Franken-memes

Muwahaha...Happy Holloween to all you spooks out there!


The maladapted pseudoscientific hybrids of the Social & Hard Sciences are macabre.  They are more dangerous than the Inquisition, because though we are aware of them, we rationalize and defend them.  There will be no enlightened skepticism to rescue us this time. 
 

Some seek deliverance in ancient or new religions, others turn to power, demand rules & enforcement, cynically surrender or foolishly believe we can protect ourselves.  Many go with the flow and stop thinking.  Deep, critical thoughts are uncomfortable.  We should have empathy, not contempt, for the discontents of Science.  When we see exactly what is done in the name of 'reason', those who would not run screaming into the hills must be mad.

We will now examine a few of these curious demons of modern life, if you dare!

Psychiatry:  The amalgam of chemistry, neurobiology and psychology yields prescriptions, forced medication, incarceration.  Patients are expected to devalue their internal dialogue, question every strong emotion and when tensions arise attribute it to their own inherent flaws.  It's a transposed attitude about the 'soul'(rechristened the 'mind') a vestigial mythology sanitized of superstitious language but still far from reality.  There are no cures, only treatments, patients must recognize their illness, and resolve to accept 'treatment' from the modern shamans even when their bodies revolt.  If psychiatry were a relationship with a person we would counsel that it is unhealthy, that (intentional or not) manipulative behaviors are present and the patient is dependent.  But because it is a relationship with a prevailing cultural memeplex, we let the person be contorted and controlled.  Some psychological disorders seem to be inherent in certain brains, like schizophrenia and neurodegenerative disorders but the prevalent diagnosis of schizoaffective disorders, the belief that these are permanent chemical features when neuroscience has demonstrated the plasticity of the human mind, is absurd.  The resilience of this faulty medical paradigm has more to do with ideas left over from Western religion and industry's advertising campaigns than with science, but when science gets top billing,  science receives the blame.  And of course we're going to talk about the science, because science sells.  Science is authority.  Pay no attention to the economics and religion behind the curtain.


Political Science:  In more candid circles it is known as Propaganda.   But on diplomas and in the media, we call it Political Science, Public Relations and Human Resources.  It gauges responses to information campaigns and engineers future programs to be more effective at manufacturing consent.

It is the cancer of a democratic society, as more are starting to realize with the expansion and transmission of independent media.  Nevertheless, it has the sheen of dispassionate science, and after all, it is done for the common good, right?  No!  It is done for the memes, seeding ideas that oppress our humanity.  But we believe we are constructing a better society than we had yesterday and we keep forging our chains, looking askance at anyone who stands disillusioned. 

Social Policies:  In the name of building a more just society we have created social institutions that turn people against the state and science.  There are people who shudder at the mere mention of Child Protective Services.  US drug policies, justified by biased medical studies, have dictated global policy and animated the prison-industrial complex.   And there are our educational institutions which train people to be cogs in the social machine, to recite rather than think, to take a test rather than investigate and dream. 
 

Is it any wonder so many people are disenfranchised from Science and its benefits?

Science educators have not failed in their duty.  Our culture has confounded the language and we are left with inarticulate forebodings.

Continue to A Sanitized World (November)