I can offer a real world example of this "long process". Youth is often drawn to reading material which is Fiction which is to say, Fantasy. The "Harry Potter" books are a real example. The same people could, if they wanted, read Non-Fiction books; but Non-Fiction books provide excitement and sentimentality in a very different way. In fact, Non-Fiction books are written with the intention of Objective Thought. In that regard, the emotionality of excitement and fantasy are precisely what the author of Non-Fiction seeks to remove from his book. Still, the "long process" is made evident, in which the modern person journeys from those things which are sensual, sentimental, and emotional, to those subjects which are "Mental Interests" and in which concepts about Reality are the focus of thought and feeling. No one should feel bad about this. It is not a person's "fault" if they go through this "long process" of development. The only difficulty is that people sometimes cannot find a trustworthy guide in their search into "Mental Interests" and they become followers of the cunning manipulators who sell beliefs in Self-Help seminars, and those who market false ideas associated with New Age beliefs and other strange ideologies. There are people, it seems, who are simply unable to actually Think---Things---Through. They feel a deep need to be Told---By---Someone--With---All--Answers.

Ex: The growth of alternative mental interests is a long process . What the sentence means is that human beings in their youth, are primarily interested in "sense" experience. Youth easily understand the existence of the physical, because it is obvious and immanent. [ See Synonyms for "immanent" as: built-in, constitutional, constitutive, essential, hardwired, inherent, inborn, inbred, indigenous, ingrain, ingrained (also engrained), innate, integral, intrinsic, native, natural ] "Mental interests," or Mental Abstractions as they are evident in Thoughts, Concepts, and Ideas seldom appear as a vital reality or a meaningful reality until people are older. Thus, the reference to a "long process". As people mature, they come to realize that "sensory" experience is the lesser part where the discovery of meaning and purpose in Life is concerned. As human beings mature, they begin to pay more attention to the Mental Abstractions which are associated with Philosophy, Science, Law and Religion. Morality in particular, which pertains to both Philosophy and Religion (not Science) becomes a subject of great interest. In such endeavor, questions about Mind, God, a Transcendental SELF or a Soul or Spirit become subjects which assume a greater importance. "Mental Interests" can be expressed by discussion, and more reading, and the exploration of ideas which were not deemed important when "interests" generally were the pursuit of youth.

The "long process" becomes an element critical to our understanding, because there is much information available in the world, and much of it is "misinformation". One might say, that lies are more prevalent than the truth in modern writings. There is so much information available, that youth is more likely to be confused by errors in thought, rather than to be informed by the truth or facts. Even with the expression and communication of simple truths, people who have been "educated" to Think----In---Little---Boxes have a great deal of difficulty when invited to Think---Outside---The---Little---Boxes. It can be reasonable to indicate that some people never actually "think" in the discipline of Logic at all. Many people simply "feel" and go about telling other people what their "feelings" are. Similarly, many modern people defer all questions and discussion to "opinions" as though they went through years of schooling without learning about something called "Facts". Over time, the human understanding can become very dull indeed. Thinking is a discipline. It is not about what a person "feels". Feeling as part of an Intuition can be of some value, even though it is a Subjectivism. Thinking is made manifest as an Objectivism, and that is what differentiates Thinking from Feeling or Intuition. Still, the point to be made is that there is a "long process" by which false approaches to knowledge are abandoned and dismissed, and the disciplined approaches to knowledge are adopted. This culminates when a person recognizes Deductive Logic as the appropriate means to knowledge. Deductive Logic was adopted long ago in Philosophy, Science, Law and Religion as the appropriate discipline used to obtain knowledge. When people begin to actually use Thinking, as a Tool, they are engaged in a "long process" of development which expresses as a greater ability to communicate "mental interests".

Mental Objects are distinct from Physical Objects. Interests in general, may be understood to be interests in physical things, either activities or objects. Mental Interests pertain to those things which exist in Mind, such as Ideas, Conceptions, Transcendental conceptions, and Abstractions. These do not exist "physically" If a human brain is cut open, one cannot observe Ideas, Conceptions, Transcendental conceptions, and Abstractions in the brain. Those identities which are physical are PERCEIVED by the senses. Those identities which are non-physical and abstract are CONCEIVED by the mind. This distinction must be recognized for anything at all to be understood in a reasonable way.