22 TH E M I N D O F THE B UYER
And w e a ss um e th a t by surveying th e p rae
tice s o f th e pa st a n d by disc overing whi ch o nes
h ave survived an d whi ch h ave fail ed, we may
modify o ur pra ctic es and fin d a sh orte r and
mo re ec onomical roa d to b usine ss succ e ss.
W e rep ea t th a t we a re no t pr opo sin g the
h i st orical m e th od a s a form ul a fo r th e sol u
t i on o f all selling p robl em s. We a dvo c a t e i t
m erely a s o ne form o f scie ntific i nve sti gati on
whic h will p ermit us to s uppl em en t an d co r
rob ora t e info rm ation se cu re d by oth e r means.
In de ed w e cann o t rega rd eithe r one of th ese
meth od s a s sufficien t fo r th e app roach to sell
ing p robl em s. At b e st each th row s only a bit
o f ligh t up on th e enti re si tua tion. On e
m e th od m ay be b ett e r a dapte d to on e typ e of
p robl em th a n i s a no th e r m e th od. An d on e
m ay b e m ore a dap tabl e to o ne typ e o f p roblem
th an to an oth e r type. In mo st cases p robably
two o r all th re e of th e m e th o d s will b e f oun d
useful ; eac h on e suppl eme nting th e resul t s
se c ured th ro ugh th e o th ers.
After thi s disc ussi on o f the hi sto ry an d
me th o ds of p sych ol ogy, th e reade r will see
th a t mode rn p sych ol ogy h a s no hin t o f h oc us
p oc us i n i t s p rocedure ; th at i t i s fa r from
b eing th e m e sme ric gam e o f p opula r fancy.
R a th er th a t i t is a seriou s m at ter of l abora