 In his dissertation research, Boas' methodology included investigating how different intensities of light created different colors when interacting with different types of water, however, he encountered difficulty in being able to objectively perceive slight differences in the color of water and as a result became intrigued by this problem of perception and its influence on quantitative measurements.Boas, due to tone deafness, encountered difficulties studying tonal languages such as Laguna.Boas had already been interested in Kantian philosophy since taking a course on aesthetics with Kuno Fischer at Heidelberg.