The ordinary questions read from the book have some use, but they usually lack the power to startle and stir the mind. They usually call for the repetition of thoughts already studied and known. These questions do little to stir interest. To produce its highest effect, a question must have the element of the unexpected. It must surprise the mind with some fresh and novel view of the subject and must call sharply for new thought.
Good questions take thought and time.
One may as well talk to the deaf or the dead as to teach a child who is inattentive. This seems too obvious to discuss but a brief look at the psychological facts which underlie this law will make it crystal clear. Knowledge cannot be passed from one person to another like some material substance. Thoughts are not objects which may be held and handled. Ideas can be communicated only by inducing in the receiving mind processes corresponding to those by which these ideas were first conceived.