All our working is controlled by such voluntary attention.

We have the idea of the goal which we want to reach in our mind beforehand and subordinate all which we meet to this selective energy.

Through our voluntary attention we seek something and accept the offering of the surroundings only in so far as it brings us what we are seeking.
It is quite different with the involuntary attention.

The guiding influence here comes from without.

The cue for the focusing of our attention lies in the events which we perceive.