[Buddha-l] Buddhism and Psychology becomes unfalsifiable

[Dan Lusthaus]

Bob,

Joanna's explanation was exactly right.

> The question is: IS THERE REPRESSED MATERIAL at all?
> And, if there is, IS it what the therapist believes?
> Who can tell if the therapist is correct, except the therapist?
>
> Freud (or the therapist) was the only one who knew or who could know -- 

This is silly.

When someone who explicitly claims to reject Freudian theory and Totem and 
Taboo in particular, says that the idea of being attracted to teenage girls 
would make him feel incestuous toward non-family members, then he displays 
(1) some lack of understanding about the thesis of Totem and Taboo, which 
talks about the origin of precisely that feeling, and (2) the fact that he 
does feel sexual attraction for teenage girls but has a mechanism that 
supposedly smothers the feeling.

Repression is already showing.

When that person is told that such an idea confirms the oedipal theory (one 
might add transference and several other things Freud discusses), and he 
*strongly* denies it, that's objectively observable repression.

Not the therapist's secret.

> My understanding is that the claim that we repress stuff we find painful
> is not borne out by contemporary non-Freudian therapists.

"Pain" is one reason. There are many. People have been denying there is an 
unconscious from the moment Freud uncovered it, and this facile dismissal of 
repression is part of that denial and attack. The unconscious makes people 
squirm, since it not only holds all the dirty secrets about themselves they 
prefer not to have anyone, including themselves look it; it's dark and dirty 
in there, there are spiders, you might poke your eye out (to quote Firesign 
Theater).

> The claim seems to be unfalsifiable.

Can you falsify that the sun exists?** So does repression.

Dan

**  (yeah, every night!)