Rick Froman wrote:
> Jeff [Ricker--me] wrote:
>
> >> In teaching the _science_ of psychology, we are trying to help develop
> >> in them a worldview where faith has no place.
>
> Oh, so that is what we are doing. No wonder we are failing. Radical
> Worldview Group Psychotherapy in 15 weeks at only 3 hours a week. I
> doubt that would have much impact on Personality disorders and certainly a
> worldview is as deeply ingrained as a personality disorder. In my naivete, I
> thought we were attempting to show them to respect the important place
> that the scientific method holds in the realm of epistemology. I didn't realize
> that we were attempting to sell them on the notion that if it can't be
> measured, it doesn't exist.
Science consists of a worldview in which faith has no place: every statement we make,
if it is to be considered scientific, requires supporting evidence. We are trying to
teach our students this worldview--one that is very foreign to most of them. Much of
your response confused me because it seemed to dismiss an obvious point. In fact, you
didn't realize it, but you stated exactly the same point I was trying to make. The
worldview of many of my students--the one which allows faith to justify their beliefs
about the world--is so different from the scientific view we are trying to teach in
our courses, and so deeply ingrained in most of them, that it may be impossible in
many cases for them to accept what we think we know about human nature. If they can
dismiss our evidence-based beliefs because of their faith in a different set of
beliefs, then what basis do we have for reasoned communication?
As for your discussion involving the place of values in all of this, I have nothing to
add to what Paul Smith stated: that was not what I was talking about; but I'll have to
think more about how this might fit in.
Jeff
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
"The truth is rare and never simple."
Oscar Wilde
"No one can accept the fundamental hypotheses of scientific psychology
and be in the least mystical."
Knight Dunlap
