransky, and unconsciously strengthen it in himself.
On that first evening that Bolkonsky spent with him, talking about the commission for drafting laws, Speransky ironically told Prince Andrei that the commission of laws had existed for 150 years, cost millions and had done nothing, that Rosenkampf had pasted labels on all articles of comparative legislation. - And that's all for which the state paid millions! - he said.
“We want to give a new judicial power to the Senate, and we don't have laws. Therefore, it is a sin not to serve people like you, prince, now.
Prince Andrei said that this required a legal education, which he did not have.
- Yes, no one has it, so what do you want? This is the circulus viciosus, [the vicious circle] from which one must get out of the effort.

A week later, Prince Andrei was a member of the commission for drafting the military regulations, and, which he did not expect, the head of the department of the commission for compiling wagons. At the request of Speransky, he took the first part of the civil code being compiled and, with the help of the Code Napoleon and Justiniani, [the Code of Napoleon and Justinian,] worked on compiling the department: Rights of persons.

About two years ago, in 1808, returning to St. Petersburg from his trip to the estates, Pierre involuntarily became the head of St. Petersburg Freemasonry. He set up dining and funeral lodges, recruited new members, took care of uniting various lodges and acquiring genuine acts. He gave his money for the construction of temples and replenished, as far as he could, almsgiving, for which most of the members were stingy and sloppy. He almost alone at his own expense supported the house of the poor, arranged by the order in St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, his life went on as before, with the same hobbies and licentiousness. He liked to dine and drink well, and although he considered it immoral and humiliating, he could not refrain from the amusements of bachelor societies in which he participated.
In the wake of his studies and hobbies, Pierre, however, after a year, began to feel how the soil of Freemasonry on which he stood, the more he left from under his feet, the more firmly he tried to become on it. At the same time, he felt that the deeper the soil on which he stood went under his feet, the more involuntarily he was connected with it. When he began Freemasonry, he experienced the feeling of a man trustingly placing his foot on the flat surface of a swamp. Putting his foot down, he fell. In order to fully assure himself of the firmness of the ground on which he stood, he put his other foot on and sank even more, got stuck and already involuntarily walked knee-deep in the swamp.
Iosif Alekseevich was not in Petersburg. (He is in Lately retired from the affairs of St. Petersburg lodges and lived without a break in Moscow.) All the brothers, members of the lodges, were people familiar to Pierre in life, and it was difficult for him to see in them only brothers in stoneworking, and not Prince B., not Ivan Vasilyevich D., whom he knew in life for the most part as weak and worthless people. From under the Masonic aprons and signs, he saw on them uniforms and crosses, which they had achieved in life. Often, collecting alms and counting 20-30 rubles written down for the parish, and mostly in debt from ten members, of whom half were as rich as he was, Pierre recalled the Masonic oath that each brother promises to give everything property for a neighbor; and doubts arose in his soul, on which he tried not to dwell.
He divided all the brothers he knew into four categories. In the first category, he ranked the brothers who do not take an active part either in the affairs of lodges or in human affairs, but are exclusively occupied with the sacraments of the science of the order, occupied with questions about the triple name of God, or about the three principles of things, sulfur, mercury and salt, or about the meaning square and all the figures of Solomon's temple. Pierre respected this category of Masonic brothers, to which the old brothers mostly belonged, and Joseph Alekseevich himself, according to Pierre, did not share their interests. His heart did not lie to the mystical side of Freemasonry.
In the second category, Pierre included himself and brothers like himself, who are searching, hesitating, who have not yet found a direct and understandable path in Freemasonry, but hoping to find it.
He ranked the brothers in the third category (they were the most big number), who do not see in Freemasonry anything but the external form and ritualism and value the strict execution of this external form, not caring about its content and meaning. Such were Vilarsky and even the great master of the main lodge.
To the fourth category, finally, was also ranked a large number of brethren, especially those who have lately joined the brotherhood. These were people, according to Pierre's observations, who did not believe in anything, who did not want anything, and who entered Freemasonry only to get closer to young rich and strong brothers in connections and nobility, of whom there were very many in the lodge.
Pierre began to feel dissatisfied with his activities. Freemasonry, at least the Freemasonry he knew here, sometimes seemed to him to be based on appearance alone. He did not even think of doubting Freemasonry itself, but he suspected that Russian Freemasonry had taken the wrong path and deviated from its source. And therefore, at the end of the year, Pierre went abroad to initiate himself into the highest secrets of the order.

In the summer back in 1809, Pierre returned to St. Petersburg. According to the correspondence of our Freemasons with foreign ones, it was known that Bezuhy had managed to gain the trust of many high-ranking officials abroad, penetrated many secrets, was elevated to the highest degree, and was carrying with him a lot for the common good of stonemasonry in Russia. Petersburg Freemasons all came to him, currying favor with him, and it seemed to everyone that he was hiding something and preparing something.
