Athirdviewholdsthat，atleastinthecaseofcomplexideas，obliviscenceconsistsinthecrumblingintopartsandthelossofseparatecomponentsinsteadofingeneralobscuration。Theideaofresolutionintocomponentpartsrecentlyspokenofsuppliesheretheonlyexplanation。\"Theimageofacomplexobjectisdiminourmemorynotbecauseasawholewithallitspartspresentandinorderitisilluminatedbyafeeblerlightofconsciousness，butitisbecauseithasbecomeincomplete。Somepartsofitareentirelylacking。Aboveallthepreciseconnectionofthosestillextantis，ingeneral，missingandissuppliedonlybythethoughtthatsomesortofuniononceexistedbetweenthem;thelargenessofthesphereinwhich，withoutbeingabletomakeafinaldecision，wethinkthisorthatconnectionequallyprobable，determinesthedegreeofdimnesswhichwearetoascribetotheideainquestion。\"[3]
Eachoftheseopinionsreceivesacertain，butnotexclusive，supportfromtheactualinnerexperiences，orexperiencessupposedtobeactual，whichweattimeshave。Andwhatisthereason？Itisthatthesefortuitousandeasilyobtainedinnerexperiencesaremuchtoovague，superficialandcapableofvariousinterpretationstoadmitintheirentiretyofonlyasingleinterpretation，oreventoletitappearasofpreponderatingprobability。
Whocould，witheventolerableexactness，describeinitsgradualcoursethesupposedoverlayingorsinkingorcrumblingofideas？Whocansayanythingsatisfactoryabouttheinhibitionscausedbyseriesofideasofdifferentextent，oraboutthedisintegrationthatafirmcomplexofanykindsuffersbytheuseofitscomponentsinnewconnections？Everybodyhashisprivate\"explanation\"oftheseprocesses，buttheactualconditionswhicharetobeexplainedare，afterall，equallyunknowntoallofus。
Ifoneconsidersthelimitationtodirect，unaidedobservationandtothechanceoccurrenceofusefulexperiences，thereseemsbutlittleprospectofimprovementinconditions。Howwilloneforexampledeterminethedegreeofobscurationreachedatacertainpoint，orthenumberoffragmentsremaining？
Orhowcantheprobablecourseofinnerprocessesbetracedifthealmostentirelyforgottenideasreturnnomoretoconsciousness？Section27。MethodsofInvestigationofActualConditionsBythehelpofourmethodwehaveapossibilityofindirectlyapproachingtheproblemjuststatedinasmallanddefinitelylimitedsphere，and，bymeansofkeepingaloofforawhilefromanytheory，perhapsofconstructingone。