On Sat, 12 Feb 2000, Gary Peterson wrote:
> This and John Serafin's post about those eager to undergo trephination
> reminds us that the will to believe and belong is greater than the will to
> learn and to know. This is something we encounter too often in our classes.
> Helping our fellow citizens learn to differentiate between their desire to
> see the world as they wish versus the world as it is presents an increasing
> challenge when (as it appears today) we must move against the popular tide
> stirred by pop-psychology and pseudoscience. I find Michael's nonsensical
> post demeaning to an understanding of the many actual contributions of
> African-Americans and others to psychology. At the same time, it simply
> illustrates an effort to demean the impetus to learn and respect history in
> favor of the latest fads to impose one's own favored (usually ethnocentric)
> views. I've come to cherish all the more those rare students and colleagues
> who exhibit the desire to learn, who attempt to question honestly, and seek
> to know what is rather than prosleytize for what merely affirms their
> ideologies. Finding and encouraging a real student who loves to pursue
> knowledge is a joy. Many others seem bent on having holes in their heads,
> and some even become psych teachers who revel in the draft between their
> ears. Gary Peterson
And how about the Rorschach Inkbot projective tests?
A white dude spills ink forming ambiguous figures and we include
these as scientifically valid from the psychodynamic perspective
and yet the magical configurines and hypotheses of other
cultures are discredited.
Dig?
Michael Sylvester
Daytona Beach,Florida
