ABSTRACT
Analysis of the parapraxes of everyday life, of dreams, and in particular of free associations, will put in a position to understand a great deal about his fellows which was previously beyond the range of any but exceptional human beings. From the practical point of view, however, it is an undeniable advance that analysis has gradually succeeded in putting tools for the more delicate investigation of the kind into the hands of the physician and student of only average gifts. The human predilection for the marvellous will cause this transformation into a kind of craft of the art of understanding human nature to be received with disfavour. Artists and writers in particular appear to regard it as a kind of incursion into their domain and, after showing initial interest, summarily reject and turn their backs on it as an unattractive and mechanical technique.
