[DesuMaiden]

I studied psychology in university several years ago. I dropped out of my psychology program two years ago mainly because I realized a shockingly large amount of the stuff they teach you in psychology is pseudoscientific.

I'm smart enough to question authority, and not believe everything my teachers tell me. If you don't question what you are being taught in school, you will never be a true intellectual. If you blindly believe whatever they teach you in school, then you are a mindless drone. Question everything they teach you in school if you want to become an intellectual.

Anyways, I will give you examples of pseudoscientific nonsense in psychology. Some people claim that cognitive neuroscience or biopsychology is a rigorous science, and is based on solid scientific evidence. Except it isn't when you examine it carefully.

According to most psychologists, humans are superior in intellect to other animals because we have more complicated brain structures than other animals. But obviously this is a biased and false assumption because it presupposes that humans are more intelligent than other animals. In actuality, humans are not really anymore intelligent than other animals. The fact that we have a more complicated brain and a larger brain to body ratio than most other animals, doesn't really make us smarter than them.

Animals with very simple brain structures (like fish, reptiles and insects) display remarkable amounts of intelligence if you studied them. Yet if you closely examine human behavior on your own time, you will realize that humans, despite our large brain, are sometimes unbelievably stupid. Most people are religious, and that's proof that most humans aren't terribly bright. Believing in superstitious beliefs (like religion) is proof that we are not so smart. The fact that we also fight pointless wars is also proof that we are not so smart.

Psychologists like to claim that humans are smarter than other animals because we have a larger brain to body ratio. But that's nonsense like I already proved. The brain to body ratio has, little to no positive correlation with intelligence.

Also, psychologists make up psychological disorders, syndromes and other mental illnesses. I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in Grade 5. I recently realized that Asperger's Syndrome doesn't even exist! The most recent version of the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) even says that Asperger's Syndrome doesn't even exist. I do believe certain people might be mentally ill, but psychologists and psychiatrists don't help them very much by drugging them and diagnosing them with certain "disorders".

Another example of pseudoscience in psychology is developmental psychology. Developmental psychology makes the false assumption that the older a person is the more mature and intelligent they should be. But simple empirical observation demonstrates that age has little to do with intelligence. Some older people are incredibly dumb. On the other hand, some younger people are incredibly smart.

Developmental psychology also makes the baseless claim that people's lives progress in a linear, stage-like fashion. Yet in actuality, each person develops at a different rate and in a different way. There is no way you can categorize someone based on a strict and linear series of developmental stages.

I realized that psychology is mostly a tool used by the elite/ruling class to manipulated and exploit the worker class. Yes, there is some truth to psychology, but most of the psychology "facts" they teach you in university is heavily-laced with pseudoscience.

Majoring in psychology is mostly worthless. It is one of the worst majors to go for. About the only major that's worth majoring in university would be computer science, computer engineering or any other rigorous computer-related field offered at universities or community colleges.

If you want to understand how the human mind works and want to become a happier person, read about psychology on your own time on the Internet. Or get some books on psychology. Don't waste your time and money studying psychology in university. It is almost totally worthless because, like I mentioned before, a large percentage of the psychological theories they teach you in university are complete nonsense.

That's my quick rant on psychology. I studied psychology in university, and therefore I have the authority to say when psychology is pseudoscientific. Of course, so-called "experts" at psychology aka psychologists wouldn't have the courage to tell you the truth about psychology. Or more likely they have been brainwashed by their so-called "education" to unquestioningly believe in the nonsense they were forced to memorize in school.

Trust me. I studied psychology in university. And I'm being a whistleblower by telling you the truth about the so-called "scientific" discipline of psychology. Even Noam Chomsky, a psychologist by profession, admits that you are better off learning psychology from reading books than studying it in university. Learn about psychology by reading fictional and non-fictional books rather than wasting your time and money studying it in university. You will be much better off following my advice.

In summary, psychology contains copious amounts of pseudoscience. It is only partially a real science, but it contains enough pseudoscience in it, that many people are completely justified by saying that "it is largely a pseudoscience".

I don't need a PhD in psychology to understand psychology. I studied it in university for two years, and that's all the proof I need to prove that psychology is riddled with pseudoscience.

I can show you more examples of psychology being a pseudoscience from information I gather from Wikipedia and other sources.

This concludes my rant on psychology. I hope you learned the truth about psychology. Or maybe you already knew that psychology is heavily-laced with nonsense? Either way, psychology cannot justify calling itself a real science once you realized it is heavily-based on pseudoscience and a lack of/fake empirical evidence.

[SeaGypsy]

You may not have grade 5 Aspergers but you are quite within the autism spectrum.

[Cog]

You may not have grade 5 Aspergers but you are quite within the autism spectrum.

[GoghGoner]

sounds like your ego has been alienated from your Self; periods of alienation are beneficial for spiritual growth in healthy folks

[Ayoob]

You're right on the money.

What's funny is psychology is STILL USEFUL, despite being a pseudoscience. I use psychology to help convince my patients that their medications work, which enhances the placebo effect. The placebo effect is real despite the placebo effect being an illusion. The power of the mind is amazing.

Developmental psychology is useful to me. I had a family in the other day who have a son and a daughter. The son is "normal" and the daughter has ADD. The father in that family used to compare the "normal" son with their ADD daughter and come up with a list of the daughter's deficiencies. I convinced the father that comparing the two of them is not very useful, let's check your daughter's development against Erickson's developmental stages and see where she is in that way. The idea is not to suggest that Erickson is right, it's to get the father to stop creating a judgmental relationship between his children.

In the same way, I would ask a suicidal patient to enter into a no-self-harm contract with me. The contract itself is worthless, but it's useful to me in opening up the conversation with the patient so we can talk about it.

As much as I can't stand Freud, I read Freud. It is VERY instructive to educate myself on bad examples and learn what it is that makes them flawed so I can recognize those flaws in my own thinking. For a great example, see Hoxsey Treatment. I use some natural and herbal treatments in my practice, and I make sure that anything I use would be supported by published clinical trials, double blinded and randomized, and controlled by placebo.

The one part of psychology that seems to have some evidence behind it is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Neuroscience, on the other hand, is EXPLODING. Psychiatry and psychology as they are today will be swept away by what's coming.