We simply start from the clear fact that
the personalities which enter into the world of affairs present an
unlimited manifoldness of talents and abilities and functions of the
mind. From this manifoldness, it necessarily follows that some are
more, some less, fit for the particular economic task. In view of the
far-reaching division of labor in our modern economic life, it is
impossible to avoid the question how we can select the fit
personalities and reject the unfit ones.
How has modern society prepared itself to settle this social demand?
In case that certain knowledge is indispensable for the work or that
technical abilities must have been acquired, the vocation is
surrounded by examinations. This is true of the lower as well as of
the higher activities. The direct examination is everywhere
supplemented by testimonials covering the previous achievements, by
certificates referring to the previous education, and in frequent
cases by the endeavor to gain a personal impression from the
applicant. But if we take all this together, the total result remains
a social machinery by which perhaps the elimination of the entirely
unfit can be secured. But no one could speak of a really satisfactory
adaptation of the manifold personalities to the economic vocational
tasks. All those examinations and tests and certificates refer
essentially to what can be learned from without, and not to the true
qualities of the mind and the deeper traits.
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