Psycho-Babble Psychology Thread 569496

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Why are there so many psychology books?

Posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 20:03:27

I went to the local library the other day, and was amazed at the number of psychology books that they had. They must have had atleast 3000 - 4000 books.

I am wondering what is there to write so much about? Just curious. Any ideas?

 

Re: Why are there so many psychology books? » orchid

Posted by Dinah on October 20, 2005, at 20:20:41

In reply to Why are there so many psychology books?, posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 20:03:27

There are lots of all sorts of books.

People like to write. People like to read.

 

Re: Why are there so many psychology books? » Dinah

Posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 20:25:13

In reply to Re: Why are there so many psychology books? » orchid, posted by Dinah on October 20, 2005, at 20:20:41

Yeah. That is true.

There were just way too many books on all subjects.

I didn't know before that there could be so many books on psychology. I thought it was a relatively simple area. All that one needs to know is basically to be happy and at peace with their selves and to have good social contacts and some personal values. But I guess there are so many nuances to it.

Anyway, it took the charm out of psychology for me a little bit. It just has become like any other science subject !! IT was little mystical and mysterious and majical before. But then now it has become just a usual mundane thing.

 

Because there are so much messed up minds! LOL (nm)

Posted by happyflower on October 20, 2005, at 20:45:26

In reply to Re: Why are there so many psychology books? » Dinah, posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 20:25:13

 

Re: Why are there so many psychology books? » orchid

Posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2005, at 20:51:14

In reply to Why are there so many psychology books?, posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 20:03:27

> I went to the local library the other day, and was amazed at the number of psychology books that they had. They must have had atleast 3000 - 4000 books.

yup. and thats to say nothing of journals...

> I am wondering what is there to write so much about? Just curious. Any ideas?

psychology is a HUGE and very diverse field.

>All that one needs to know is basically to be happy and at peace with their selves and to have good social contacts and some personal values. But I guess there are so many nuances to it.

thats just one idea of what psychology is / should be. most people consider psychology to be... the science of behaviour. and there are many levels at which behaviour can be studied (neuroscientific / physiological, cognitive, behavioural, group etc).

and then some people think psychology is / should be / or at the very least should include phenomenology (consciousness) too.

and then there is all the personal development stuff...

> Anyway, it took the charm out of psychology for me a little bit. It just has become like any other science subject !!

yes. and that... was thought to be a very significant achievement indeed. we can use our minds... to study our minds. the very idea was thought to be conceptually confused for quite a while.

> IT was little mystical and mysterious and majical before. But then now it has become just a usual mundane thing.

lol! well... we are part of the natural world just like everything else.

i still think there is something very amazing indeed in the point that there is something that it is like to be me. and presumably to be you. and presumably to be the higher mammals too.

as for the sheer number of self-help books...

methinks there is money in them hills...
lots of hurting people looking for *the answer* or the quick fix solution.

a lot of what works in those strategies...
has been covered in the scientific literature as well.

and experimental psychology (as a scientific discipline) well... the sheer numbers of the behaviourists journals amaze me. page after page after page of graphs of reinforcement schedules and time taken to extinguish behaviour etc etc. yucko.

 

:) but it sure did take the charm out of it :-( (nm) » alexandra_k

Posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 21:23:51

In reply to Re: Why are there so many psychology books? » orchid, posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2005, at 20:51:14

 

Re: :) but it sure did take the charm out of it :-(

Posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2005, at 21:36:29

In reply to :) but it sure did take the charm out of it :-( (nm) » alexandra_k, posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 21:23:51

sometimes it can seem that way...

life and reproduction were thought to be magical or mystical things. things that could not really be explained.

we don't know everything about them but modern advances in the biological and chemical sciences mean that we now have a view of the form the explanation should take. the biological / chemical processes may seem boring at times... it might seem like the mystery has been explained away. but another way to look at it is to marvel at the biological and chemical processes. at how amazingly complex and diverse those things are.

mystery still remains
and there is still room for a 'spiritual' way of viewing it

wittgenstein said that there were a few things that helped get one in touch with the mystical. one of those was that there is something rather than nothing (ie the fact that the universe exists). another that i would add is that there is something that it is like to be me.