A solemn meeting of the lodge of the 2nd degree was appointed, in which Pierre promised to inform what he had to convey to the St. Petersburg brothers from the highest leaders of the order. The meeting was full. After the usual rituals, Pierre got up and began his speech.
“Dear brothers,” he began, blushing and stammering, and holding a written speech in his hand. – It is not enough to observe our sacraments in the quiet of the lodge – you need to act… act. We are in stupor, and we need to act. Pierre took his notebook and began to read.
“In order to spread pure truth and deliver the triumph of virtue,” he read, we must cleanse people of prejudices, spread rules consistent with the spirit of the times, take upon ourselves the education of youth, unite with inseparable bonds with smartest people, boldly and together prudently overcome superstition, unbelief and stupidity, to form people who are devoted to us, bound together by a unity of purpose and having power and strength.
“To achieve this goal, virtue must be given a preponderance over vice, one must strive so that an honest person gains an eternal reward for his virtues in this world. But in these great intentions we are hindered by quite a lot - the current political institutions. What to do in such a state of affairs? Shall we favor revolutions, overthrow everything, expel force by force?... No, we are very far from that. Every violent reform is reprehensible, because it will do nothing to correct evil as long as people remain as they are, and because wisdom has no need for violence.
“The entire plan of the order should be based on educating people who are firm, virtuous and bound by the unity of conviction, a conviction consisting in pursuing vice and stupidity everywhere and with all your might and patronizing talents and virtue: to extract worthy people from the dust, joining them to our brotherhood. Then only our order will have the power to insensitively bind the hands of the patrons of disorder and control them so that they do not notice it. In a word, it is necessary to establish a universal dominating form of government, which would extend over the whole world without destroying civil bonds, and under which all other governments could continue in their usual order and do everything except that only that hinders the great goal of our order, then is the delivery of virtue triumph over vice. Christianity itself presupposed this goal. It taught people to be wise and kind, and for their own benefit to follow the example and instructions of the best and wisest people.
“Then, when everything was immersed in darkness, of course, one sermon was enough: the news of the truth gave it special power, but now much stronger means are needed for us. Now it is necessary that a person, guided by his feelings, find sensual charms in virtue. It is impossible to eradicate passions; we must only try to direct them to a noble goal, and therefore it is necessary that everyone should be able to satisfy his passions within the limits of virtue, and that our order should provide means for this.
“As soon as we have a certain number of worthy people in each state, each of them again forms two others, and they all closely unite with each other - then everything will be possible for the order, which has already secretly managed to do a lot for the good of mankind.”
This speech made not only a strong impression, but also excitement in the box. The majority of the brothers, who saw in this speech the dangerous plans of the Illuminati, accepted his speech with coldness that surprised Pierre. The great master began to object to Pierre. Pierre began to develop his thoughts with great and great fervor. There hasn't been such a stormy meeting for a long time. Parties were formed: some accused Pierre, condemning him for the Illuminati; others supported him. For the first time at this meeting, Pierre was struck by the infinite diversity of human minds, which makes it so that no truth is equally presented to two people. Even those of the members who seemed to be on his side understood him in their own way, with restrictions, changes that he could not agree to, since Pierre's main need was precisely to convey his thought to another exactly as he himself understood her.
At the end of the meeting, the great master, with hostility and irony, made a remark to Bezukhoi about his ardor and that not only love for virtue, but also the enthusiasm for the struggle led him in the dispute. Pierre did not answer him and briefly asked if his proposal would be accepted. He was told that no, and Pierre, without waiting for the usual formalities, left the box and went home.

Pierre again found that longing that he was so afraid of. For three days after delivering his speech in the box, he lay at home on the sofa, receiving no one and not leaving anywhere.
At this time, he received a letter from his wife, who begged him for a date, wrote about her sadness for him and about her desire to devote her whole life to him.
At the end of the letter, she informed him that one of these days she would come to St. Petersburg from abroad.
Following the letter, one of the brothers Masons, less respected by him, broke into Pierre's solitude and, having brought the conversation to marital relations Pierre, in the form of brotherly advice, expressed to him the idea that his severity towards his wife was unfair, and that Pierre deviates from the first rules of the Mason, not forgiving the penitent.
At the same time, his mother-in-law, the wife of Prince Vasily, sent for him, begging him to visit her at least for a few minutes to negotiate a very important matter. Pierre saw that there was a conspiracy against him, that they wanted to unite him with his wife, and this was not even unpleasant for him in the state in which he was. He did not care: Pierre did not consider anything in life a matter of great importance, and under the influence of the anguish that now took possession of him, he did not value either his freedom or his persistence in punishing his wife.
