

Science is not your enemy - adamsi
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114127/science-not-enemy-humanities

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lutusp
Quote: "They were cognitive neuroscientists, who tried to explain thought and
emotion in terms of physical mechanisms of the nervous system. They were
evolutionary psychologists, who speculated on life in a state of nature and on
animal instincts that are “infused into our bosoms.” And they were social
psychologists, who wrote of the moral sentiments that draw us together, the
selfish passions that inflame us, and the foibles of shortsightedness that
frustrate our best-laid plans."

Yes, except the fact that the article is about science and these aren't
sciences. Science requires evidence and falsifiability. Because of that
uncontroversial definition of science, psychology isn't science, it's
philosophy. Oh, by the way, "Cognitive Neuroscientist" is the new code word
for psychologist, now that "psychologist" has become a dirty word, and now
that psychologists are desperate to appear to be scientists.

With respect to psychiatry and psychology, society is moving away from any
reliance on their imitation of science. Thomas Insel, director of the NIMH,
has recently decided to abandon the DSM, psychiatry and psychology's "Bible"
and central authority, on the ground that it's not scientific enough to guide
research efforts. Announcing this decision, Insel said, "While DSM has been
described as a “Bible” for the field, it is, at best, a dictionary, creating a
set of labels and defining each. The strength of each of the editions of DSM
has been “reliability” – each edition has ensured that clinicians use the same
terms in the same ways. _The weakness is its lack of validity._ "

Source: [http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2013/transforming-
dia...](http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2013/transforming-
diagnosis.shtml)

As to social psychology, the field is a joke. ScienceInsider reports: "In
their exhaustive final report about the fraud affair that rocked social
psychology last year, three investigative panels today collectively find fault
with the field itself. They paint an image of a "sloppy" research culture in
which some scientists don't understand the essentials of statistics, journal-
selected article reviewers encourage researchers to leave unwelcome data out
of their papers, and even the most prestigious journals print results that are
obviously too good to be true."

Source: [http://news.sciencemag.org/people-events/2012/11/final-
repor...](http://news.sciencemag.org/people-events/2012/11/final-report-
stapel-affair-points-bigger-problems-social-psychology)

Science is certainly not anyone's enemy, but there are many who want the
status of science without the substance. One way is to simply use the word
"science" without actually meeting science's requirements. Examples include
Christian Science, Scientology, and now Cognitive Neuroscientist.

