Originally Posted: March 28th, 2014
Original Title: Psychology and Psychiatry are Proto-Sciences
What is a Proto-Science?
Before explaining why psychology and psychiatry are proto-sciences, I will first explain what a proto-science is, and how it compares to the more well known hard sciences and psuedo-sciences. There are four relevant terms to distinguish these sciences.
- Hypothesis: A proposed explanation of a phenomenon. A guess essentially.
- Theory: An explanation of why and how a phenomenon occurs.
- Falsifiable: The quality that a claim can be proven wrong or false.
- Reproducible: All things being equal, a phenomenon will occur every time during experimentation.
Hard Sciences
Hard sciences rely on all four of the above terms. The scientific method involves forming an hypothesis about a phenomenon, performing experiments to test the hypothesis, and then developing a theory that explains the results.
If the theory is accurate and falsifiable, then all experiments relying on the explanation provided will be reproducible and the results predictable, proving the theory.
If an experiment relying on the theory results in an outcome not predicted by the theory, then the theory has been proven false or incomplete; a new hypothesis is formed, and the process of the scientific method is repeated.
Proto-Science
A proto-science is best described as a hard science in its infancy. They rely on hypotheses, and form theories. Due to an inability to understand, observe, and control for all the variables affecting the results, it is impossible to fully understand a phenomenon and accurately develop a strong theory to explain it.
There might even be multiple accepted and contradicting theories, and they might all be reproducible to a certain degree. They are refined or discarded as new information presents itself as well, just as in hard sciences.
Examples
Astrology
It was the proto-science that lead to astronomy. It has become a psuedo-science since that time as no other claims by astrologers van be proven but originally astrologists were the “scientists” of the stars, planets and space.
Like I mention under Telepathy, I have also run experiments and observed evidence that has convinced me that Divination Methods such as Tarot are in fact communication methods used by some Divine or Ethereal Metaphysical Entities.
I write more about this in my post Art of Tarot and document examples in my posts The Mind of the Goddess and Finding your Twin Flame.
Alchemy
Likewise alchemy was the proto-science to chemistry. Gun powder was manufactured by alchemists. The role of chemists today, was the role of alchemists in the past.
Alchemists in the past did not understand atomic or particle theory however, and their discovery lead to chemistry as we know it today.
Psuedo-Science
A psuedo-science does not rely on hypotheses and is one that promotes theories that have not been proven using the scientific method. Results of experiments to confirm them are not repeatable, observable or the claims themselves defy proven and reproducible hard science theories. Examples include:
- Telepathy
- I’ve personally tested and observed Telepathy in an experiment that was convincing enough for me but am unable to provide a method to reproduce the results, therefore I am unable to prove it is real.
- Clairvoyance
- Metaphysical Auras
- I write a Science based Theory to explain these relying on my understanding of Cognitive Science and Synesthesia in my post Spiritual Concepts Described for Scientists.
- Any Beliefs related to Crystals
- These do have the real potential to treat Psychosomatic Diseases/Symptoms as I discuss in my post Holistic Medicine.
- Water Powered Engines
- These defy the Laws of Physics and Equivalent Exchange. This is pure Pseudoscience.
- Many other “metaphysical” topics.
- Some of which might actually be real and I explain in my post Spiritual Concepts Described for Scientists.
Pseudosciences rely on appeal to emotions (speaking to dead relatives), appeal to wishful thinking/fantasy and rely heavily on other logical fallacies and cognitive biases to prove their claims.
See the List of Logical Fallacies here.
See the List of Cognitive Biases here.
Unless done purely for entertainment such as a stage magician, emotional or non-linear thinking support such as Tarot or to treat psychosomatic illnesses; psuedo-sciences typically ends up being primarily promoted and relied on by scammers and con artists.
Water Powered Engines look like this to Scientists who understand Chemistry.
Or this…
The Boat…
Fly like a Saiyan!
Troll Science = ❤
Psychology and Psychiatry as Proto-Sciences
Both are proto-sciences for different reasons. Saying they are proto-sciences does not mean they are not useful or imply they should be abolished. In fact, at the time I write this, they are still the best tools we have at our disposal to treat the mentally ill and handicapped in society.