"No one is right, no one is to blame, so she is not to blame either," he thought. - If Pierre did not immediately express his consent to union with his wife, it was only because in the state of anguish in which he was, he was not able to do anything. If his wife came to him, he would not drive her away now. Was it not all the same, in comparison with what occupied Pierre, to live or not to live with his wife?
Without answering anything to his wife or mother-in-law, Pierre once got ready for the road late in the evening and left for Moscow to see Iosif Alekseevich. Here is what Pierre wrote in his diary.
Moscow, November 17th.
I have just arrived from a benefactor, and I hasten to write down everything that I experienced at the same time. Iosif Alekseevich lives in poverty and suffers for the third year from a painful bladder disease. No one ever heard from him a groan, or a word of grumbling. From morning until late at night, with the exception of the hours in which he eats the simplest food, he works on science. He received me graciously and sat me down on the bed on which he was lying; I made him the sign of the knights of the East and Jerusalem, he answered me the same, and with a meek smile asked me about what I had learned and acquired in the Prussian and Scottish lodges. I told him everything as well as I could, conveying the grounds that I offered in our St. Petersburg box and reported on the bad reception that had been given to me, and about the break that had occurred between me and the brothers. Iosif Alekseevich, after a considerable pause and thought, presented to me his view of all this, which instantly illuminated for me everything that had passed and the whole future path that lay before me. He surprised me by asking me if I remember what the threefold purpose of the order is: 1) to keep and know the sacrament; 2) in the purification and correction of oneself for the perception of it, and 3) in the correction of the human race through the desire for such purification. What is the main and first goal of these three? Certainly own correction and purification. Only towards this goal can we always strive, regardless of all circumstances. But at the same time, this is the goal that requires the most labor from us, and therefore, deluded by pride, we, missing this goal, either take on the sacrament that we are unworthy to receive because of our impurity, or take on the correction of the human race, when we ourselves are an example of abomination and depravity. Illuminism is not a pure doctrine precisely because it is carried away by social activities and is full of pride. On this basis, Iosif Alekseevich condemned my speech and all my activities. I agreed with him in the depths of my soul. On the occasion of our conversation about my family affairs, he said to me: - The main duty of a true Mason, as I told you, is to perfect himself. But often we think that by removing all the difficulties of our life from ourselves, we will more quickly achieve this goal; on the contrary, my lord, he told me, only in the midst of secular unrest can we achieve three main goals: 1) self-knowledge, for a person can know himself only through comparison, 2) improvement, only by struggle is it achieved, and 3) achieve the main virtue - love for death. Only the vicissitudes of life can show us the futility of it and can contribute to our innate love for death or rebirth to a new life. These words are all the more remarkable because Iosif Alekseevich, despite his severe physical suffering, is never burdened by life, but loves death, to which he, despite all the purity and loftiness of his inner man doesn't feel ready enough yet. Then the benefactor fully explained to me the meaning of the great square of the universe and pointed out that the triple and the seventh number are the foundation of everything. He advised me not to distance myself from communication with the St. Petersburg brothers and, occupying only positions of the 2nd degree in the lodge, to try, distracting the brothers from the hobbies of pride, to turn them to the true path of self-knowledge and improvement. In addition, for himself personally, he advised me first of all to take care of myself, and for this purpose he gave me a notebook, the same one in which I write and will continue to enter all my actions.
Petersburg, November 23rd.
“I live with my wife again. My mother-in-law came to me in tears and said that Helen was here and that she begged me to listen to her, that she was innocent, that she was unhappy at my abandonment, and much more. I knew that if I only allowed myself to see her, I would no longer be able to refuse her desire. In my doubt, I did not know whose help and advice to resort to. If the benefactor were here, he would tell me. I retired to my room, reread the letters of Joseph Alekseevich, remembered my conversations with him, and from everything I deduced that I should not refuse the one who asks and should give a helping hand to anyone, especially a person so connected with me, and should bear my cross. But if I forgave her for the sake of virtue, then let my union with her have one spiritual purpose. So I decided and so I wrote to Joseph Alekseevich. I told my wife that I ask her to forget everything old, I ask her to forgive me what I could be guilty of before her, and that I have nothing to forgive her. I was glad to tell her this. Let her not know how hard it was for me to see her again. Settled in big house in the upper chambers and feel a happy feeling of renewal.

As always, even then, high society, uniting together at court and at big balls, was divided into several circles, each with its own shade. Among them, the most extensive was the French circle, the Napoleonic Union - Count Rumyantsev and Caulaincourt "a. In this circle, Helen occupied one of the most prominent places as soon as she and her husband settled in St. Petersburg. She visited the gentlemen of the French embassy and a large number of people, known for their intelligence and courtesy, who belonged to this direction.
