Technical View Insufficient.

But whether the clear view of the designer is due to peculiar fitness for seeing such things, or to proper application, the fact remains that this clear view of the technical side is insufficient in itself.  The man with the clear view must also realize that others do not get the same view.  He must know that the mind automatically takes in things of interest to it and wards off others.  Even when the individual apparently tries to comprehend something in which he has no special interest, it only results in a superficial mental impression, one that has no appreciable effect on the actions.

This failure of mankind in general to grasp the advantages of a new mechanism as it appears on paper is only a slight part of the troubles to be encountered by a progressive designer.

He has to contend with habits of thought and action of all the human beings affected by the new machine.  This includes the entire group of men in the manufacturing plant in which the machine must be made, the business organization both in this plant and the one in which it is to be used, and, after all this, the greatest obstacle of this kind is to be met in the man who uses the machine.  For it is in his hands that a machine must prove its value.

When we consider the inertia of mind and body, it is truly marvelous that there has been any progress in machine design.  In fact, if the machine-building trade were in retrogression, with only a few new men being taken in there would be little or no excuse for making machine tools of new design.  The older workers would get along about as well without the improved machines.

This is not said in a spirit of fault finding.  It is a great fact that we should grasp if we are to design machinery successfully.

It is difficult for the man of sanguine temperament to really accept this view, and it is also hard for one who is continually searching for knowledge.  But it must be appreciated, and all work must conform to this principle, if it is to be pushed forward along the lines of easiest progress.

Accepting this view is no barrier to progress.  It will not ultimately delay the work of a reformer if he is induced to act in accordance with this principle.  It only prevents a wreck.

The knowledge of the force of habit of man should therefore be used in two ways: 

First, when the designer is trying to make the most natural machine for the purpose.  Then he must overcome his own tendency to follow precedent.  Second, when considering the kind of a machine that can be easily made, sold, and used, he must give due consideration to the inertia of others, for their inertia he cannot hope to quickly change.  Reformers in this world generally have a hard time whenever they under estimate the inertia of men’s minds and bodies.

A designer of machinery, by close application to his tasks, should obtain a clearer view than it is possible for others to possess, of the way a machine should be designed, made, and used.  It is not necessary to assume he has a better brain.  An ordinary mind applied to a given subject sees it more clearly than an abler mind which has not considered the subject with the right interest.