From: utzoo!laura
Newsgroups: net.misc
Title: Re: Social Scientists as Pinkos 
Article-I.D.: utzoo.2180
Posted: Wed Jun 16 03:50:25 1982
Received: Wed Jun 16 03:50:25 1982
References: eagle.362 

	There is this strange phenonemon in society today -- the revered
position of the doctor and the *psychiatrist* in particular.  Quite a
large proportion of my friends and aquaintances have 'shrinks' and when I
mention that I dont believe in them I get looks and stares.  One would
think that I had the plague!  I can just hear them muttering 'you mean
she wants to be maladapted to society?' and other (for them) nasty things.
I find that I have a fundamental dislike of letting other people do my
thinking for me -- and anyone who claims that today's 'shrinks' arent
as guilty as proponents of DIANETICS or THE UNIFICATION CHURCH of chanelling
one,'s thinking either have not been to one or are incredibly unaware of
their own suggestibility.
	Somewhere we have become convinced that doctors are all-wise like
Marcus Welby, and that psychology is becoming a science, instead of the
horrible mix of fact, theory, and old-wives tales which is the actual case.
This is very strange, given that we are quick to criticize our fellow computer
scientists on all sorts of things (self-documenting code, whether one is a
hacker) but seem to place so much faith in psychiatry which is less worthy of
the title 'science' than computer science.  (And we werent all able to agree
on that one, either).
	There are no Hari Sheldons (sp?) able to map out the future based
on current knowledge of pshchology.  There is little or no agreement among
the social-scientists themselves.  There is merely a society which, having
done away with the pastor and the rabbi, now considers itself more
enlightened when it believes the 'shrink' and the social worker.  The same
criticisms which can be made of religions can be made of modern psychiatry,
all in all, with a few exceptions, it boils down to a matter of faith. 
Until psychology becomes a true science (and I doubt that this will ever
occur) then psychologists merely have an educated opinion based on their
experience ... same as I do .... not the gospel word of the new god of
technology, to be believed and honored, because it is the truth.  
		
					cheerfully maladaptedly yours,
					laura creighton

					decvax!utzoo!laura