Helen was in Erfurt during the famous meeting of the emperors, and from there she brought these connections with all the Napoleonic sights of Europe. In Erfurt, she had a brilliant success. Napoleon himself, noticing her in the theater, said about her: "C" est un superbe animal. "[This is a beautiful animal.] Her success as a beautiful and elegant woman did not surprise Pierre, because over the years she became even more beautiful than before But what surprised him was that in these two years his wife managed to acquire a reputation for herself
"d" une femme charmante, aussi spirituelle, que belle. "[A charming woman, as smart as beautiful.] The famous Prince de Ligne [Prince de Ligne] wrote letters to her on eight pages. Bilibin saved his mots [words], to say them for the first time in the presence of Countess Bezukhova.To be received in the salon of Countess Bezukhova was considered a diploma of the mind; young people read books before Helen's evening, so that there was something to talk about in her salon, and the secretaries of the embassy, ​​and even envoys, confided diplomatic secrets to her, so that Helene was a force in some way. Pierre, who knew that she was very stupid, with a strange feeling of bewilderment and fear, sometimes attended her evenings and dinners, where politics, poetry and philosophy were discussed. At these evenings he experienced a similar feeling that which the conjurer must experience, expecting each time that his deceit is about to be revealed. "une femme charmante et spirituelle so unshakably established itself behind Elena Vasilievna Bezukhova that she could say the greatest vulgarities and stupidities, and yet everyone admired her every word and looked for a deep meaning in it, which she herself did not suspect.
Pierre was exactly the husband that was needed for this brilliant, secular woman. He was that absent-minded eccentric, the husband of a grand seigneur [great gentleman], who does not interfere with anyone and not only does not spoil the general impression of the high tone of the living room, but, by his opposite to the grace and tact of his wife, serves as an advantageous background for her. During these two years, Pierre, as a result of his constant concentrated occupation with immaterial interests and sincere contempt for everything else, acquired in his wife’s company that did not interest him that tone of indifference, carelessness and favor to everyone, which is not acquired artificially and which therefore inspires involuntary respect . He entered his wife's drawing room as if into a theatre, knew everyone, was equally happy with everyone, and was equally indifferent to everyone. Sometimes he entered into a conversation that interested him, and then, without thinking about whether or not there were les messieurs de l "ambassade [employees at the embassy], mumbled his opinions, which were sometimes completely out of tune with the present moment. But the opinion about the eccentric husband de la femme la plus distinguee de Petersbourg [the most remarkable woman in Petersburg] was already so established that no one took au serux [seriously] his antics.
Among the many young people who daily visited Helen's house, Boris Drubetskoy, who had already been very successful in the service, was, after Helen's return from Erfurt, the closest person in the Bezukhovs' house. Helen called him mon page [my page] and treated him like a child. Her smile towards him was the same as towards everyone, but sometimes it was unpleasant for Pierre to see this smile. Boris treated Pierre with special, dignified and sad respect. This shade of deference also bothered Pierre. Pierre suffered so painfully three years ago from the insult inflicted on him by his wife that now he saved himself from the possibility of such an insult, firstly by the fact that he was not the husband of his wife, and secondly by the fact that he did not allow himself to suspect.
“No, now having become a bas bleu [blue stocking], she forever abandoned her former hobbies,” he said to himself. “There was no example of bas bleu having passions of the heart,” he repeated to himself, from no one knew where, a rule he had undeniably believed. But, strange to say, the presence of Boris in his wife's living room (and he was almost constantly) had a physical effect on Pierre: it bound all his members, destroyed his unconsciousness and freedom of movement.
“Such a strange antipathy,” thought Pierre, “and before that I even liked him very much.
In the eyes of the world, Pierre was a great gentleman, a somewhat blind and funny husband. famous wife, a smart eccentric, doing nothing, but not harming anyone, a nice and kind fellow. In the soul of Pierre, during all this time, a complex and difficult work of inner development took place, which revealed a lot to him and led him to many spiritual doubts and joys.

He continued his diary, and this is what he wrote in it during this time:
“November 24th.
“I got up at eight o’clock, read Holy Scripture, then went to the office (Pierre, on the advice of a benefactor, entered the service of one of the committees), returned to dinner, dined alone (the countess has many guests, unpleasant to me), ate and drank moderately and after dinner he copied plays for the brothers. In the evening he went down to the countess and told funny story about B., and only then remembered that this should not have been done, when everyone was already laughing out loud.
“I go to bed with a happy and peaceful spirit. Great Lord, help me to walk in Your paths, 1) overcome the part of the wrath - quietness, slowness, 2) lust - abstinence and disgust, 3) move away from the hustle and bustle, but not excommunicate myself from a) state affairs of service, b) from family worries , c) from friendly relations and d) economic pursuits.
