Like most people, for much of my life, I took cause and effect for granted. Then I read David Hume’s take on this, and I’ve never recovered. Hume says you can never actually see cause and effect. You can only assume it exists, based on the sequence in which things unfold. Hence the Latin warning:…
Ivy Jean, this is a brilliant question and is clearly, very important. Ironically, the nebulous answers posited so far barely hint at why. To be blunt, to properly answer this question, you first need an accurate, real world way to delineate between scientific problems and non-scientific problems. Lists of what qualify do little good. In…
Please forgive my snark, but at first glance, this question appears to be asking for the kinds of answers used to pass Psych 101 exams. You know, the kinds of answers which resemble over-cooked vegetables, in that they boil down a famous person’s life’s work to a few empty words or phrases. I could offer…
Good Morning, Wayne. To begin with, thank you for asking me such a deep question. In fact, there is so much that could be said that I’m not sure where to start. My first thought? One of my favorite Buddhist sayings comes to mind; “That which you resist, persists.” The more you try to not…
Steffan, know your question is one of the most important a person could ask. It refers to two of the four essential qualities in a real science. No coincidence, at this point, it seems, there have been more than 100 tries at this. Why so many? And why are you asking me this question so…
To begin with, realize, this difference is universal. It’s simply built into human nature. This means it cannot stem from ignorance or injury. Both learning and wounding are fractal, meaning, they are recognizable patterns which always repeat differently. My point is, we all experience this difference. Nothing unusual here. Oddly, few people ever seriously question…
Rohit, I love your question, in large part because the general consensus leads to me feeling hopeful. For me, being creative (especially in music, arts, and science) has felt like the air I breathe for most of my life. Most experts have found correlations between engaging in creative, brain challenging activities and a lowered risk…
I’m always amazed by how people who have never contributed in any way to a profession can feel entitled to claim other peoples’ work in this profession is right or wrong. What I mean is, like Jung, Adler, and Janet, Freud was a rare bird. He was a full-blown personality theorist AND at the same time,…
Sarah, how would you feel if I told you, answering your question holds the key to changing the nature of how all talk therapies are practiced? How? By moving them from things based on “soft” science to things which are in the truest sense, evidence-based. Unfortunately, to properly explain these claims, I’d need far more…
My first instinct, when I was sent this question, was just to pass. I try to avoid topics immersed in beliefs religiously rooted in poorly researched science. Even a quick survey of the answers posted shows this topic is one of those. Placebos are said, without question, to be “sham substances or treatments which have…
In the sixth century BCE, Parmenides claimed, nothing true ever changes. In the same time period, Heraclitus claimed, you can’t step into the same river twice. Since then, an incredible amount of brilliant, but foolish, people have argued this point. All the while, the answer is right in front of us. Both are true and…
You’ve asked a very interesting question, Thao. Unfortunately, for my answer to make sense, I’m afraid you’d need to have read my book on personality and my new book on therapy (due out in September). This said, I’ll do my best to offer a place for you to begin exploring. That place? The nature of…