First of all I would like to apologize for the lack of posting for the past few weeks. I got back from thanksgiving and then it was finals and then it was break and then classes started and I have felt uninspired. I’m sure you all understand. Anyways, let’s get on with it.
I read this article a few weeks ago about how the teachings of Sigmund Freud are taught in universities, but not in psychology classrooms. Humanities class, popular culture, and modern literature openly discuss Freud’s theories but psychology departments distance themselves from psychoanalysis. Apparently psychologists find him to be, “sexist, fraudulent, unscientific, and just plain wrong”. While “fraudulent” might be pushing it, ‘unscientific” is just fine by me.
I was first introduced to Mr. Freud my senior year of high school. Of course this introduction did not take place in a psychology class, but in an English class titled “Literature and Psychology”. Ms. Birdwell introduced our class to some of Freud’s finer theories: Electra complex, Oedipus complex, interpreting our dreams, defense mechanisms, the id/ego/superego, the psychosexual stages of development, and of course Freudian slips. We analyzed “Alice in Wonderland” as though it was a dream- a very, very perverted dream. Then we discussed “Dorian Grey” and hypothesized that these theories could be applied to “One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest”. And overall I liked Freud. I mean, really- how hard is it? Everything is about sex and it’s completely appropriate to, when in doubt during discussion, raise you hand and say “that image OBVIOUSLY represents a penis”.
Of course Freud and his theories are ideal for English class and philosophy for exactly the same reasons why they are undesirable to psychologists: they do not have empirical evidence to back them up and thus can be debated endlessly. While psychology loves an ongoing debate, normally there is empirical evidence to back it up on either side. Take nature vs. nurture. There is empirical evidence showing that it is a combined effort between gene expression and environment. This is not the case with Freud. The only real conclusive discovery that Freud made was that while cocaine will give his patients a feeling of euphoria, it is also addictive.
Then there is the most disastrous aspect of Freud and why he is shunned by psychology departments: his ideas have been infiltrated by popular culture. There was a time when the vast rest of the world was ignorant to these theories but as they have been popularized they have managed to lose their credibility. For example the image of the doctor with the patient lying on the couch has become legendary but as it has become legendary it has transformed the popular opinion of psychology making it a career of clinicians and not scientists. Science and discovery is central to all theories in psychology and draws on topics ranging from cognition, biology, and social behavior. By simplifying Freud for popular consumption he has become the most infamous figure in psychology and sadly, what the field is known for which is sad considering psychology has many more interesting researchers that are credible.
While Freud did manage to popularize the field it is important for psychology departments to focus on more credible scientific research because this is the real meat of the field. Freud may be fun for the public but I would prefer “Psychological Science” over Freud anyday!
Posted: February 10, 2008 5:25 pm by Katherine Swanson | 0 comments
Tags: freud, New York Times, psychology, Science
I have a confession. I am completely addicted to celebrity gossip. It all began when I bought my first copy of US weekly. I'm not sure how old I was but a cover story about the original "Bennifer" seduced me and I have been an addict ever since. I love the "stars, their just like us!" page where on any given week you can see Tom Hanks pumping gas and Lauren from The Hills eating fro-yo. I love the bad fashions in the back where almost every week Courtney Love is photographed prancing around LA is some outrageous get up. Most of all I love the "Hot Stuff" section where I can always get my weekly fix of trash-tastic celebrity hook ups with stories like "K-Fed texts Lindsay!” (PS: I’m not making any of these up; I have actually read all these stories.)
Two years ago I developed a "tolerance" for my addiction and knew that I needed to kick it up to the next level. Sick of being out of the loop from Sunday until Thursday (Us Weekly was always put out at the local Jewel grocery store Thursday around 6:30- conveniently right as I was getting out of work) I started to "shop around" for a website that I could rely on to give me all the gossip I craved on a daily basis.
First, I tried the popular Perez Hilton site but I didn’t like the haphazard drawings that looked like they were quickly pasted together in the Windows "paint" application. Second I tried out Socialites Life. This proved better than Hilton but was still catty and lacked a distinct personality. Third I tried "the skinny website". Yes... it IS exactly what it sounds like- a website devoted to celebrity weight gain and loss. Going there I felt cheap and trashy.
Finally I found the right fit with pink is the new blog (www.pinkisthenewblog.com). Written by Trent, a blogger in LA by way of Detroit the site is witty but not as cynical. I have been a daily devoted reader for two years.
I was content living in my celebrity world be lately I've been noticing that gossip is making parts of my life unmanageable. First there is the unrelenting voice of my mother in my head every time I pick up an US Weekly telling me, "You SHOULD me reading the Times!” People closest to me have even expressed concern. This culminated when my boyfriend asked if I "really needed" to buy US. "Of course I need to buy US!" I whined looking longingly at the cover story, the fall fashion awards with Audrina, Whitney and Lauren from "The Hills". It was at that moment I realized I needed help.
So what is a gossip addict to do? Some time ago I read 12 steps for celebrity gossip addicts and I have decided to adapt them into my life. I know that I might relapse but with the help of the steps I hope that I can one day live a life that is not dominated by celebrity gossip. So here they are:
1. We admit that were powerless over celebrity gossip, US weekly, In Touch, Pink is the New Blog and TMZ—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore our sanity and squash my need to hear every detail of the Britney custody proceedings.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. And came to realize that God was not Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Dr. Mc Dreamy, or anyone from “The Hills”.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of every time we went to a gossip website, magazine, or started a conversation with a friend about whether or not Lindsay Lohan will stay sober this time.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of these wrongs, did not try to get them to share their opinions about Justin Bobby.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed by speaking incessantly about Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith, J Lo., and Paris Hilton, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would make them want to injure me for bringing up Suri Cruise, again.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we indulged in senseless gossip promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of the New York Times website, the Economist and scholarly journals.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other gossip addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
And if these steps don’t work for right now there IS justification for gossip on the New York Time website in an article about the psychology of gossip http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/science/16tier.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.
Enjoy!
KS
Posted: October 19, 2007 12:44 pm by Katherine Swanson | 1 comment
Tags: 12 steps, article, celebrities, gossip, New York Times, psychology, research