“November 27th.
“I got up late and woke up for a long time lying on the bed, indulging in laziness. My God! help me and strengthen me so that I may walk in Your ways. I read Holy Scripture, but without the proper feeling. Brother Urusov came and talked about the vanities of the world. He spoke about the new plans of the sovereign. I began to condemn, but I remembered my rules and the words of our benefactor that a true Freemason should be an assiduous worker in the state when his participation is required, and a calm contemplator of what he is not called to. My tongue is my enemy. Brothers G. V. and O. visited me, there was a preparatory conversation for the acceptance of a new brother. They make me the speaker. I feel weak and unworthy. Then the discussion turned to the explanation of the seven pillars and steps of the temple. 7 sciences, 7 virtues, 7 vices, 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. Brother O. was very eloquent. In the evening, the acceptance took place. The new arrangement of the premises greatly contributed to the splendor of the spectacle. Boris Drubetskoy was accepted. I proposed it, I was the rhetorician. A strange feeling agitated me throughout my stay with him in the dark temple. I found in myself a feeling of hatred for him, which I vainly strive to overcome. And therefore, I would like to truly save him from evil and lead him to the path of truth, but bad thoughts about him did not leave me. It seemed to me that his purpose in joining the fraternity was only a desire to get close to people, to be in favor with those in our lodge. Apart from the fact that he asked several times if N. and S. were in our box (to which I could not answer him), except that, according to my observations, he was not able to feel respect for our holy Order and was too busy and pleased with the outward man, in order to desire spiritual improvement, I had no reason to doubt him; but he seemed insincere to me, and all the time, when I stood with him eye to eye in the dark temple, it seemed to me that he was smiling contemptuously at my words, and I really wanted to prick his bare chest with the sword that I held, put to it . I could not be eloquent and could not sincerely convey my doubt to the brothers and the great master. Great Architect of nature, help me to find the true paths leading out of the labyrinth of lies.
After that, three sheets were omitted from the diary, and then the following was written:
“I had an instructive and long conversation alone with brother B., who advised me to stick to brother A. Much, although unworthy, was revealed to me. Adonai is the name of the creator of the world. Elohim is the name of the ruler of all. The third name, the name of the utterance, having the meaning of the All. Conversations with Brother V. reinforce, refresh, and establish me on the path of virtue. With him there is no room for doubt. It is clear to me the difference between the poor teaching of the social sciences and our holy, all-embracing teaching. Human sciences subdivide everything - in order to understand, they kill everything - in order to consider. In the holy science of the Order, everything is one, everything is known in its totality and life. Trinity - the three principles of things - sulfur, mercury and salt. Sulfur of unctuous and fiery properties; it, in conjunction with salt, excites hunger in it with its fieryness, by means of which it attracts mercury, seizes it, holds it, and collectively produces individual bodies. Mercury is a liquid and volatile spiritual essence - Christ, the Holy Spirit, He.
“December 3rd.
“Woke up late, read the Holy Scriptures, but was insensible. Then he got out and walked around the room. I wanted to think, but instead my imagination presented an incident that happened four years ago. Mr. Dolokhov, meeting with me in Moscow after my duel, told me that he hoped that I now enjoyed complete peace of mind, despite the absence of my wife. I didn't answer then. Now I recalled all the details of this meeting, and in my soul spoke to him the most spiteful words and sharp replies. He came to his senses and gave up this thought only when he saw himself inflamed with anger; but did not repent of it enough. After that, Boris Drubetskoy came and began to tell various adventures; but from the very moment of his arrival I became dissatisfied with his visit and told him something nasty. He objected. I flared up and said a lot of unpleasant and even rude things to him. He fell silent and I caught myself only when it was already too late. My God, I can't deal with him at all. This is due to my ego. I put myself above him and therefore become much worse than him, for he is indulgent towards my rudeness, and on the contrary, I have contempt for him. My God, grant me in his presence to see more of my abomination and act in such a way that it would be useful to him. After dinner I fell asleep, and while I was falling asleep, I distinctly heard a voice saying in my left ear: “Your day.”
“I saw in a dream that I was walking in the dark, and suddenly surrounded by dogs, but I was walking without fear; suddenly one small one grabbed me by the left stegono with her teeth and did not let go. I started pushing her with my hands. And as soon as I tore it off, another, even larger one, began to gnaw at me. I began to lift it and the more I lifted it, the bigger and heavier it became. And suddenly brother A. came and, taking me by the arm, led me with him and led me to the building, to enter which I had to go along a narrow plank. I stepped on it and the board buckled and fell, and I began to climb the fence, which I could hardly reach with my hands. After a lot of effort, I dragged my body so that my legs hung on one side and my torso on the other side. I looked around and saw that Brother A. was standing on the fence and was pointing me to a large avenue and a garden, and a large and beautiful building in the garden. I woke up. Lord, Great Architecton of nature! help me tear off the dogs from me - my passions and the last of them, integrating the strength of all the former ones, and help me enter that temple of virtue, which I have achieved in a dream.
