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From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: libraries, psychology, and you
Message-ID: <670@ttidcc.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Aug-85 21:46:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttidcc.670
Posted: Mon Aug 12 21:46:19 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Aug-85 03:58:03 EDT
References: <3109@nsc.UUCP>
Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Distribution: net
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 38
Summary: 

In article <3109@nsc.UUCP> chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Laurie Sefton, C/O chuqui) writes:
>Upon checking out the local bookstore, I found 180 titles found under the
>section titled "psychology". 12 titles were written by such people as
>Freud, Skinner, Jung, and Rogers.  The rest were titles such as "Nice Girls
>Do!", "Psycho-Cybernetics and Your Life", various TA books, one on EST, and
>two by Dr Peck, who appears to be attempting to combine demonology and
>psychology, a viewpoint not seen since about 200 years ago (evil is *such*
>a nice precise psychological term).

Something that bothers me about your average bookstore:

Typically you will find one section of shelves on psychology,  broken  down
as above, maybe half a section on philosophy, mostly of the same quality as
above, and at least _two_ sections on astrology and another two or three on
the occult.

Given that bookstores are in business to make money,  and  therefore  stock
the  more  popular books, I think this says something fairly terrible about
the reading tastes of the American public.  (And no, I _don't_ intend to get
into an argument over the relative merits of astrology and witchcraft.  Some
of my best friends are witches).

BTW, I think there's more than one Dr.  Peck in the pshrink  business.  The
one I worked with was at the L.A.  Suicide Prevention Center and frequently
appears on TV as an expert in teenage suicide.  I didn't particularly  like
him, but I wouldn't think he was in to demonology ...

Likewise, TA (transactional analysis, for the uninitiated) is a  legitimate
psychological  technique.  Unfortunately,  it's  become  a favorite of many
amateurs and therefore much abused and discredited.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe)
Citicorp TTI                      Common Sense is what tells you that a ten
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.             pound weight falls ten times as fast as a
Santa Monica, CA  90405           one pound weight.
(213) 450-9111, ext. 2483
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