The Psych Student

Before discussing it, I offer you the chance to watch From Science to God by Peter Russell. (and apologies to Sarah Silverman for alluding to her film Jesus is Magic in the post title)

Peter Russell is an author and filmmaker who seems ever eager to bridge what many see as a gap between science and religion, however, it seems like he’s trying to make a bad relationship work. Not that one can be both scientific and religious, but that the two things must somehow be shackeled in ways that don’t really work for the purposes of shaping a new worldview.

This post actually started off as a response to a friend who had shared the video with me (that’ll learn ya). The basic notion here, that science can now be dismissed as a means of answering certain questions on the basis that the questions are really quite old and science hasn’t fully solved them yet, is what I’d classify as a sort of a new mutation of Neo-Luddism. I have a different piece of writing on Modern Luddites in general that seems to be taking quite a bit of time, but for now, and in this post I’d like to focus just a bit on the spiritual strain. Spiritualists take a lot of things for granted about science that often seems more like an analysis of what they are seeing in the mirror rather than an objective assessment, and this film is a perfect example. Read the rest of this entry »

The case of Prof. David Nutt is important to all areas of science, as it asks some crucial questions about the socieity in which we live:  Is working with the government becoming CV stain? Will it ruin your reputation? Can anyone take you seriously after working with a government agency, or should you at least be looked at with some suspicion?

Bad times. The sacking of David Nutt over his accurate, verifiable ranking of dangerous drugs by Home Secretary Alan Johnson makes murky the role of scientific advisors in government systems where politics are more often all that matters. The ability for scientists to speak openly and honestly is under attack. David Nutt has done so before, and then it helped improved the lives of many in the UK dealing with depression. Perhaps he thought that may have bought him some credit. But political memory is short.

“An increasing number of psychiatrists followed the practice of evidence-based methods. They preferred truth – however inconvenient – to dearly held fantasies. Nice – the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence – now advises doctors to prescribe antidepressants only for severely depressed patients, while mildly, moderately and severely depressed patients should receive psychotherapy.” – Dorothy Rowe

Science has always had the bad end of its relationship with politics. In the 17th century Galileo was forced to renounce his work which suggested the sun as opposed to the earth, was at the center of things. In 1925 a high school teacher in Dayton, Tenn., named John Scopes was persecuted by religious fundementalists and the state alike for daring to teach evolution in a science class. This is the tradition the Home Secretary now follows by putting political careerism and pandering ahead of a careful consideration of fact and clear evidence.