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If we take the nocturnals at their word—that they simply like living this way—they complicate one of our core assumptions about human psychology: that all peopl

If we take the nocturnals at their word—that they simply like living this way—they complicate one of our core assumptions about human psychology: that all people have the same fundamental needs. This basic problem, assuming some base commonality that turns out to have a much larger variability within a "normal" population, seems to plague a lot of the results coming out of the social sciences. It's one of the primary reasons I don't put a lot of weight into the research in these fields. I often find my lived experience very different to what they find. Maybe it is a necessary step on the road to a fuller understanding (we've got to start somewhere), but I think we end up over-simplifying the complexities of what it can mean to be human.

telchior 5y ago
One explanation I've heard for this shortcoming is that psychology is almost fully focused on pathology, i.e. studying disease. So it's rarely going to give a good accounting of what happens in healthy populations. Difficult to see this changing, as happy, healthy people aren't going to pay for therapy, institutionalization or medication... well, unless you convince them that they're actually unhealthy.
- lioeters 5y ago
  > psychology is almost fully focused on pathology The study of "positive psychology" was conceived to address this shortcoming. However, I'm not sure how much it has influenced/improved the field of psychology as a whole. > Positive psychology began as a new domain of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. > It is a reaction against past practices, which have tended to focus on mental illness and emphasized maladaptive behavior and negative thinking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology
h2odragon 5y ago
"one size fits all" means it fits poorly if it works at all. seems to be one of the basic elements of being human, as is pretending the phenomenon doesn't exist. all of "those people" are identical enough to be called "those people" and [hated | revered] because of it. some people were helped by $X treatment, therefore all people should receive it, and they must be lying if they claim it didn't work. ... and so on.

telchior 5y ago

One explanation I've heard for this shortcoming is that psychology is almost fully focused on pathology, i.e. studying disease. So it's rarely going to give a good accounting of what happens in healthy populations. Difficult to see this changing, as happy, healthy people aren't going to pay for therapy, institutionalization or medication... well, unless you convince them that they're actually unhealthy.

lioeters 5y ago
> psychology is almost fully focused on pathology The study of "positive psychology" was conceived to address this shortcoming. However, I'm not sure how much it has influenced/improved the field of psychology as a whole. > Positive psychology began as a new domain of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. > It is a reaction against past practices, which have tended to focus on mental illness and emphasized maladaptive behavior and negative thinking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology

h2odragon 5y ago

"one size fits all" means it fits poorly if it works at all. seems to be one of the basic elements of being human, as is pretending the phenomenon doesn't exist. all of "those people" are identical enough to be called "those people" and [hated | revered] because of it. some people were helped by $X treatment, therefore all people should receive it, and they must be lying if they claim it didn't work. ... and so on.