Industry and the Scientific Method

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E YVEN haphazard change frequently shows patterns. Most people observe these accidental patterns, call them natural, and hope for the repetition of those which are favorable and the elimination of those which are not. Change, however, can be controlled, within limits, of course, by man's intelligence. After eons of trial-and-error experiment, we are beginning to grasp this fact. We suddenly find ourselves projected into what everyone calls a scientific age, and dependent upon a culture which is predominantly industrial. If industry is to deserve any shreds of free enterprise with which to protect itself from the inclement blasts of collectivism, it must learn to apply the methods of science in the service of an entire society. So far, it has used a minimum of science to mask a philosophy which is in the main exploitive, greedy, and predatory. What effective uses can it make of science-besides hoodwinking the public with a man in a white coat? Through applied sociology and economics, industry can often open up new markets which not only provide for disposition of its own products but which vitalize the entire business cycle as well. These new markets may be limited and local or they may be vast and international. The significant point is, however, that one does not need new or underprivileged populations in order to find new markets. This is the crudest form of exploitation. Rather, one must discover or create a new need in the minds and lives of the people who constitute the potential market. Already the advertising business has developed this method to some extent, but for profit first and only, and often without regard for the validity of the needs created. The fact that some of these are basic and fundamental is largely accidental; the fact that many of them are frivolous and ridiculous reflects the shallow nature of the research groundwork (if any) which preceded production, as well as the predatory attitude of producer toward consumer. Industrial research must reach out far ahead of production, forecast possible avenues of approach to the markets of the future, and indicate the products with which those markets may be supplied. Too small an amount of capital has been invested by industry in research during the last forty years, although a meager nucleus has established beyond a doubt the validity of research in industry. In the future, industry must be prepared to spend substantially greater and greater sums in this field if it is to develop effectively. When we consider the fact that most