86 Materials and Their Handling 



ablcs us to secure more and more of the conven- 

 iences and comforts concealed by Nature until we 

 find them. 



We begin life by seeing things, and then by 

 asking why they are. As we go along a great 

 many of our questions are not answered. We, 

 therefore, lose interest in many of the things that 

 come before us. The scope of our interest becomes 

 narrow and, eventually, we have a definite inter- 

 est in our work, a limited interest in our social 

 surroundings, and perhaps a general interest in 

 one or two other subjects. Frequently, when we 

 ask u Why?" the answers to the question are given 

 hastily or because some other person has received 

 the same answer and so passes it on to us. The 

 same questions descend from one generation to 

 the next, because the questions are answered in 

 the same old way and without definiteness or 

 satisfaction. 



Information is increased when questions are 

 answered authoritatively and convincingly, and 

 in such a way as to induce new study on the part 

 of the questioner. In this way we have learned 

 what we now know about production and distri- 

 bution, and we have learned something about the 

 human beings who must control the production 

 and distribution and for whose benefit these serv- 

 ices are rendered. 



The Question, "How?" We are no sooner 

 through asking why a thing is, than we immedi- 

 ately begin to ask, "How?" We instinctively 

 know that, in connection with an object or a rea- 