sometimes science seems to be silent on what it is that most interested us.

maybe... you are more interested in spirituality and living a meaningful life than you are interested in experimental psychology and what the experimental psychologists have learned about physiological processes and memory and attention and what biology and the behaviourists have to say about drives etc.

thats cool :-)

sometimes science is silent on what interests us the most...

though sometimes... what they have to say is one way of accessing those other things and one way of prompting that mystical feeling in us (that is what i find for me anyway)

and sometimes... what they have to say about the evolution of functional mechanisms and the processes of learning and attention and memory etc come to bear on phenomenology and what it is that interests us the most. not terribly often... you have to extrapolate a bit... but it is relevant...

;-)

 

babble has taken the charm out of transference :-( » orchid

Posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 21:38:02

In reply to :) but it sure did take the charm out of it :-( (nm) » alexandra_k, posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 21:23:51

I think too much analysis of anything takes all the fun out of it.. now I don't like to read about transference also. Neither do I like psychology:-(

I used to be so passionate about it.

 

Re: babble has taken the charm out of transference :-(

Posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2005, at 22:02:56

In reply to babble has taken the charm out of transference :-( » orchid, posted by orchid on October 20, 2005, at 21:38:02

> I think too much analysis of anything takes all the fun out of it..

lol. sometimes it can seem that way.
wittgenstein once said that he didn't write so as to spare other people the trouble of thinking, rather to stimulate them to thoughts of their own.

i think that that is the best way to read everything...

that is what makes it interesting to me rather than boring... i always look to apply it to new problems or to modify it so i find it more plausible or whatever...

(you can't change the facts but you can challenge the interpretation of the facts)

>now I don't like to read about transference also.

because it takes the 'magic' out of it?
sometimes... that can help one move beyond it...
recognising it... can lead to one seeing it for what it is and moving beyond it... but there is a certain comfort in just indulging the feelings i suppose...

;-)

> Neither do I like psychology:-(
> I used to be so passionate about it.

heh heh. maybe... you just mean something different by 'psychology'.

the term came from...

psyche.
soul. mind. spirit.
logy.
i think that is 'study of'
comes from logos
reason

the rational investigation of the soul

but it got operationalised into the empirical (observation focused) study of behaviour

in the interests of making it scientific rather than speculative...

 

To Alexandra-taken the charm out of transference

Posted by allisonross on October 21, 2005, at 12:58:11

In reply to Re: babble has taken the charm out of transference :-(, posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2005, at 22:02:56

> > I think too much analysis of anything takes all the fun out of it.. Boy, do I AGREE with that (newbie here)....I mean, we are ALL human...why can't LOVE, which is the greatest thing in the world; simply be left alone....to just......BE!!! We gotta analyze it to death (ick)...i Love my therapist (it's NOT Freudian "transference"); as my t (who is brilliant) explained it; people misuse that term....transference is simply the feelings we engender it one another.....duhhhhh...simple, eh? If you want a good laugh read my post entitled: I Had Wild Uninhibited Sex w/theraist (Finally!).....without a sense of humor, i would be drooling in a corner somewhere!

>
> lol. sometimes it can seem that way.
> wittgenstein once said that he didn't write so as to spare other people the trouble of thinking, rather to stimulate them to thoughts of their own.
>
> i think that that is the best way to read everything...
>
> that is what makes it interesting to me rather than boring... i always look to apply it to new problems or to modify it so i find it more plausible or whatever...
>
> (you can't change the facts but you can challenge the interpretation of the facts)
>
> >now I don't like to read about transference also.
>
> because it takes the 'magic' out of it?
> sometimes... that can help one move beyond it...
> recognising it... can lead to one seeing it for what it is and moving beyond it... but there is a certain comfort in just indulging the feelings i suppose...
>
> ;-)
>
> > Neither do I like psychology:-(
> > I used to be so passionate about it.
>
> heh heh. maybe... you just mean something different by 'psychology'.
>
> the term came from...
>
> psyche.
> soul. mind. spirit.
> logy.
> i think that is 'study of'
> comes from logos
> reason
>
> the rational investigation of the soul
>
> but it got operationalised into the empirical (observation focused) study of behaviour
>
> in the interests of making it scientific rather than speculative...