“December 7th.
“I had a dream that Iosif Alekseevich was sitting in my house, I am very happy, and I want to treat him. It’s as if I’m chatting with strangers incessantly and suddenly remembered that he can’t like it, and I want to get closer to him and hug him. But as soon as I approached, I see that his face has changed, it has become young, and he quietly says something to me from the teachings of the Order, so quietly that I cannot hear. Then, as if, we all left the room, and something strange happened here. We sat or lay on the floor. He told me something. And it was as if I wanted to show him my sensitivity, and without listening to his speech, I began to imagine the state of my inner man and the grace of God that overshadowed me. And there were tears in my eyes, and I was pleased that he noticed it. But he looked at me with annoyance and jumped up, cutting off his conversation. I became embittered and asked if what had been said referred to me; but he did not answer, showed me an affectionate look, and after that we suddenly found ourselves in my bedroom, where there is a double bed. He lay down on her on the edge, and I seemed to burn with a desire to caress him and lie down right there. And he seemed to ask me: “Tell me, what is your main passion? Did you recognize him? I think you already know him." I, embarrassed by this question, answered that laziness was my main passion. He shook his head in disbelief. And I answered him, even more embarrassed, that although I live with my wife, according to his advice, but not as the husband of my wife. To this he objected that he should not deprive his wife of his affection, he made me feel that this was my duty. But I answered that I was ashamed of it, and suddenly everything disappeared. And I woke up and found in my thoughts the text of the Holy Scriptures: The belly was the light of a man, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not embrace it. Iosif Alekseevich's face was youthful and bright. On this day I received a letter from a benefactor in which he writes about the obligations of marriage.
“December 9th.
“I had a dream from which I woke up with a trembling heart. He saw that I was in Moscow, in my house, in a large sofa room, and Iosif Alekseevich was coming out of the living room. It was as if I immediately knew that the process of rebirth had already taken place with him, and I rushed to meet him. It’s like I’m kissing him, and his hands, and he says: “Have you noticed that my face is different?” I looked at him, continuing to hold him in my arms, and as if I see that his face is young, but the hair on his head no, and the features are completely different. And it’s as if I’m saying to him: “I would recognize you if I met you by chance,” and meanwhile I think: “Did I tell the truth?” And suddenly I see that he lies like a dead corpse; then, little by little, he came to his senses and entered with me into a large study, holding big book, written, in the Alexandrian leaf. And it’s like I’m saying: “I wrote this.” And he answered me with a nod of his head. I opened the book, and in this book all the pages are beautifully drawn. And I seem to know that these pictures represent the love affairs of the soul with her lover. And on the pages, as if I see a beautiful image of a girl in transparent clothes and with a transparent body, flying up to the clouds. And as if I know that this girl is nothing but the image of the Song of Songs. And it’s as if I, looking at these drawings, feel that I’m doing badly, and I can’t tear myself away from them. God help me! My God, if this abandonment of me by You is Your action, then may Your will be done; but if I myself caused this, then teach me what to do. I will perish from my depravity if You leave me altogether.”

The Rostovs' money affairs did not improve during the two years they spent in the countryside.
Despite the fact that Nikolai Rostov, firmly holding on to his intention, continued to serve darkly in a remote regiment, spending relatively little money, the course of life in Otradnoye was such, and especially Mitenka did business in such a way that debts grew irresistibly every year. The only help that the old count obviously had was the service, and he came to Petersburg to look for places; look for places and at the same time, as he said, in last time amuse the girls.
Shortly after the Rostovs' arrival in Petersburg, Berg proposed to Vera, and his proposal was accepted.
Despite the fact that in Moscow the Rostovs belonged to high society, without knowing it themselves and without thinking about what society they belonged to, in St. Petersburg their society was mixed and indefinite. In St. Petersburg they were provincials, to whom the very people who, without asking what society they belonged to, were fed by the Rostovs in Moscow did not descend.
The Rostovs in St. Petersburg lived as hospitably as they did in Moscow, and at their dinners a wide variety of people converged: neighbors in Otradnoye, old poor landowners with their daughters and the maid of honor Peronskaya, Pierre Bezukhov and the son of the county postmaster, who served in St. Petersburg. Of the men, Boris, Pierre, who, having met on the street, was dragged to his place by the old count, and Berg, who spent whole days with the Rostovs and showed the elder Countess Vera such attention that a young man can intending to propose.
