290 ADAPTATION AND PROGRESS 
Two questions are raised in this connection, first, ‘‘ What are 
the limits of human faculty in various directions ? and second, By 
what diversity of means, in the different types of human beings, 
may the faculties be stimulated to their best results ? ” 
Granting that as a rule men habitually use only a small part of 
the powers which they actually possess and which they might use 
under appropriate conditions, the question arises, “‘ To what do 
the better men owe their escape ? and, in the fluctuations which 
all men feel in their own degree of energizing, to what are the 
improvements due, when they occur ?’?—and he answers, 
“ Either some unusual stimulus fills them with emotional excite- 
ment, or some unusual idea of necessity induces them to make an 
extra effort of will. Excitements, ideas, and efforts, in a word, 
are what carry us over the dam.” 
James illustrates his theory by several historical examples and 
points out especially the power of suggestive ideas to awaken the 
energies of loyalty, courage, endurance or devotion. 
“ Conversions,” he holds, ‘‘ whether they be political, scientific, 
philosophical, or religious, form another way in which bound 
energies are let loose. They unify us and put a stop to unscientific 
mental interferences. The result is freedom, and often a great en- 
largement of power. A belief that thus settles upon an individual 
always acts as a challenge to his will.” 
Christian Science, faith-cure and prayer are given credit for 
being instruments for the tapping of this reservoir of energy to 
the good of man, and he concludes: ‘‘ The two questions, first 
that of the possible extent of our powers; and second, that of the 
various avenues of approach to them, the various keys for unlock- 
ing them in diverse individuals, dominate the whole problem of 
individual and national education. We need a topography of 
the limits of human power, similar to the chart which oculists use 
of the field of human vision. We need also a study of the various 
types of human beings with reference to the different ways in 
which their energy reserves may be appealed to and set loose. 
Biographies and individual experiences of every kind may be 
drawn upon for evidence here.” ! 
1 This James has done in his Varieties of Religious Experience. 
