Part 17 (1/2)

CHAPTER VIII

THE USING OF IDEAS, AS A SIXTH FACTOR IN STUDY

_The indefiniteness of the endpoint of study_

The student has accomplished much when he has discovered some of the closer relations that a topic bears to life; when he has suppleht of the author; when he has deteriven theeneral worth; and when, finally, he has gone through whatever drill is necessary to fix the ideas firh with a topic, or isprocess, the food having to be acted upon in various ways in the mouth, the stomach, and the intestines But with food there is always a certain end to be reached, called assi of its nutriment into the solids and liquids of our bodies Is there a similarly definite end to be reached in the study process?

It must be admitted that while we can define this end somewhat sharply in words, it is very difficult to knohen it has been actually reached Many a business man has felt convinced that he understood a certain business project perfectly, until the outcoely due to such deception Even highly educated men are often surprised at their want of mastery of questions that they had supposed to be fully within their grasp

Socrates spentbut overconfident young uished champion of nullification, no doubt experienced such a surprise when Webster delivered his great speech on that subject The actual mastery of subjects is perhaps never corasp of one subject as a philosopher has of another, and each

The conorance as to how ested by the conorance as to how much work is necessary for the assimilation of food It takes froet beyond the stomach, and people ordinarily assume that the assimilative process is pretty well completed by that tiun; for it requires from ten to twelve hours to dispose fully of a estion takes place _after_ the food leaves the stoe is what the student is supposed to aim at, how much that involves is even less understood

_Ireat definiteness in the endpoint as possible_

In the digestion of food our organisreatly over sonorance of the process

But our responsibility in the assio on uninterruptedly even while we sleep; it will be carried only so far as we have the energy and insight to take it

That being the case, it is very easy for one to stop too soon in the study of a topic For instance, when a lesson in history has been only estive process has been carried little further than physical digestion has been taken when food reaches the sto people stop near this point, and they so so far

We ht to the work ofand still be far from the end We can have comprehended and memorized the Beatitudes, for example, and be as free from any effect from them as the proverbial duck's back is froood exaic with the sanify assimilation assimilationnew thought horal part of one's self

Reenerally study, it seee part of their tiet They do a lot of hard work collecting the rawthem over so as to reap either the pleasure or the profit intended Here is where sohly important, therefore, that the student reach as definite as possible a conception of the endpoint to be attained in study

Although theof assimilation may not be perfectly clear, a few of its characteristics at least uished, so that we can feel soot in the process, and have some notion as to how oal

_The endpoint accepted in mastery of the useful arts_

Study of the useful arts, such as the various trades, consists of two distinct parts On the one hand, facts must be mastered that pertain to the nature ofimplements or tools, and to plans tor construction In cabinet-, for exa the saw, plane, and chisel, and the various ideas governing designs for household furniture must all receive attention In other words, a considerable body of theory must be acquired

On the other hand, this theory must find application under particular conditions; a table must beto a certain design This also involves ; but, in addition to all that, there is execution of theory, called doing or practice

There is, further, a definite relation between these two parts, for the theory is ood product, and the theory is valuable to the extent that it affects the product The useful arts, as studies, stand, therefore, both for theory and for the application or use of theory, and the latter is the goal No one thinks of pursuing any one of the trades without including the use of his knowledge in practice as the cul part of his work

To what extent should other branches of knowledge resee with the use of knowledge?

Should the use of ideas be their goal? The answer eneral and, therefore, of education