50 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
It is a happy truth of psychology that interest tends strongly to 
follow close on the heels of purposeful work. Throw your energy into a 
task and the task itself speedily acquire^ a surprising interest. Assume 
the attitude of enthusiasm and presently enthusiasm follows. But 
sit down and look askance at a duty, thinking what a dreary round it 
is, and interest will shy away beyond reach or ken. Contemplate the 
job long enough in this fashion and by and by the job itself will become 
impossible. 
It is a further reassuring law of psychology that wherever interest 
exists there will be found some measure of innate ability. If we find 
that we can instill interest into the day’s routine we may be sure, also, 
that there lies within us the power to build out of that routine an 
attainment worth while. In so doing we shall inevitably find pleasure 
in the work. For there is no other pleasure possible to a human being 
that can equal the satisfaction of carrying through a worth-while task 
to successful conclusion. 
If, as we contemplate our ordinary daily routine, it appears that 
much of it fails to lead us anywhere, may we not look on that fact 
itself as a problem of surpassing interest. When we have given it 
study as such, we shall certainly find a way to improve conditions. 
In so far as we may exercise a choice it will be worth our while to single 
out for more sustained effort the parts of our day’s work that are per¬ 
manent and worth while. Many of us must have been surprised to 
discover at times that under necessity we could carry through an 
effective day’s work in a half day’s time. It would be foolish to attempt 
this at the expense of needed recreation, rest, and study. Nevertheless, 
there is something of suggestion in the experience. Success in life is 
not so much a matter of exceptional brains as a question of the habitual 
daily program. 
A human being is fortunate that has the privilege of following out 
some line of investigation as a part of his normal duties. A scientific 
problem is to the mind precisely what physical exercise is to the body: 
both an incentive to effort and a means of increasing the power for 
such effort. Granted that we have opportunity for investigational 
study—and all of us should have it in some fashion or other—we may 
rightly expect from these duties the increased mental efficiency that is 
certain to follow their performance. A scientific worker, if his daily 
task is well conducted, must learn how to think. 
Now thinking is not a continuous process in the human race—includ¬ 
ing ourselves. A very great part of our activities are automatic. We 
arise in the morning, dress, eat breakfast, look through a morning news¬ 
paper, ride to the office, open our mail. Friends or associates arrive 
and we converse with them on various topics. We hear classes, mark 