It was not for nothing that Berg showed everyone his right hand, wounded in the battle of Austerlitz, and held a completely unnecessary sword in his left. He told everyone this event so stubbornly and with such significance that everyone believed in the expediency and dignity of this act, and Berg received two awards for Austerlitz.
In the Finnish War, he also managed to distinguish himself. He picked up a fragment of a grenade, which killed the adjutant near the commander-in-chief, and brought this fragment to the commander. Just like after Austerlitz, he told everyone about this event for so long and stubbornly that everyone also believed that it had to be done, and Berg received two awards for the Finnish War. In 1919, he was a captain of the guard with orders and occupied some special advantageous places in St. Petersburg.
Although some freethinkers smiled when they were told about Berg's merits, one could not but agree that Berg was a serviceable, brave officer, in excellent standing with his superiors, and a moral young man with a brilliant career ahead and even a strong position in society.
Four years ago, having met in the stalls of the Moscow theater with a German comrade, Berg pointed out Vera Rostova to him and said in German: “Das soll mein Weib werden”, [She must be my wife,] and from that moment decided to marry her. Now, in Petersburg, realizing the position of the Rostovs and his own, he decided that the time had come, and made an offer.
Berg's proposal was accepted at first with unflattering bewilderment for him. At first it seemed strange that the son of a dark, Livonian nobleman would propose to Countess Rostova; but the main feature of Berg's character was such a naive and good-natured egoism that the Rostovs involuntarily thought that it would be good if he himself was so firmly convinced that it was good and even very good. Moreover, the affairs of the Rostovs were very upset, which the groom could not help but know, and most importantly, Vera was 24 years old, she traveled everywhere, and, despite the fact that she was undoubtedly good and reasonable, so far no one had ever made her an offer . Consent was given.
“You see,” Berg said to his comrade, whom he called a friend only because he knew that all people have friends. “You see, I figured it all out, and I wouldn’t get married if I didn’t think it all over, and for some reason it would be inconvenient. And now, on the contrary, my papa and mama are now provided for, I arranged this lease for them in the Ostsee region, and I can live in Petersburg with my salary, with her condition and with my accuracy. You can live well. I don’t marry for money, I think it’s ignoble, but it’s necessary that the wife bring her own, and the husband his. I have a service - it has connections and small means. That means something to us these days, doesn't it? And most importantly, she is a beautiful, respectable girl and loves me ...
Berg blushed and smiled.
“And I love her because she has a sensible personality—very good. Here is her other sister - of the same surname, but completely different, and an unpleasant character, and there is no mind, and such, you know? ... Unpleasant ... And my bride ... You will come to us ... - continued Berg, he wanted to say dine, but changed his mind and said: “drink tea”, and, quickly piercing it with his tongue, he released a round, small ring of tobacco smoke, which fully personified his dreams of happiness.
Next to the first feeling of bewilderment aroused in the parents by Berg's proposal, the usual festivity and joy settled in the family, but the joy was not sincere, but external. In the feelings of relatives regarding this wedding, confusion and shame were noticeable. As if they were ashamed now for the fact that they had little love for Vera, and now they were so willing to sell her off their hands. Most embarrassed was the old count. He probably would not have been able to name what was the cause of his embarrassment, and this reason was his money matters. He absolutely did not know what he had, how much debt he had, and what he would be able to give as a dowry to Vera. When the daughters were born, each was assigned 300 souls as a dowry; but one of these villages had already been sold, the other was mortgaged and so overdue that it had to be sold, so it was impossible to give the estate. There was no money either.
Berg had been the bridegroom for more than a month and only a week remained before the wedding, and the count had not yet decided with himself the question of dowry and did not talk about it with his wife. The count either wanted to separate Vera from the Ryazan estate, then he wanted to sell the forest, then he wanted to borrow money against a bill. A few days before the wedding, Berg entered the count's office early in the morning and, with a pleasant smile, respectfully asked the future father-in-law to tell him what would be given for Countess Vera. The count was so embarrassed at this long-anticipated question that he said without thinking the first thing that came into his head.
- I love that I took care, I love you, you will be satisfied ...
And he patted Berg on the shoulder and stood up, wanting to end the conversation. But Berg, smiling pleasantly, explained that if he did not know correctly what would be given for Vera, and did not receive in advance at least a part of what was assigned to her, then he would be forced to refuse.
“Because judge, Count, if I now allowed myself to marry, without having certain means to support my wife, I would act vilely ...
