the sights, sounds, smells of the earth; we must have the voices and the
presence of our fellows, not for education, but for the maintenance of
interest in living. For the mind to turn inward on itself is
pleasurable only in rare snatches, for short periods of time or for rare
and abnormal people. Man's mind loves the outside world but becomes
uneasy when confronted by itself.

The human being, whether male or female, housewife or industrial worker,
is a seeker of sensations. Without new sensations man falls into boredom
or a restless and unhappy state, from which the mind seeks freedom. It
is true that one may become a mere seeker of sensations, a restless and
fickle pleasure lover who passes from the normal to the abnormal, exotic
in his vain search for what is logically impossible,--lasting novelty.
Variety however is not the mere spice of life; it is the basis of
interest and concentrated purpose as well.

People of course vary greatly in what they regard as variety, and this
is often a constitutional matter as well as a matter of education. What
is new, striking and interest-provoking to the child has not the same
value to the adult; what is boredom to the city man might be of huge
interest to the country man. A person trained to a certain type of life,
taught to expect certain things, may find no need of other newer
things. In other words people accustomed to a wide range of stimuli need
a wide range, while people unaccustomed to such a range do not need it.

The most important stimuli are other _persons_, capable of setting into
action new thoughts, new emotions, new conduct. We need what Graham
Wallas calls "face to face associations of ideas",--ideas called into
being by words, moods, and deeds of others.