Monday 8 July 2013

Social "Scientists" more Prevalent Than We'd Like to Admit!

Although I don't usually find myself agreeing with Postman, I think he made some good points in the chapter on scientism.  I found myself grinning when he was mentioning the almost ridiculous research that some "scientists" are involved in.  I know that sometimes when I watch the news, I will often be astounded by the massive amounts of money that went into huge studies that have the most basic of results.  If they had only asked me before they did all that expensive research, I could have saved them a lot of time and money!!!  And I couldn't help but agree with his statement, "That is why social "scientists" are so often to be found on our television screens, and on our best-seller lists, and in the 'self-help' sections of some airport bookstands:  not because they can tell us how some humans sometimes behave but because they can purport to tell us how we should; not because they speak to us as fellow humans who have lived longer, or experienced more of human suffering, or thought more deeply and reasoned more carefully about some set of problems, but because they consent to maintain the illusion that it is their data, their procedures, their science, and not themselves that speak."  The very sad state that this points to is that people are searching in all the wrong places for the wisdom and the moral judgement they so desperately seek.  If people knew the true source of wisdom and the ultimate authority (GOD), they wouldn't need the social scientists to aid them in their journey. 
But I wonder if technology is to blame for this?  And don't I see Christian bookstores lined with self-help books?  Why is that?  Is the state of technopoloy so strong, that it has infilitrated our Christian circles without us realizing it?  I think that is my burning question for the day!

2 comments:

  1. I agree. I think that technopoly in some way has allowed for psychobabble as many put it, to infiltrate our "Christian" stores. There many times when I am saddened by what is allowed to be called Christian and placed on the selves. My own father in a very joking way, has turned to calling those stores the "Religious Bookstore". As many of them no longer carry man Christian books anymore.

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  2. I agree with you Judy- at times, when I watch the news I find myself thinking, "do they really know what they sound like? Of course that is the case!" There are much bigger problems that we should be worried about than the "social" aspect of life. Ridiculous!

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