At 10:15 AM 3/4/2007, you wrote:
how similar Marc's response was with arguments for ghosts, ESP, and
psychic powers.
Yikes... now there's a scary thought. I would say similar, but not
the same. Namely, and to be clear, I am not intending to argue in
favor of the stages view. I'm simply saying that I would like to see
more empirical evidence on either side before I make a more "final" decision.
I never had much belief in ghosts, ESP, psychic powers, etc. because
they did not fit well with my view of the world, even when I first
heard about them. But at the time, I was cautious in saying they
didn't exist. But, as more evidence was presented, my initial
reaction of disbelief was reinforced. In this situation, the stages
theory seems (seemed?) as viable as any to explaining the process one
goes through. It doesn't depend on something that is outside my
understanding of the world, at least as much as I understand the
approach because again I admit some ignorance on knowing the specifics.
From this stance, let's say that ESP did fit with my understanding
of the world. I hear several reports in the media, from friends, etc.
all saying that ESP exists. Let's even go so far as saying that I
witnessed something at some point that I felt was best explained by
ESP. So, I have (again, hypothetically here) a strongly held belief
in ESP. Then one day, I hear of a study that says ESP doesn't exist.
It is going to take more than that one study to change my view of the
world. It might make me pause and doubt my view, but I'm not going to
change my world view simply because of one study. (Unfortunately,
many want to simply discount anything that doesn't fit their world
view and pretend it doesn't exist...) As the issue is looked at in
more depth, hopefully an explanation can be provided as to why my
personal experience is not what I thought it was. For example, I
might learn of a stage magician who uses various tricks to mimic ESP.
Now I have an explanation to directly compete with my initial
understanding. Looking at the evidence, I can see that my original
belief is most likely incorrect (I just have trouble speaking in
absolutes I'm afraid) and an alternative explanation is more likely.
Now in this case, the stages model "fits" with my view of the world,
but I also realize it is not likely to apply to everyone and every
situation equally well. I have heard personal reports supporting it,
and perhaps even witnessed people going through the stages... but, as
Gerald pointed out...
those after are likely products of confirmation and hindsight biases.
I approach those claims with some skepticism (not absolute
skepticism, but some). An article is then described in which the data
did not match the model. At this point, I become even more skeptical
about the claims, perhaps even to the point where I'm willing to say
the stage theory is incorrect. But before I go that far, and discount
the personal reports and beliefs about experiences of many people, I
want to be sure. I need confirmation that their belief is wrong and
that an "alternative" is more likely.
More evidence will allow us to say with more confidence that an
alternative is more likely the case. For me, I want to know I'm on
firm ground before making a claim, regardless of what the claim is.
For some, it seems they are willing to make some claims based on
relatively little evidence because they believe so strongly in the
power of the evidence.
Probably a more relevant issue with a lot of flimsy psych ideas, is
how easily some of them get in to textbooks/seminars, and become
accepted by clinical workers, and later classroom teachers. Well it is {snipt}
appliance/cell phone/computer is broken or dying. Soon the
discussion can turn to how such ideas might have become popular in
the first place, and what would be necessary for a more adequate
framework of scientific observation and study.
Great job at trying to turn this into a thread about teaching! I
don't think it worked, but it was a really good attempt :)
Wishing I had stayed out of this... and soon bowing out as other
things require my attention...
- marc
=============================================
G. Marc Turner, PhD, MEd, Network+, MCP
Senior Lecturer & Technology Coordinator
Department of Psychology
Texas State University-San Marcos
San Marcos, TX 78666
phone: (512)245-2526
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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