Before defining the fundamental motivations of society, let me mention those outward signs on which psychologists base their study of conditions.
Psychological habits, or as Mr. Lippmann calls them, “stereotypes,” are shorthand by which human effort is minimized. They are so clearly and commonly understood that every one will immediately respond to the mention of a stereotype within his personal experience. The words “capitalist” or “boy scout” bring out definite images to the hearer. These images are more comprehensible than detailed descriptions. Chorus girl, woman lawyer, politician, detective, financier are clean-cut concepts and capable of definition. We all have stereotypes which minimize not only our thinking habits but also the ordinary routine of life.
Mr. Lippmann finds that the stereotypes at the center of the code by which various sections of the public live “largely determine what group of facts we shall see and in what light we shall see them.” That is why, he