6 
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
in their profession. No doubt they do. However, many 
a psychologist to-day, while standing in complacent sat 
isfaction at the greatness of his medium, can not help 
wondering what all the fuss is about. And not a few 
must feel like the fisherman of the Arabian Nights tale 
when he uncorked the flask and let out the genii. They 
must be wishing the thing had not escaped them quite 
so fast. This illustration, however, is a misleading one. 
According to the story, the genii of the flask was an 
accommodating spirit who did anything which his master 
required. But psychology will not do everything which 
the psychologist could require of it. Far from it. Only 
those who know least about psychology can make it 
solve every problem and perplexity. As a consequence, 
professional psychologists are put in an embarrassing 
position in the eyes of the world. In the face of a pre 
vailing impression that the powers of psychology are un 
limited, the psychologist knows full well that his science, 
like every other science, can do some things particularly 
well but can by no stretch of the imagination accomplish 
everything. 
How psychology came to be regarded as the panacea 
for all ills is difficult to explain. We may attribute it to 
the great American virtue of advertising, or to that other 
well-known trait, credulity. If Barnum were living to-day, 
he would undoubtedly have a side show of psychological 
wonders. However, it has been characteristic of people 
from times past to put all their eggs into one basket. 
Five thousand years ago, astrology was the cult which 
could solve all human ills. The astrologer was succeeded 
by the philosopher, and for many centuries more, philos 
ophy was regarded as the touchstone of the sciences, and 
the philosopher as the wisest of the wise. To take things