A Crack Went Off in My Head

My brain physically hurt today after Cognition. I swear, the more this class has gone on, the less we talk about psychology and the more about philosophy. If psychology wants to be a real science, this class is no indication of the domain going down the right path. It was like someone was throwing little fire crackers off in my head. What is reality? Is your reality the same as mine? Can you observe the law of gravity? No, you can observe the EFFECTS of gravity, but no, not at all the LAW of gravity. I could hear a fissure from my brain combust till my jaw dropped. Not the surprised drop; more the "I've been watching t.v for hours" jaw drop and too paralyzed to close my mouth. It got better: "Does God govern our natural laws? Or does he have to obey the natural laws?" Trust me, you may think you have it figured out; but, whatever you say, someone's coming back with fire. The devil's advocate, knocking at your front door, to make you see with new glasses and question everything you've ever learned or believed.

I tried to make a few comments, stay with the discussion, until my injured brain went back to freshmen year when psychology was rats pressing levers for rewards; personality assessments (and the ability to analyze my roommates' personalities); invalidity of Freudian concepts and interperting dreams to everything sexual just because they were so outlandish and much funnier that way. The deeper I dive into my major, the more I see psychology is just the sister to her older brother, philosophy.

I wanted to raise my hand once some question about the day when computers outsmart humans will be, and ask, "WHO CARES!" (and then add, "no, that's impossible" but I didn't have energy left in me to lead the discussion down that path.) I want to know the most effecient way to help people! How do we help our neighbors get over their deep bouts of depression? How do I help my best friend sleep at night and get rid of her anxiety? How do I help a loved one get over his OCD and Bipolar disorder so he can live a normal (what is normal?...) life?

I got into psychology to help people from the inside out. I don't want to sit on a rock on a high mountain and ponder if the rock I'm sitting on is real or if it's a figment of my imagination. And then is my imagination my subjective reality, just like yours is yours? Let's not go there. Let's just try to make each other's lives easier. I should have stuck with math...or geology...or education...or maybe I will just be a flight attendant after all, and analyze passangers based on what drink they order from the complimentary in-flight beverage cart.