II
STUDYING UNDERSTANDINGLY
The second essential which may be named, connected with the first, and already mentioned, but now to be discussed, is that the student should understand what he reads. This may seem almost a needless injunction, yet it is very surprising how commonly it is disregarded. It is, however, easy to understand why this should be so. A child, as it grows up, must gain all its knowledge either by the exercise of its own reasoning powers or from its senses. How does it learn the meaning of words? Certain nouns like "papa" or "cat" it may easily be made to understand by pointing at the object referred to and uttering the word, but how does it learn the meaning of abstract nouns, or of verbs and other parts of speech which cannot be illustrated by pantomime? It is almost inevitable that the child should use many words the meaning of which it does not understand, and when young children in school recite poetry at class-day exercises, it is almost certain that they do not understand the meaning of many of the words they use. Thus, it happens that they come into the habit of using words and phrases without carefully examining their meanings. This tendency should be counteracted from the earliest stage. The child should be continually asked the meanings of words which it uses, and should be encouraged itself to inquire as to those meanings and to take the proper mental attitude. The use of the dictionary should be insisted upon even from an early age, the object being to avoid the formation of the habit of using words or phrases unintelligently, which is one of the worst habits that one can acquire.
Professor James, in his interesting book, "Talks to Teachers," illustrates this habit by an amusing anecdote:
"A friend of mine visiting a school, was asked to examine a young class in geography. Glancing at the book, she said: 'Suppose you should dig a hole in the ground, hundreds of feet deep, how should you find it at the bottom—warmer or colder than on top?' None of the class replying, the teacher said: 'I'm sure they know, but I think you don't ask the question quite rightly. Let me try.' So, taking the book, she asked: 'In what condition is the interior of the globe?' and received the immediate answer from half the class at once; 'The interior of the globe is in a condition of igneous fusion!'"
Perhaps it may be thought that an incident like the foregoing would only occur in an elementary school. As a matter of fact, college students and graduates, and indeed most of us, do this very thing more often than we realize, even in subjects like mathematics or mechanics; and terms like "energy," "momentum," "rate of change," "period of vibration," "value," "social justice," etc., are often used without a clear understanding, and sometimes without any understanding at all, of what they mean.
(a) THE STUDENT SHOULD ACQUIRE AND INSIST UPON EXERCISING THE HABIT OF FORMING DEFINITE IDEAS.—This is one of the most important injunctions to be observed as an essential principle of intelligent study.[[1]] It is self-evident that facts or things cannot be reasoned about intelligently unless a definite idea is formed of the facts or things themselves. Vagueness of idea not alone precludes a proper conception of the thing itself, but may vitiate all reasoning regarding it. The student must resolutely make up his mind that he must not rest satisfied with hazy, uncertain, half-formed ideas. A half knowledge of a thing may not be useless, but it is generally found that it is the other half that is needed. If the student could learn this one precept and continually apply it, he would have little difficulty in studying properly.