However I believe there is a better alternative in our future. So why are they proto-sciences?
Psychology
The theories in psychology are full of vague and frequently contradicting assertions from what I’ve seen. They have proved useful however because there has been a degree of reproducibility.
Psychologists can reliably identify behavioral traits that indicate an underlying cognitive or neurological disorder, and psychotherapy has proved beneficial due to psychological theories that exist.
Behavioral patterns are an abstract emergent quality of a complex system of variables in our mind. This makes any psychological prediction inherently flawed.
Depression could be caused by an issue with the endocrine system, the nervous system, or the learned behavioral programming developed through a person’s life.
Psychology can not tell us which, and it can only correct the last. As such, psychology is a proto-science at best. It was a precursor to psychiatry.
Update: During a recent discussion, I’ve come across a perfect example of psychological experiments not being reproducible. Take for example the effects of corporal punishment or spanking, and whether or not it has negative outcomes.
Study 1 says it has similar outcomes as physical abuse while Study 2 says it does not!
Both appear to have used large sample sizes, long periods of observation and should have had the same outcome. If psychology was a real science instead of a proto-science.
This failure is due to a lack of understanding of all the variables. Trauma and Abuse lead to the Victim becoming more “Empathic” or “Narcissistic” based on these hidden variables. I write more about this in my post What is a Narcissist.
Result of Corporal Punishment
My understanding of Behavioral Psychology based on everything I’ve observed, tested and confirmed in my life leads me to believe only one result is guaranteed when corporal punishment is used to correct a child’s behavior.
It teaches the Child that Violence is an acceptable solution to correcting behavior in others!
If you desire to teach your child that the use of violence against people who “aren’t acting right” from your child’s perspective and understanding of right or wrong; then feel free to use corporal punishment!
Don’t blame them when they’re big enough to smack you around though! That’s all on you!
You reap what you sow!
Whatever method you use to correct your child’s behavior will be the method they use to “correct” the behavior of others.
When you Sow Violence by hitting Children you will Reap Violent Adults!
Choose Wisely!
Because they will Suffer too!
My Recommendation
Use logic and empathy to teach your children how to behave; and they will do the same. Don’t try to control their behavior if they’re not hurting anyone but themselves.
The only exception is if what they’re doing will result in immediate, severe or permanent consequences and you don’t have time to explain.
If you never try to control them, the shock and confusion of your sudden and unexpected attempt will elicit a state of compliance and submission; allowing you to get them out of harms way until you have time to explain.
If you try to control them to frequently, this will lead them to rebelling or arguing in these “life or death” moments, which may result in your child getting hurt or killed.
That’s not their Fault… it’s Yours.
Moral of the Story: Don’t be controlling and use logic and empathy to guide your child’s behavior!
Your Child’s Life and Happiness depends on it!
Psychiatry
Note: Diagram is Oversimplified
Psychiatry moved beyond diagnosing and treating learned behavioral programming into treating the physical causes leading to the symptom. However it still relies on the primitive abstract diagnoses based on symptoms rather than causes.
A person is diagnosed with depression which is a symptom! Not only is this diagnosis not an actual diagnosis, it’s also not falsifiable. No experiment or test can be performed to empirically prove the person is not depressed.
This is the medical equivalent of going to your doctor for a cough, and then being diagnosed with a cough and being prescribed a cough suppressant. What actually happens in a medical setting however, is observations are made to detect the presence of other symptoms, and all the observations are used to arrive at a diagnoses of an underlying cause such as asthma.
The patient is then prescribed albuterol to treat the underlying condition (constriction in the lungs) rather than the symptom (a cough).
Medicine and pharmacology are hard sciences. A medical diagnosis can be proved or disproved with tests, and drugs go through clinical trials to prove they work.
Psychiatry and psychology rely on theoretical frameworks that can not be falsifiable.
Not only that, but psychiatrists frequently must experiment with different drugs and combinations to determine which works best for a patient.
This is due to the underlying cause not being fully understood and leads to experiments not being reproducible reliably.
