280 THE PRESENT IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE 



state of mind among the masses and the growing demand 

 from the engineer and expert technician for a position of 

 equal importance with that accorded to the capitalist. The 

 matter-of-fact demands of science are having their influence 

 in the central organization as well as in the lower levels of 

 industry. 



Psychology may some day know enough regarding the 

 reactions which indicate a permanent closure of mental cir- 

 cuits so that many an elderly gentleman, who would now 

 occupy a place of authority in matters of social welfare, will 

 be relegated to a subordinate position, in favor of the man 

 of open mind, who has enough elasticity remaining in his 

 arteries and elsewhere to make him fit to assume authority 

 in matters that affect the lives and happiness of large num- 

 bers of men. In war, if war lasts that long, it may also be 

 possible to select, at the outset, generals whose wits have not 

 undergone ossification; and in industry to curtail the in- 

 fluence of those who are hopelessly unable to meet new social 

 situations. 



The fact that men easily establish a reputation for sanity 

 and sound judgment when they never depart from established 

 points of view, and the fact that men tend always to regard 

 as sane those who agree with them are the two strong but- 

 tresses which support the wall of conservatism against the 

 pressure of new ideas. It is considered safe to follow the prec- 

 edent. But is the following of precedent the mark of insight 

 so much as of the lack of this quality? The sheep-like tend- 

 ency to go with the herd is a very human trait, but is it 

 what we should honor? Will it get us anywhere in the 

 future? 



Like industry, modern journalism acts as an encourage- 

 ment and also as an impediment to the scientific attitude 

 of mind. A situation has developed, which we are just begin- 

 ning to recognize, and which marks the appearance of prop- 

 aganda as a distinct factor in social progress. What has 

 been essentially propaganda has always been used in society, 



