YawningAnus said: psychology is fundamentally flawed. there is no possible way to create an accurate macro model of human behavior... why? because there is no such thing.
anyway... there isnt a science to deducing peoples personalities. that is just experience. I dont think people become psychologists to help people... they think it gives them some upper hand on the rest of us.
I think it isn't internally consistent logic to simultaneously accuse psychology of being fundamentally flawed, as there is no possible way to create an accurate macro model of human behavior (obviously psychology as a whole isn't even concerned with this, although perhaps aspects of it might be, so I don't even see how this fact somehow makes psychology fundamentally flawed), and then make a blanket statement that people don't become psychologists to help people, but that their motivation is to gain a sense of having an upper hand on everyone else.
How exactly have you come to create an accurate macro model of the human behavior of all psychologists?
Quote: well, its simple... at what point can we begin to generalize a group of people? you say that universal characteristics are few... why is that? is that because each person is an individual, with an infinite number of reactions, choices, and decisions to make about any given "stimulus"? ... see how it doesnt end... until you have a very strict set of a few number of people who have already made a choice to behave in such a way that there is no point in saying "yes, you behave this way".
Sure, there is no point in simply concluding "yes, you behave this way", but that obviously isn't the point of psychology as I have come to understand it. I recognize psychology as being the practice of identifying ways and techniques to gain an understanding of how an individual's mind functions relative to a certain manner, and to then find a path of effective communication with that individual to resolve a specific concern that they are having regarding how their mind is functioning or how their behavior is manifesting.
Quote: and what is the end product? what is the great, final point to psychology? it seems that there is no real standard for psychological theories other than having them published... and so we take these musings that are no more scientific than the pot headed ramblings of your average P&S thread and take some amalgamation and turn it into what? advice?
I fail to see, first of all, how a published work would be no more scientific than ramblings of average P&S threads, although some P&S threads could be pretty scientific. I personally do not see how the only real standard is to have a theory published. The standard is the effectiveness of applying a theory in a specific circumstance towards a desired end.
The great, final point to psychology? To develop individuals who are capable of helping others become more aware of how their minds work, or to simply help change aspects of how their minds function to benefit them in some manner, or to help change patterns of behavior. To understand the mind and behavior more fully and to find ways of utilizing that understanding to help oneself and to help others.
Quote: you see, I own a car, and when i perceive something to be wrong with my car, i take it to a mechanic... a mechanic that i presume knows much more about cars than I do. when i take my car to the mechanic, i expect it to be repaired. I dont expect the mechanic to say, "well you are gonna have to keep bringing it back to me until i can figure out which one of these thousand theories, or combination of such, will have results you and i are happy with".
Of course you wouldn't expect the mechanic to say something along those lines, because a vehicle is a system that consists of only physical components and that functions in a relatively simple, understood fashion. The facets of the system of a vehicle are extremely limited compared to the facets of the system of the mind.
It only makes sense that it would take more time to diagnose and treat a much more complex system, especially when one considers that the much more complex system is not nearly as well understood, functions in a very complex manner, and is not nearly as accessible for diagnosis and treatment as simply popping the hood and reaching in with a wrench. To think otherwise would definitely be an unrealistic expectation.
Quote: but what really makes me bitter about the whole thing is that they claim to do it in the name of science... when in reality, there is nothing scientific about any of it.
I don't see how this statement could possibly be true. It seems likely that you are confusing "science" to mean certainty, because obviously psychology is based upon the scientific method. Observation, theory, test, observation. I think one thing about this that misleads people is the fact that, like you've already acknowledged, every individual is different, so it is more difficult to develop models that can pinpoint the sources of various manifestations for general groups of people. Beyond that, it is more difficult when it comes to the mind to be able to replicate results or make objective confirmations, due to the mind's nature as it pertains to each mind's individuality and how that mind transforms with every new interaction.
Clearly, psychology doesn't resemble other sciences like chemistry because of the unique and individual nature of every case. This doesn't, however, mean that psychology is not science, as it functions through the scientific method. The difference is that the results of each case mostly can only apply to each case, due to each case's uniqueness. Of course, there are more generalized trends and conclusions that can be and have been made, since there are bound to be similarities due to the similarities humans have with each other.
The difference is due to the way the mind is transformed by experience, but it doesn't mean that the approach to best understanding a case and being able to successfully influence a case to the desired result is not scientific. People just aren't the same, standardized weight and purity of iron being exposed to the same quantifiable degree of temperature.
Quote: back to the mechanic scenario... my mechanic does know more about cars than me... can you honestly say that when you bring the problem of "yourself" to someone else, are they supposed to know more about you, than you do?
No, they aren't "supposed" to know more about you, nor could they possibly know more about you. However, to think that this is the case is, IMO, a misconception. A psychologist isn't supposed to know more about you than one oneself does, but what could be considered the primary goal of a psychologist is to use their ability of communicating and interacting with you to develop a working model of an aspect of you as it relates to the concern that is to be addressed, and to subsequently play a role in helping you to resolve the concern. It isn't about knowing you better than you, but about using the power of interaction to resolve a specific concern.
Quote: am i supposed to believe that you can train empathy?
You aren't supposed to believe anything, but clearly individuals can develop the ability to be empathetic. From that, it is a question of how, and certainly there are ways of interacting with someone to help spur the development of empathy. Obviously, it isn't as simple to develop empathy as it is to learn how to clean out a carburetor, but it doesn't mean it is impossible to do so. 
Quote: see, the problem is that for one to be a psychologist, they have to believe that they themselves understand humans better than anyone else.
No, I don't see how one has to believe that in order to be a psychologist. One only needs to feel capable of interacting with a human to resolve a concern that this human has. One only has to make observations, form a theory that might hold predictive value for the matter, interact with the person in a way that puts the theory into action, and then observe the changes that result. This is the scientific method in practice, and psychologists are capable of applying it successfully to resolve concerns, all without the supposed need to believe that they "understand humans better than anyone else".
Quote: see, people dont go to psychologists because something is actually wrong... its because these people think that they are so deep and "artistic" that they need a psychologists.
Baseless generalization.
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