you sound like an intellectual---I am incredibly attracted to those types---they are rare---my t is the most intellectual I have ever known---been together for 3 years; and he still manages to come up with new stuff every week! wow......So, enough about ME, what do YOU think about ME?! LOL....P.S. We need to quit sanitizing, picking apart, examining, etc.....stuff; just let it be what it is....like love......LOVE is LOVE...no need to take any of the magic out...i love that word----magic...the world needs MORE magic, and less scientific investigations! So speeketh me! LOL.....Actually my story was published with the Ph.D.'s (amazingly)...www.psychiatricjournal.com...entitled: The Transcendent Child on Overcoming Verbal and Spiritual Abuse....love to hear what you think. Also have my own site: www.churchabusepoetrytherapy.com (voted out of a 31-year church membership, cause got a divorce after 31 years of abuse); born standin' up and talkin' back. Smiles n grins, very sassy
>

 

Re: babble has taken the charm out of transference :-( » alexandra_k

Posted by orchid on October 21, 2005, at 14:26:27

In reply to Re: babble has taken the charm out of transference :-(, posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2005, at 22:02:56

I think many people just write books to speculate about things in their own minds without really thinking if it is ultimately useful or not.

Lots of these books and fancy scientific terms are really nothing if you understand what is behind it. Most things in life are really quite simple - especially in fields like psychology.

People unnecessarily make things very complicated and make it sound complex and create a huge database of fancy terms and words in their minds and audience's mind.

It is getting so prevalent to the extent that even for simple simple issues, people think that without reading a book they may not understand anything.

(as usual before someone comes and tells me "please say it is only your opinion and not the universal truth", I myself will say that :-))

 

Re: babble has taken the charm out of transference :-( » orchid

Posted by Tamar on October 21, 2005, at 15:47:48

In reply to Re: babble has taken the charm out of transference :-( » alexandra_k, posted by orchid on October 21, 2005, at 14:26:27

> (as usual before someone comes and tells me "please say it is only your opinion and not the universal truth", I myself will say that :-))

I’m definitely not planning to say that! But you raise a very interesting point…

> I think many people just write books to speculate about things in their own minds without really thinking if it is ultimately useful or not.

I don’t know about self help books, but I’m guessing that in academic psychology people write books because they’ve read books that explain things in different ways, and they have their own ideas about how things really are. So they comment on the ideas that other people have had, and they add their own ideas. It does mean that every academic psychologist in the country (or the world) will probably publish a few books. And libraries will buy some of those books, and before you know it there are thousands of books in each subject area. And to other academic psychologists, each book has an original slant on a particular part of psychological theory (or at least, that’s the intention).

> Lots of these books and fancy scientific terms are really nothing if you understand what is behind it. Most things in life are really quite simple - especially in fields like psychology.
>
> People unnecessarily make things very complicated and make it sound complex and create a huge database of fancy terms and words in their minds and audience's mind.

I guess it depends on who the audience is. I will admit that I have a very limited understanding of transference because I am not a psychologist; I’m not the target audience for academic books on transference. But in my own field I don’t feel anything is simple really. Take myth: a simple concept, perhaps. But if we want to know how it really works we can look at it anthropologically, psychologically, literarily, sociologically, religiously etc etc… So although the idea itself is simple, if we want to understand all its nuances we have to explore it from a number of different perspectives. And that leads to a lot of books!

> It is getting so prevalent to the extent that even for simple simple issues, people think that without reading a book they may not understand anything.

I think you’re making a really excellent point here. I think it is a real concern: people feel that to understand anything they have to become scholars and there’s hardly any point trying unless they’re prepared to spend half their lives reading. It’s hard to feel confident about one’s understanding of a field without much study. And yet… perhaps it’s possible to feel confident about understanding as much as we need to know. For example, I don’t really understand HTML, but I know enough HTML to write a web page from scratch. It wouldn’t be a very complicated web page, but it would have pictures and text and it could be published on the internet. That’s enough for me… I’m satisfied with what I know about that. And I content myself that despite my lack of knowledge of HTML I know a heck of a lot about myth…

Tamar


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