Psychiatry does work however. It does help people, and the results have a degree of reproducibility. However this makes it a proto-science instead of a psuedo-science.
What is the Hard Science for Psychology and Psychiatry?
Currently we have two proto-sciences treating two different types of underlying causes for the same symptoms. Psychology focuses on the “software” causes of cognitive dysfunction (behavioral or mental illness), and psychiatry focuses on the “hardware” causes.
We must bridge this gap if we’re to move forward into a hard science for treating cognitive dysfunction.
Behavioral Neurology
The most accurate Behavioral Model I’ve found in my research and based on my observations in life is the Transactional Analysis and Parent-Adult-Child model. Parent is the “Super-Ego”, Adult is the “Ego” and the Child is the “Id” from Freud’s model.
This represents the Software Model and how it Operates at a high level. Since “software” based errors leading to cognitive dysfunctions are an abstract entity, this makes them difficult if not impossible to identify with any degree of certainty.
Correcting “software” errors will always be a soft science, even if it moves past being a proto-science.
Currently society first sends a person to a psychologist for therapy to treat “software” errors, and if that doesn’t work the patient is referred to a psychiatrist for medication to fix the “hardware” related to the cognitive dysfunction.
The assumption is, that medication should be a last resort due to the potential side effects and complications they can cause. This appears logical given our current inability to properly diagnose the root cause and only diagnose and treat the symptoms.
However I envision a day that instead of first seeing a psychologist, then being referred to a psychiatrist; that a person will first visit a behavioral neurologist.
The first task would be to identify any genetic, nutritional or environmental causes for the behaviors.
Once these are eliminated then diagnostic tests to determine if the any system related to behaviors and cognition are not healthy or functional.
Example:
If a root cause can be found, they are then referred to the proper specialist to treat the condition. Whether it’s an endocrinologist or a more specialized neurologist.
Correcting these will treat or cure the condition, or eliminate the “hardware” as the cause of it!
If the root cause is not “hardware” then a traditional psychologist or therapist will be needed.
Psychopharmacologist
I am able to determine most cognitive and physical effects of a drug using charts like this and the Pharmacological Profiles on DrugBank.ca (I’m in Love with that site 😍).
This level of understanding enabled me to recognize the disastrous consequences of using Hydroxychloroquine that I write about in that post! I write about how I learned to do this in my post A War against Lies.
A Psychopharmacologist will be able to use the diagnosis provided by the behavioral neurologist, endocrinologist or other specialized neurologist and develop a drug based treatment plan capable of treating the condition.
Instead of a diagnosis of “depression”, the doctor is now working off of a diagnosis such as “deficiency in production of neurotransmitter X and a hypersensitive nervous system response to neurotransmitter Y“.
This diagnosis provides the required information needed for the psychopharmacologist to prescribe the exact medication required to treat the condition.
Experimenting with different combinations of different psychiatric drugs will no longer be needed, because an understanding of their pharmacokinetics will allow them to predict the outcome in the patient.
This can be done because the science behind the drug has become reproducible!
Psychiatry
“If patient has depression, try Drug A unless they also have anxiety then try Drug B, if symptom doesn’t improve or new symptoms manifest, try Drug C”.
This is trial and error, not hard science!
This is a proto-science.
Psychopharmacology
“If Drug A is given to a patient with a hypersensitive neurotransmitter B response, neurotransmitter B will no longer be hypersensitive and the symptom of depression will no longer be present”
This is an example of a reproducible result.
This is a hard science!
In Closing
I intend no disrespect to any psychologists or psychiatrists and hope my claim that the academic subjects they use professionally is a proto-science does not offend.
I say it is a proto-science in the same spirit I say that software engineering (my profession) isn’t a true engineering discipline. Perhaps one day it will be. But for now, it’s more art than science; just as psychology and psychiatry are more art than science.
Cognitive science, including behavioral psychology, psychopharmacology and mental/behavioral healthcare are my greatest passions and have had a very significant and personal impact on my life. It is for that reason I wish to push forward the science and advancement in treatments available.
