this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2025
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philosophy
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Other philosophy communities have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it. [ x ]
"I thunk it so I dunk it." - Descartes
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So no psychology either? Heals a lot of people though. But I agree, that science is not enough for every philosophical question about our minds and experience. It still has a place though.
We can see what therapies lead to specific results quite readily. If a certain therapy reduces suicides, that's measurable and objective. Certainly there are elements of the field that aren't good subjects for scientific method, but the field involves plenty of science
Yes, I agree. Also, I think I now got what you meant earlier and agree with that too.
Does it though? Despite the overwhelming spread of psychology, I don't think people are on the whole 'getting better'. Now, I don't think that is exclusively psychology's fault, but I do think that there are large elements of the human experience that are not addressed by psychology, and moreover, the replication crisis has shown that psychology is better understood as a roughly systemic discipline than a heuristic one.
Psychology is still bound to the material determinations that makes it a practicing profession.
One could say the same thing of meditation and zen, but that doesn't mean it has a heuristic aspect to it.
i think a more precise version of what Dessa was trying to convey is more like: "the ultimate nature of consciousness isn't a field of study for science," which i agree with. you're right re: psychology and neuroscience - that we can study how conscious experience seems to behave under certain conditions and contexts, and within certain baseline assumptions. and through that we find practical breakthroughs that can really help people.
Yes, I absolutely agree with that, some questions are metaphysical. I just think we shouldn't discount the field of "talking to people about their subjective experiences and using the scientific method to see what effects them" as unscientific.