Secular Spirituality

[Nearly Sane]

oddly enough I can agree in part with some of the sentement of your post .

Yesterday I had occasion to visit a "Complementary medicine " clinic (the only place I could find in an emergency) to fix a painful toe nail
The whole place was alien to me but she sure fixed my toe 👍

I don't see it as that surprising that you might agree in part. Though it's nothing about Complementary Medicine. I just don't think that the ineresting questions, or answers have anything to do with science

[Walter]

Srirams  philosophy should have;

For entertainment perpouses only  after it .

[Walter]

I'm sorry , I'd like to continue with this but it's proving too difficult on this old iPhone 4 with signal dropping in and out 😤

[Nearly Sane]

I'm sorry , I'd like to continue with this but it's proving too difficult on this old iPhone 4 with signal dropping in and out 😤

It's a good time to go to the pub anyway.

[Walter]

It's a good time to go to the pub anyway.

🍻cheers old chap

L8rs x

[Sriram]

Sorry, perhaps I should have been a little clearer, I didn't say that I personally feel that psychology isn't a science.  I do think that it's at the far reaches of what the scientific method can work with, and that any findings - even given the inherent provisional nature of scientific findings - needs to be seen as provisional.

The problem with psychology is that it's at the edge of what the scientific method can work with, currently, given the lack of depth of understanding we currently have of the component parts of what it's looking at.  We couldn't conduct advanced research on applications of lasers without Maxwell's basics of electromagnetism, and similarly we are hampered in our scientific understanding of the mind by our current lack of in depth knowledge of the mechanics of neurology.  The answer isn't to dispense with scientific enquiry or to water down scientific rigour, it's to be patient and realise that we're constantly learning about neurology, and those understandings will flow through.

We need to maintain the standards that have brought us this far, not abandon them because we'd feel more comfortable with an unjustifiable confidence than with a justified 'We're not quite sure just yet'.

O.

Outrider,

Yes...exactly. Psychology is at the edge of the scientific method....so, how do you expect science (with its present limitations) to be useful in understanding deeper aspects of psychology....which is what spirituality overlaps with?!

[bluehillside Retd.]

Sriram,

.......which is what spirituality overlaps with?!

Not unless you can finally tell us in coherent form what you mean by "spirituality" it doesn't.

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour. "Spirituality" on the other hand is, well, over to you then...

[Outrider]

Yes...exactly. Psychology is at the edge of the scientific method....so, how do you expect science (with its present limitations) to be useful in understanding deeper aspects of psychology....which is what spirituality overlaps with?!

The same way any science is useful, by building up a body of well-evidenced theory and using that foundation as a staging post to further understanding of observed phenomena.  Spirituality might overlap with just about anything, but given that we don't have any reliable evidence that it is an actual phenomenon at all we'll have to continue assessing those things that we can detect until something objective to support it shows up.

O.

[Sriram]

Yeah...ok. Thanks, Outrider!