Update September 2020
I originally wrote this back in 2014 and though my understanding of Psychology, Psychiatry and Cognitive Science wasn’t great in my eyes; I already understood the Human Mind as well as someone who went to school for it.
I’ve only made numerous updates to what I originally wrote to link it to my writings and posts on this blog, clarify what I mean or expand upon ideas I now understand more fully.
My Current Opinion
My understanding of Behavioral Psychology and the “Software of our Mind” has dramatically improved since then, so here’s my current thoughts on Psychology and Psychiatry today as defined by the DSM.
I fully believe that most Mental Disorders are the result of Society treating people like things and resources that can be discarded if “broken”; and viewing non-conforming behavior as “broken”.
This leads to high stress levels which lead to maladaptive behaviors and emotions becoming more severe; which leads to them being perceived as even more broken and discarded by friends, family and jobs.
This vicious circle results in a snowball effect where those who need the most help become increasingly more “mentally ill” until they lose all of their support due to it!
This leads to drugs to cope, homelessness, crime in an attempt to survive and eventually prison, mental hospital, being the victim of violence or suicide.
I write about this in Self-Medication not Addiction and Judging the Poor but here’s the jist. Unless they have brain damage, there is nothing wrong with these people!
This results from a combination of traumas and abuse they’ve been through in life, lack of family or community willing to help them learn how to be an adult, mistakes made without a safety net to recover from and some bad luck!
None of these are their fault!
They need friends and family to help them get back on their feet, to not judge them and to show them the same Love and Respect you show a child who has crashed while learning to ride a bicycle!
Life is harder than a bicycle!
Why do we expect people to do it perfectly on their own, when the reason we’re the dominant species on Earth is we work together!?
People Matter.
Money and Things do NOT!
And Fuck the DSM. It’s garbage. Toss it!
My Current Capabilities
My understanding now allows me to quickly determine who someone is, what they’re capable of, why they are the way they are, gain their respect and trust and then modify their behavioral programming in multiple ways.
I detail one of the ways I quickly determine who someone is in my post Psychology of Projection.
I detail one of the ways I modify behavioral programming in my post What is a Narcissist.
Parental Imprinting is the primary source of our Behavioral Programming and the most effective and powerful method of modifying behavior is to become a Surrogate Parent.
This is not easy, takes time and must be done in a precise way by someone who understands what they’re doing. I did it by accident with my Spirit Daughter Miko and it took me years of trial and error trying to repeat it with others to understand how I did what I did!
Other methods are far less effective, have higher failure rates due to reasons outside your control and are limited in scope of what behaviors can be changed.
I’ve also reached the ability to use my words in such a way that I’ve had multiple people describe me as “A Human Version of Mushrooms” 😅.
One of the best compliments I’ve ever received!
I realized I fully understood the Mind the day I finished creating a way to bypass the Ego’s psychological defenses to help someone admit they have a problem they were in denial about.
I used all my understanding of the Mind and Psychology to write a poem in such a way that would induce a “debugging mode”.
I obtained informed consent from Legatus by explaining vaguely what the experiment was and told him that while unlikely, the worst that could happen was causing him permanent insanity… 🤷♂️.
The experiment was a complete success, with him admitting to something he previously had been in complete denial of.
He even Hugged me and started Crying after I was done which really caught me off guard! The look in his eyes was one of genuine happiness 😳?
I then realized I had used my understanding of Cognitive Science to re-invent Hypnosis…
My Response to this Realization
I originally thought Hypnosis was Bullshit!
Having re-invented it with full understanding of why and how it worked and testing it successfully… I now knew it was in fact not bullshit!
I now understood the Software of our Mind so well that I was able to successfully create a method to hack it and modify someone’s behavioral programming using only words and body language!
Started Computer Hacking at age 15.
👨💻
Started Reality Hacking at age 25.
👨🔬
Started Mind Hacking at age 33.
🧙♂️
I am the Polymathic Sorcerer!
😁
Love, Light and Darkness
🔮😈☯️😇🔮
🧙♂️~Lucifer 🧝♀️
🔮😇❤😈🔮
Peace, Love, Unity, Respect All Life
We are PLURAL
One Truth, One Love
We are ONE
