more talk of science related categorization

In NYtimes Op-Ed, A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Measure, Adam Phillips discusses the concept of redefining psychotherapy as a "hard science" and in the process also touches on some interesting points regarding science, religion, and human nature. Some snippets:

The scientific method alone is never going to be enough, especially when we are working out how to live and who we can be.

The things we value most, just like the things we most fear, tend to be those we have least control over.

Psychotherapy turns up historically at the point at which traditional societies begin to break down and consumer capitalism begins to take hold.

If psychotherapy has anything to offer—and this should always be in question—(His admitting that psychotherapy is something that shouldn't be blindly accepted makes his opinions more credible in my book, probably since there's very little—if anything—I’m not skeptical about myself...)

Psychotherapy makes use of a traditional wisdom holding that the past matters and that, surprisingly, talking can make people feel better even if at first, for good reasons, they resist it. There is an appetite to talk and to be listened to, and an appetite to make time for doing those things.