In a similar way the visibility of the writing will be for certain
individuals the most valuable condition for quick writing, while for
others, who depend less upon visual support, it may mean rather a
distraction and an interference with the speediest work. The visible
writing attracts the involuntary attention, and thus forces
consciousness to stick to that which has been written instead of being
concentrated on that which is to be produced by the next writing
movements. The operator himself is not aware of this hindrance. On the
contrary, the public will always be inclined to prefer the typewriters
with visible writing, because by a natural confusion the feeling
arises that the production of the letter is somewhat facilitated, when
the eye is cooeperating, just as in writing with a pen we follow the
lines of the written letter. But the situation lies differently in the
two cases. When we are writing with a pen, the letter grows under our
eyes, while in the machine writing we do not see any part of the
letter until the whole movement which produces the single letter is
finished. By such a misleading analogy many a man is led to prefer the
typewriter with visible writing, while he would probably secure a
greater speed with a machine which does not tempt him to attend the
completed letters, while his entire attention ought to belong to the
following letters.
These last observations point to another psychological aspect of the
machine and of the whole technical work, namely, their relations to
the impressions of the senses.
Pages:
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151