08-August-2022
Is Psychology Scientific
Cell is the fundamental unit of life. The reactions of biomolecules in the billions of cells in the body is the basis of life. Human body is one which has evolved through the evolution which took about 350 crore years. Even though the internal world of human being which has developed extraordinarily is the creation of the brain, human mind and consciousness are being influenced by time, space and circumstances.
The development of common sense of human being is accretion. The existing consciousness change when new knowledge, facts and skills are acquired. The thoughts, other cognitive processes, behaviours, social and cultural aspects, intelligence, emotions and physiological events of human beings are the important fields of study of psychology. There are different perspectives regarding psychology. The relativity and assimilation of psychological analyses make this problem complex. A mixed field consisting of general principles woven by different psychological theories, inconsistent psychiatric classification criteria, validations which crumple in repeated global tests, approaches that bring diverse internal activities within the ambit of general explanation, biological perspectives pertaining to mind and action of consciousness and ethical construct of society and non-absolute arguments that embrace old doctrines. In fact, psychology is entangled in a supernatural aura.
Modern science is only five hundred years old. It is only about three hundred years since science has given explanation to natural phenomena which were considered super natural. Social customs which are perpetuating the millennia old social system, knowledge and beliefs, are still existing. Psychology which is relatively in a nascent stage is entangled with several superstitions. Formulae that generalize traditional means which are existing in the society are being limited to schematic means of conclusion which perpetuates them as immortal truths.
The invisible influence of ideas formed in the field of philosophy which distinguished as mind and body is still there. The formidable predominance of abstract ideologies which are claimed as being experienced by some but not confirmed, are weakening the facts which are being revealed by modern studies in the fields of biology, evolution and psychology. Evangelists, enchanters and sorcerers are performing psychiatric treatment. Old witchcraft treatments are being continued in several pretexts such as Reiki, LNP, Pranic healing, Transactional analysis and Psycho analysis.
In early stages psychiatrists used to give sleeping pills to patients for keeping them under sedation. Centres where mental patients were treated were nothing short of prisons and centres of torture. Being entrapped there once made it impossible for anyone to come out and lead a normal life thereafter. If a person was branded as a mental patient, they would never get civil rights which one is naturally entitled to. It was very easy for the psychiatrist to label somebody as a lunatic.
What is fake psychology?
There are several psychology theories to study about the personality, nature, behavior and emotions. It is a world of ideas based on faith doctrines, socio-gender status, cultural position and values. Even while it is a fact that every scientist starts from where his predecessor has concluded, psychiatrists are having conflicting perspectives regarding the mental activities of humans. Even while the field of psychology is spread over several sub divisions such as Psychoanalysis, Behavior science, Cognitive psychology and Evolutionary psychology, a framework as in the case of other branches of science is still strange as far as psychology is concerned. Everyone is reaching conclusions necessary for the integrity regarding human nature according to their own convenience and belief.
The ideas which are being presented as structural conditions regarding human mind and thoughts which idealize humans are not basically of transparent scientific evaluations. A few romantic concepts about human culture and ideas which are superficial and full of contradictions do not encompass scientific neutrality. All such schools of psychology which depict human behavior from the stand point of social conventions are existing without a firm and transparent framework regarding human nature. The process of labelling by psychologist by creating interpretations from the things which one conceal, contains own beliefs and subjective positions. They are describing the naturalness of human character from the limited framework of socio-cultural environment. Psychological approaches which judges using technical terms of psychology are superficial stereotypes of the value system in the society. Modern studies on brain are rejecting many of such perceptions brought out by human society over many millennia and beliefs which are being presented as psychology.
How will psychology become a science?
The genotypes transferred to the next generation through the genes of humans and bio-chemical structure and the characteristics based on that biostructure and all have evolved as part of life. There are genes which determine human beings’ way of thinking, imagination and various beliefs. Mutual help, repentance, co-operation, tribal beliefs, various emotions, all physical and social characteristics and intuition are the creation of the process related to human evolution. Thousands of such mental models and behaviour patterns for successful life have developed in humans as a result of the evolutions spread across several millennia. Innate habits which have been created for acclimatizing with the surroundings and for living, as a result of evolution cannot be changed by external ecological components. It is possible only through genetic mutations which occur naturally or created artificially.
However, human being is not only a biological product, but also a social creation. They have knowledge. The basis of their knowledge is the experience gained from involving with the one’s own environment. Messages from external world reach the brain through sense organs. This knowledge gained through sense organs are influencing the biological condition, behaviour and mental level of human beings. Social causes are influencing the biological body of a person. For example, right from the time of its birth a baby starts to identify its environment, imbibe one’s own physical process, assimilate the surroundings through the sense organs, understand the situations of life and muscles and neurons are developed. Skills essential for living successfully in the society are acquired from the society. As the biological systems of a human being is developed, the mutual functioning with the environment gets complicated. The growth of body organs, sense organs and cells, forms the varied organization of chemicals which help in their mutual communication. Socio-cultural evolutions which interfere with and influence human nature also happen alongside.
Different types of emotions, behaviours and various intellectual abilities of human beings have been developed stage by stage through evolution. So, it is not possible to understand the facts relating to mental levels, thoughts, emotions, intellectual abilities and life strategies of humans and other living beings from the limited space of popular psychology. The framework needed for psychology is the method in which human nature and mental levels of humans are understood on an evolutionary basis on the basis of Genetics, Molecular biology, Neurobiology, History and Social sciences. It is that which makes psychology a science.