CHAPTER XI

HOW TO BECOME INTERESTED IN A SUBJECT


"I can't get interested in Mediaeval History." This illustrates a kind
of complaint frequently made by college students. It is our purpose in
this chapter to show the fallacy of this; to prove that interest may be
developed in an "uninteresting" subject; and to show how.

In order to lay a firm foundation for our psychologizing, let us
examine into the nature of interest and see what it really is. It has
been defined as: "the recognition of a thing which has been vitally
connected with experience before--a thing recognized as old"; "impulse
to attend"; "interest naturally arouses tendencies to act"; "the root
idea of the term seems to be that of being engaged, engrossed, or
entirely taken up with some activity because of its recognized worth";
"interest marks the annihilation of the distance between the person and
the materials and results of his action; it is the sign of their
organic union."

In addition to the characteristics just mentioned should be noted the
pleasurableness that usually attends any activity in which we are
"interested." A growing feeling of pleasure is the sign which notifies
us that we are growing interested in a subject. And it is such an aid
in the performance of work that we should seek earnestly to acquire it