INCENTIVES TO WORK
Six,—Both Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Outwin seem to me to miss the point. All effort, whether in work or play, contains an element of the unpleasant. I cannot recall ever having felt more pain, discomfort and weariness than when practising for Torpids at Oxford, in the days of fixed seats, in a storm of snow and hail and against a strong head-wind. I cannot remember greater mental agony than that of composing Latin verses against time at Rugby. But in each case it would have been untrue to say, with Mr. Macdonald, that " successful conflict results in momentary satisfaction only."
There is drudgery, which is disagreeable for the time, in all work 'and in many forms of sport, but this does not prevent them from being on the whole " happy activity." There is permanent satisfaction in over- coming difficulty, fatigue and even boredom for an object that is fell to be worth while. This object may be inherent in the activity, such as the creation of something useful or beautiful, or it may be connected with it externally, such as the provision of a better home for one's family. Only if neither of these purposes is felt to be being fulfilled does the work itself seem to be an evil.
My experience as a schoolmaster has taught me that boys will work willingly, even happily, at "drudgery," provided that they are anxious to master the subject at which they are working, either because it has an intrinsic interest for them, or because it will help them to pass some necessary examination. Only when they "can't see the point of it" does learning become really unpleasant ; and the attempt to exact industry through fear, whether fear of punishment for the schoolboy, or fear of " the sack " for the workman, seldom produces satisfactory results in the Jong run. Work is a " happy activity " if the worker feels that he is getting somewhere, either as a creator or as a man ; for this sense of satisfaction is carried over into the work itself, and can outweigh the
unpleasantness of exertion.—Yours faithfully, R. KENNARD DAVIS. On-the-Hill, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset.
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