use new materials and new instruments. They make a diagnosis more 

 quickly or less annoyingly. They perform their operations more expedi- 

 tiously or painlessly. Nearly every trained worker, in almost every field, is 

 constantly saying to his public, "We don't do things that way now, we do 

 thus instead, for the scientists have found out that . . ." The service he 

 renders may be several years more modern than his diploma, even if it is 

 not up to the sensational statement in this morning's paper. 



At the same time, we are very far from making full use of the power 

 which our science and technology obviously make possible. Some men and 

 women in every occupation continue to operate as they have always done. 

 What was good enough for their fathers they consider good enough for 

 them. They do not seem to recognize that what was good enough for their 

 fathers was the best to be had at the time. It is no longer good enough 

 when a large part of the population can do better. Besides, the same meth- 

 ods today are really not the same. Farming on virgin soil, for example, 

 allowed a succession of good-enough crops. The same procedure on ex- 

 hausted soil is the same only in carrying out the same motions. To continue 

 old procedures when the conditions have changed is like repeating magic 

 words and magic gestures without knowing what they mean or how they 

 are supposed to produce their magical effects. 



Obstacles to Progress There are many obstacles to making prompt use 

 of new knowledge. Nearly every home, every farm, every industry or busi- 

 ness establishment, has on hand equipment and supplies and materials that 

 have been serviceable in the past. To take on a new style of living or operat- 

 ing would mean to make a considerable part of these assets worthless. In 

 our daily dealings we try to make the old car or the old furniture last as 

 long as possible. When we do have to install new equipment, we try to 

 trade in the old for whatever it will bring. In fact, we cannot afford to scrap 

 all the old things. From the business point of view, putting new ideas to 

 work nearly always means scrapping old machinery and equipment, or 

 getting new capital, or both. 



Putting new scientific ideas to use often means designing new machinery, 

 organizing plans for operating it, planning changes in distribution or sell- 

 ing. It means training workers. Older workers often resist such training. 

 Many feel that if their skills were valuable in the past, they must continue 

 to be valuable into the future. The really good craftsman, however, like the 

 competent professional worker, has been continually adjusting himself as 

 new ideas, new tools, new materials, came along. One of the most useful 

 things an individual can learn is just this trick of making constant adjust- 

 ment to the changes in our ways of working, as well as in our ways of living. 



Each step involves its own particular difficulties and obstacles, expenses 

 and risks. And each, of course, takes time. When the advertiser gets around 



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