The conversation ended with the count, wishing to be generous and not be subjected to new requests, said that he was issuing a bill of 80 thousand. Berg smiled meekly, kissed the count on the shoulder and said that he was very grateful, but now he could not get settled in his new life without receiving 30 thousand in clean money. “At least 20 thousand, Count,” he added; - And then the bill was only 60 thousand.
- Yes, yes, good, - the count spoke quickly, - just excuse me, my friend, I will give 20 thousand, and the bill is also for 80 thousand ladies. So, kiss me.

Natasha was 16 years old, and it was 1809, the same year until which, four years ago, she counted on her fingers with Boris after she kissed him. Since then, she has never seen Boris. In front of Sonya and with her mother, when the conversation turned to Boris, she spoke quite freely, as if about a matter settled, that everything that had happened before was childish, about which it was not worth even talking about, and which had long been forgotten. But in the most secret depths of her soul, the question of whether the commitment to Boris was a joke or an important, binding promise tormented her.
Ever since Boris left Moscow for the army in 1805, he had not seen the Rostovs. Several times he visited Moscow, passing not far from Otradnoye, but he never visited the Rostovs.
It sometimes occurred to Natasha that he did not want to see her, and her guesses were confirmed by the sad tone in which the elders used to say about him:
“In this century, old friends are not remembered,” the countess said after the mention of Boris.
Anna Mikhaylovna, who had lately visited the Rostovs less frequently, also behaved in a particularly dignified manner, and each time spoke enthusiastically and gratefully about the merits of her son and about the brilliant career in which he was. When the Rostovs arrived in St. Petersburg, Boris came to visit them.
He rode towards them not without excitement. The memory of Natasha was the most poetic memory of Boris. But at the same time, he rode with the firm intention of making it clear to her and her family that the childish relationship between him and Natasha could not be an obligation either for her or for him. He had a brilliant position in society, thanks to intimacy with Countess Bezukhova, a brilliant position in the service, thanks to the patronage of an important person, whose trust he fully enjoyed, and he had nascent plans to marry one of the richest brides in St. Petersburg, which could very easily come true. . When Boris entered the Rostovs' living room, Natasha was in her room. Upon learning of his arrival, she flushed almost ran into the living room, beaming with more than an affectionate smile.
Boris remembered that Natasha in a short dress, with black eyes shining from under her curls and with a desperate, childish laugh, whom he knew 4 years ago, and therefore, when a completely different Natasha entered, he was embarrassed, and his face expressed enthusiastic surprise. This expression on his face delighted Natasha.
“What, do you recognize your little friend as a minx?” said the Countess. Boris kissed Natasha's hand and said that he was surprised at the change that had taken place in her.
- How you have improved!
“Sure!” answered Natasha's laughing eyes.
- Is your father old? she asked. Natasha sat down and, without entering into a conversation between Boris and the countess, silently examined her children's fiancé to the smallest detail. He felt the weight of that stubborn, affectionate look on himself, and from time to time glanced at her.
Uniform, spurs, tie, Boris's hairstyle, all this was the most fashionable and comme il faut [quite decently]. Natasha noticed this now. He was sitting a little sideways in an armchair beside the countess, adjusting right hand the cleanest, drenched glove on his left, he spoke with a special, refined pursing of his lips about the amusements of the highest Petersburg society and with meek mockery recalled the old Moscow times and Moscow acquaintances. Not accidentally, as Natasha felt it, he mentioned, naming the highest aristocracy, about the ball of the envoy, which he was at, about invitations to NN and to SS.
Natasha sat all the time in silence, looking at him from under her brows. This look more and more disturbed and embarrassed Boris. He often looked back at Natasha and interrupted his stories. He sat for no more than 10 minutes and stood up, bowing. All the same curious, defiant and somewhat mocking eyes looked at him. After his first visit, Boris told himself that Natasha was just as attractive to him as before, but that he should not give in to this feeling, because marrying her - a girl with almost no fortune - would be the death of his career, and resuming the old relationship without the purpose of marriage would be an ignoble act. Boris decided on his own to avoid meeting Natasha, but, despite this decision, he arrived a few days later and began to travel often and spend whole days with the Rostovs. It seemed to him that he needed to explain himself to Natasha, to tell her that everything old should be forgotten, that, despite everything ... she cannot be his wife, that he has no fortune, and she will never be given for him. But he did not succeed in everything and it was embarrassing to start this explanation. Every day he became more and more confused. Natasha, according to the remark of her mother and Sonya, seemed to be in love with Boris in the old way. She sang his favorite songs to him, showed him her album, forced him to write in it, did not allow him to remember the old, letting him know how wonderful the new was; and every day he left in a fog, without saying what he intended to say, not knowing himself what he was doing and why he came, and how it would end. Boris stopped visiting Helen, received daily reproachful notes from her, and yet spent whole days with the Rostovs.

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