Question for the day: is psychology a science? Yes¹. But I think people are made very uncomfortable by psychology, so they’d rather believe otherwise. I will explain.

This recurring line of thought was reawakened during a recent argument conversation with some friends, when one of them implied that the results of psychological research could not be applied to the subject at hand, despite the fact that the research I was referring to was addressed directly toward this same subject. The implication of the comment seemed to be that the results were not applicable because they were based on psychological research. We were not actually talking about the viability of psychology as a science, so what I say from here on out isn’t directed to the people I was having this dustup cool, collected exchange of ideas with. See, this has come up many times in other conversations with other people, so this instance was a trigger to remind me of the whole ball of wax.

It’s never fun to have one’s chosen profession dismissed outright, but I believe one must always be ready to admit, if necessary, that one’s activities may have been based on misguided assumptions. As a psychology guy, I’ve thought long and hard about the validity and viability of psychological science. The results of this thinking follow. Feel free to disagree or tell me I’m a total genius.

First question: Is psychology a science? Yes. I laugh heartily at anyone who says it’s not². Science is a method, not a field of study or a set of results. I could study the multicolored spirit auras over psychic tarot readers’ heads, and if I did it with the scientific method, color-aura-ology would be a science (even if it produced no useful results, but that’s a separate issue entirely). I am acutely aware that many psychologists — especially non-researchers– either avoid or willfully ignore the scientific method, but this is a problem endemic to all scientific fields. There are always some wackos, nut jobs, idiots and charlatans³. Many of them have PhDs. Continue reading →

1. As much as anything else is [↩]
2. Ha ha ha! [↩]
3. Notably, there is research suggesting that there are more of these in psychology than in the general public; see Maeder T: Wounded healers. Atlantic Monthly, Jan 1989 [↩]

 Mr. Irrigation Canal, direct light is not your friend.

Friday night, I saw the UTPA Dance Ensemble Fall Concert. Three pieces.

The first was just phenomenally awesome. The soundtrack was composed of old, misogynistic radio and TV ads, a Bing Crosby piece (maybe?), and something jazzy and awesome that sounded like Django Rinehart on guitar. The dancers (all female), using spinning stools as props and dressed in identical polka-dot short dresses, created a highly kinetic melange of war-era pinup poses, glamor-girl smiles, burlesque moves and what I thought were more abstracted references to female gender roles. As the piece progressed, there were increasingly visible indications of the shallowness of the facades, such as the dancers lifting and posing each other like dolls or mannequins. Oh, and there was lots and lots of sultry cigarette smoking, with some serious coughing at the end. Also they sometimes flew around, airplane style, on their stools :)

The second piece was set to the Titanic theme, and involved some fairly predictable and derivative–but sweet and romantic–choreography. There seems to be a gender-change operation in there somewhere, as well as a lesbian love affair, but I suspect (given the nature of the rest of the piece) that these are not what the choreographer was going for.

The third piece (the one of resistance, you know) was my friend Melinda Blomquist’s MFA choreography work. I saw it in an earlier form last Spring, and now it’s even more awesome. Traditional hymns with a lot of vocals, an a capella Lila Downs piece, and some other touching music with gorgeous allegorical dance involving women with a white sash. The white sash begins around their waists, and they all struggle (sometimes violently) to get it off. Lots of repeated themes: jerky struggling-type motions, progressions of one hand up the other arm (sort of reminiscent of David Byrne in his “Once in a Lifetime” period),  women lifting each other up and falling back down, and too many more to remember or mention. One by one, the dancers remove the sash, and the tone of the dancing shifts from tortured to jubilant. The themes of trials, mutual support, faith, and overcoming are powerful. I get all verklemt just thinking about it. Continue reading →

Looking around for tips on what to do, brake-wise, with my new handlebars (came in the mail today!), I came across a bunch of crazy yahoos in Australia who ride fixed-gear, no-brake death machines. There is some fun stuff on the site — especially the videos. Here are two. The first is pretty un-amazing until the last fifteen seconds or so, when it becomes the exact opposite of that. The second is lots of very cool urban FG crazyperson footage, with soothing new age music instead of the standard fare. Please note the missing teeth of the guy in the second video before you fixify your bike and remove your brakes.

