Psychology is not a science

For the first millennia AD the great fallacy was religion, taking the place of free will and self-determination. With the information revolution and dissemination of information and data the populace of the planet has begun to interpret events for itself, sound the death knell for religions of the old school. Some modern faiths and spirit groups are trying to update, but window-dressing old ideas will never again be enough and religion will never again hold forth the power it did in, say, the middle-ages.Instead, the twentieth - and now the twenty-first - century has developed a faith-system of its own - psychology.Religion grew from an attempt to rationalise ideas of what people believed were the controlling influences in their lives - nature, weather, celestial objects and the socially significant manifestations of random chance. Psychology does essentially the same thing, save that is has coupled the ignorance of basic humanity to the arrogance and vanity of the post-Industrial era.As with religion, a self-appointed cadre of 'authorities' take it upon themselves to declare a core set of beliefs against which they disseminate perceived wisdom. Instead of the trappings of a god (or gods) they dress themselves in the mantle of science, seeking solace in the inviolate power of modern society.Unfortunately, for them, psychology is not a science.

(knowledge obtained from) the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical world ... by observing, measuring and experimenting, and the development of theories to describe the results of these activities

Psychology maintains the myth of being systematic, whilst unusual events and instances are merely listed as an independent syndrome and recorded, with little or no attempt to rationalise. More insidious, however, is the fields complete lack of any real body of evidence. Medical ethics (quite rightly) prohibits the manipulation of people for scientific study, and in this area that leaves psychology with nowhere to go to try its theories out. Clinicians, surgeons and the like can find animals of similar internal structure to work on, to test theories and to expand the boundaries of their knowledge. Psychologists, on the other hand, are tied to the theory stages. An idea is postulated, and for lack of ability to test it, it is accepted as Canon.People all over the world pay ridiculous fees to hear homespun philosophies with little more than anecdotal support and, perhaps, a track record for success. The success counts, it is true, but there are elderly grandmothers (with a far greater span of experience) who have been overseeing the trials and tribulations with their own personal observations for centuries, and they too have a reasonable success rate.The time has come for people to think for themselves - sans religion, sans psychology, but simply with their own eyes, ears, minds and the benefit of a mind powerful enough to realise it doesn't want to be experimented on.