always a relationship (page 3) existing between such natural
forces and the resultant condition which they produce. The natural
forces are causes; the resultant conditions are effects.

It is a recognized natural phenomenon that every effect is the result
of a certain cause, or of a combination of causes, and that each
effect is itself, in turn, the cause of additional effects. Action and
reaction are the basis of natural law. Cause and effect, the latter
being the cause of further effects, follow each other in ceaseless
succession in the world of human affairs.

Except by putting proper natural causes into action, it is impossible
to produce the effect desired. It follows that specific knowledge of
causes is necessary for the planned production of specific effects.
Toward the accumulation of such knowledge the methods of science
(pages 1 and 2) are constantly directed.

The uncertainties of war are largely the outgrowth of the fact that
the minds of men are pitted against one other. Because of this, a
knowledge of the manner in which the human mind seeks its way out of
difficulties is a great military asset. Consideration is next given,
therefore, to the natural mental processes employed (page 11) and to
certain human tendencies which have been known to militate against
their successful employment.

The mental processes employed by the normal mature human being before
taking deliberate action, or in making studied provision for possible
future action, are natural procedures, in that they employ the
intellectual powers bestowed by nature, without artificial
modification or embellishment.

When the individual concerned has a background of adequate knowledge
and experience, his ability to solve problems is limited only by his
native intellectual endowment. That he falls short does not
necessarily indicate, however, that the limit of native endowment has
been reached. It happens frequently that latent powers have not been
cultivated, or have not been utilized.

A problem is, by definition, a perplexing question. In any human
activity, a problem appears when a perplexity arises as to a way out
of a difficulty inherent in a situation. The question involved then
is, what is a way, more especially the best way, out of the seeming
difficulty?

To determine the best way out of the difficulty, i.e., the best
solution of the problem, involves:

(1) The establishment of the proper basis for the
solution of th