I have already received…

~ my SanDisk Sansa Express 2GB mp3 player. I love it.

~ my big huge extra-strength, UV-resistant tarp (turns out it’s a little *too* big) to cover my kayaks. I’ve already burned through 3 normal-sized tarps and a couple of old bedsheets. Man, the sun just kills things dead.

~ MR. BIKEY!!! He arrived this morning. He’s in pieces still, but both he and the box look undamaged. Sigh. His shipping has now cost me approximately as much as I will have spent (when I’m finished) on both Canada bike and La Pulga. Again with the lessons.

I am still waiting for…

~ BoxWave screen protectors for my PDA (old one is nearly worn out), my point-&-shoot digital camera, and the next item in this list. These screen protectors are expensive, but they last for years and perform amazingly.

~ my saved-up-for-8-months exercise-reward Canon Rebel Xti!!1! :D Friday it should arrive. And UPS doesn’t deliver on weekends, so I’m going home early to camp by the door. I’m sure there will be way too many pictures on here for a while after that.

That is all.

ironic… like rain the day after your wedding.

I’m leaving now. I’m ambivalent about it, because there are pluses and minuses to being here in Ontario. In fact, here are some of them:

+ First, I enjoy living with my wife much more than living 2,000 miles away
- I do not enjoy being isolated from the university, people, and other resources that help me do my job. It feels like trying to run a business in Pittsburgh from a tent in the Sierras.
+ It’s only 3 months in the summer
- Then there’s winter… Continue reading →

Bubble-Blowing Festival as an Alternative to the Reception

So the wedding was great. I had missed Cowbell and Database. And Fev’r, too, though I’m loath to admit it. The location was completely gorgeous. Christ Haven is a Christian retreat lodge a few miles outside Florissant, Colorado. The elevation is close to 9,000 feet, so climbing stairs, walking, sleeping, etc. resulted in frequent pauses to gasp for breath.

Due to some freak of room rearranging, Alex and I got the Bridal Suite in the lodge. OK. Twist my arm. It looked out over Pike’s Peak. It’s hard to describe how completely beautiful the countryside was. As we walked through the Fossil Beds, Garden of the Gods, etc., I kept having to stop and just soak it in. Those high meadows and forests… I had forgotten. Continue reading →

Did I already post this photo?

Anyway, yesterday was a good day. Very social. ALH and I went to a Bulldogs game! This is courtesy of Amanda and her Christmas present to us. Then we ate at East Side Mario’s (here in Canada, “Mario” rhymes with “stereo;” however, strangely, ALH informs me that they do not also say Pedro like Peedro; inconsistent). It was a good day.

Before all of that, we went ice skating, for me to try out my new skates (these are also largely courtesy of Amanda; I wonder when she will ask me to kill someone for her….). I like the skates. They’re zippy. They’re also hockey skates. I had to practice the whole “stopping” thing, which I am not good at. Back in the day (age 13 or so), I had a pair of men’s figure skates (Montana). I learned to stop on those by flipping around backwards and standing on the toe picks of both skates. Very effective. This “hockey stop” business, however, is unfamiliar. Must practice.

Today I made a pie. It’s apple. I followed a recipe on the internet (instead of my old standby, Cookie (Shadle) Hutto’s recipe. The main advantage of the internet recipe was that it included units, such as “cups” and “teaspoons.” This made it a much easier recipe to follow. Cookie always got good results from her pies, but I didn’t. I suppose it might have been a translation issue.

Anyway, here’s the pie.

Also, sweetie pie took a couple of pictures of my cat, with whom I’m as fascinated as a new dad. Here are pics that you may or may not care to see. She took a really great one of his freakish paw.