It may be discussed from the standpoint of "association
of ideas," and contributes directly to concentration.
We have in mind, chiefly, that thoughtful habit which is not satisfied
with simply acquiring a new fact or set of ideas, but is impelled to
trace them out along their various connections. We have to do now not
with the acquisition but with the _elaboration_ and _assimilation_ of
knowledge. The _acquisition_ of knowledge in the ordinary sense is one
thing; its _elaboration_ in a full sense sets up a standard of progress
which will put life into all school work and reach far beyond it, and
in fact is limited only by the individual capacity for thought. In
school, in reading and study, we have been largely engaged in acquiring
knowledge on the principle that "knowledge is power." But no practical
man needs to be told that much so-called school knowledge is not power.
Facts which have been simply stored in the memory are often of little
ready use. It is like wheat in the bin, which must first pass through
the mill and change its entire form before it will perform its
function. Facts, in order to become the personal property of the
owner, must be worked over, sifted, sorted, classified, and connected.
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