ABSTRACT
Contemporary psychology is in many respects the alchemy of the mind. Both the two major movements in psychology, behaviourism and cognitivism, have their own shibboleths. The errors are preoccupation with the human mind, with information rather than action and taking ordinary language at face value. These are also the domain of economics. But economics until recently was not an experimental science. Human memory, thought, ideas and consciousness, like lead and gold, are the currency of daily discourse. From Watson to Skinner, whether they studied rats, pigeons or people, the leading behaviourists were all preoccupied with practical results. In the case of behaviourism, it was the practical objective that dominated. In fact, the alchemists understood too little of physics and chemistry to have any hope of achieving their aim. But their interests were utopian - to change the world, not to understand it - so they vaulted from fragmentary knowledge to sweeping recommendations about social policy and private action.
