Freud podcast

fls

Member
So what does the latest Skeptiko podcast have to do with the subject matter found on Skeptiko? I thought nobody took Freud seriously anymore except where there are remnants of modernism? And while he serves as a cautionary tale against ideas built on confirmation, since this is the charge levied against parapsychology, it hardly seems like anything Alex, or proponents in general, would want to emphasize.

???

Linda
 
I don't see how this relates to parapsychology either, but beyond that, I'm not sure what your beef is; this isn't exactly an embrace of psychoanalysis.
 
I listened to the podcast earlier today, and I have no idea why this was a topic Alex wanted to pursue. He mentioned early on that this and the climate change show were two things he wanted to get around to covering.

I thought at first that Alex would have been a Freud advocate, since he is so often opposed to the views of mainstream science, and mainstream psychological scientists have dumped Freud's ideas in the waste bin long ago. I guess he gets credit for being the first to try to bring a scientific approach to psychology, but the ideas themselves have not held on at all. I started college in 1978, and I know at that time Freud was not seen as valid. I have the impression that as of the 1950s, the gig was up for Freud's ideas.

My wife has a master's degree in psychology, and does counseling for her career, and I know that there are a few professionals out there who seem to subscribe to Freud's ideas, but they are the ones who are seen as the fringe kooks. Sort of the way that parapsychology advocates and UFO abduction believers are seen as fringe kooks by the mainstream. It was for that reason that I would have guessed that Alex would have been on Freud's side.

I don't know, maybe Alex had the impression that current scientists revere Freud, and he was hoping to poke the eye of mainstream science again? That's the only thing I can figure.
 
I don't know, maybe Alex had the impression that current scientists revere Freud, and he was hoping to poke the eye of mainstream science again? That's the only thing I can figure.

Yeah, Ian Gordon posted a list of places where Alex has made comments on Freud in prior episodes, and I think you may be right. It does look like Alex thinks that Freud is regarded as highly credible among scientists.

Linda
 
From the "Shows" thread...
I don't know much of anything about cycling, but I know Lance Armstrong really propelled the sport to extraordinary new heights. He was a great competitor... a great athlete. Of course, we don't think about Lance in the same way now that we know he cheated and lied. You're not going to see him on the cover of a lot of cycling magazines. I doubt there are any new Lance Armstrong school of cycling franchises popping up, or awards named after him.

Freud was a fraud. He earned and deserves our ridicule and scorn. He is the Lance Armstrong of psychology. We should not encourage others to follow his footsteps.

Does Alex think that anyone (other than fringe kooks) follow in Freud's footsteps, or encourage others to do so? Seems to me like Alex's outrage is about 60 or 70 years out of date.
 
The connection is that the treatment of Climate Change and psi both reflect a distorted scientific process.However, IMHO Climate Change has acquired such a dogmatic band of followers that it is counter-productive to link the two subjects.

David
 
David, did you mean to post that to the other thread?
Well it wasn't well worded - but I am using a tablet, and they are horribly distracting when writing something serious.I meant to point out that perhaps Freud's treatment of conscoiusness - supposedly a valid scientific theory originally - has morphed into something that is vagely downplayed, but not formally repudiated. Unlike 'climate change' the issue doesn't have a fervent band of followers, so it is easier to discuss.

Freud's theory is suppose to explain consciousness in terms of a few drives. It won support over Carl Jung's ideas, which seems to have more potential since it does postulate some links between individual consciounses. His theory seemed to be displaced by Freud's ideas - which has since been quietly ignored! Modern science at work!

David
 
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