Evening star., 1937-08-01

| Deen well expressed IN the Declara ton
Of independence: All experience
hath shown that mankind are more
disposed to suffer while evils are
sufferable than to right themselves
by abolishing the forms to which they
are accustomed
| Camouflage Comes in Handy.
The result is, DR.. Stern points out.
that new ideas have to be smuggled
past the guard which conservation
sets UP in the form Of naturalization
Of the perfection of things as they
are. They can be sneaked by disguised
as old things. AS rule the earlier
forms OF an innovation differ little IN
overt appearance from the existing
forms which are to be displaced.
This is sometimes, but not usually,
intentional. Even the mind of the
innovator doesn't venture far from
established patterns. The first auto
mobiles looked like buggies. The first
railroads looked like horse drawn car
| rlageS. The first typewriter looked
like piano. This was because the
inventors were thinking in old pat
terms, advancing only a step at time.
In the absence of unusual incentives,
| DR.. Stern points out, when an IN
novatlon is draStically novel, or exacts
fatiguing efforts for readjustment, or
involves pain, however temporary and
slight, resistance is intense and
rationalizations flourish. To cling
stubbornly to the old forms, however
overwhelming the details of their
performance may be, IS often regarded
as preferable to going through the
temporary disturbing process Of re-
adjustment"
There is. in fact, great deal to be
said for conservatism. Most new ideas,
after all, actually are bunk" Con-
servatlsm prevents them from getting
a foothold. Even some very good
ones are crude and unworkable when
they first appear. Conservatism puts
a salutary brake upon them, Not
even the inventors realize how I'M
portant they may be Thomas Edison,
for example, thought that the phono-
graph would be an interesting toy
and of some value for recording the
last words Of dying friends He had
no idea of the actual significance OF
his discovery.
Self-Preservation an Element.
Moreover, DR.. Stern points out,
resistance to innovation Is not ALWAYS
on quasl-automatlc level Especially
in economic and chronological fields
| there Is involved conscious interest
in the maintenance of status and, IN
some cases, even Of life itself Abstract
progress usually rates InslgnIfiCantly
compared to the actual immediate
effects which an innovation has
directly on the person or class involved.
Contemporary education in the
United States appears to do little to
| facilitate or promote receptivity to
chronological innovation and is rather
occupied with the organization and
perpetuatlon of past experience and
tradition. The majority of graduates,
even OF universities. remain ignorant
OF the relation Of technology TO con-
temporary culture, and few technolo-
glsts are educated outside the narrow
limits of their specialties With few
persons equipped with the experl-
mental or scientific method of verl-
flying data, or accustomed or able to
analyze proof as a crlterla of truth,
there must be recourse to authority.
The virtue IN such use of authority
is counteracted by the fact that in
the field of technology experts have
been historically conservative. have
been indifferent to and have lacked
understanding of the social aspects
OF their work, and have often been
too biased in terms of their own school,
ing and specific research to give de-
llberate and reasoned judgments.
Weapons Against Innovations.
There are factors involved in re-
slstance to change that are implicit
in group behavior The collective
behavior of groups is expedited order
lness based on the ability to antici-
pate the behavior Of the members.
Innovations are dlsruptive in that
they affect not isolated persons but
members of groups who influence
the behavior of all with whom they
come in contact. There is in conse-
quence group resentment against in
novators because they disturb es-
|
cause temporary confusion. Social
pressure upon the deviant to conform
follows. Caviling criticism, rldicule
and dlSparagement. economic dis
{ elimination, social ostracism and
violence are utilized. In order to
avoid such reprisalS most persons
lndorSe customary procedures and
5 refrain from projecting or supporting
| innovations. Social approval gives
the tone to personal adjustment. and
, the restraints thus imposed by group
attitudes are powerful deterrents of
change. The size of the community
, is factor in determining the strength
of its power of cohesion. If it has
, many members cohesion is not as
close and the innovator finding some
support, may be able to ignore de-
tractors, but in a small community
, contacts are more immediate and the
influence tends to be more direct.
!, The deterrent of group criticism func-
t tions not only in the general group
: life of the community, but within
specific industrial organizations. To
avoid the unpleasant an individual
, tends to continue established routlnes
y rather than to venture with revolu-
, | tionary innovations that will meet the
, resistance of his co-workers and
superiors
! In different cultures, opposition
Y to chronological change has varied
in its character and strength. The
a factors inhibiting innovation in primi-
tive societies apply to a large extent
to small, isolated communities through
, out history, and to rural communities
in the modern world Absence of
a knowledge of writing in preliterate
societies and illiteracy in civilized
| societies establish the need of con-
u serving tradition through speech and
behavior. Sparsity of the chronological
base, relatively scant margin of
safety and wealth which permits few
L