Donovanable of Pervasive Goodness has started a worthwhile project and we need to get the word out. As she writes,
Are you a prospective undergrad or graduate student, looking for a psychology program that’s rigorous and will train you to do the most good? A program that will teach evidence-based therapy, and teach you to understand current research in psychology?
The site she has started is called Evidence Based Education. Tired of the bullshit woo that seems to infect so many of her psych courses and textbooks, she has decided to do something about it and create a database by means of anecdotal evidence which schools offer the best value of evidence based courses for the tuition money. The more people that hear of this and spread the word, the greater the depth and usefulness of the database. So click on over, give a bit of love and say hihowRU, and let’s promote evidence based education wherever it may be found.
tildeb
Questionable Motives 
I left a reply to your comment on the weather thing, but I seemed to have just commented on my own blog rather than replying to you. Curse technology! Anyway, regarding Evidence based education, I think it’s a useful thing that should have been implemented long ago. I’m actually surprised this is a new initiative. This makes me think it would be a lot better if there was also a standard course on “Reason” in high school. Maybe then we’d be able to weed out idiotic beliefs before they take root.
Comment by Quantum Gag — April 5, 2012 @ 9:39 am |
This issue of thinking well reminds me of therapy (that’s the direction Donovanable wants her education to take her) that spends 90% of its time getting to the point where the involved parties in some dysfunctional relationship recognize that there really is a problem! Empowering beliefs to be equivalent to what’s true in reality – on the merit of being a faith-based position worthy of equal respect – really is a problem. If I don’t believe human caused global warming is true, for example, then I can pretend that there is no problem in spite of evidence from reality that assures me there is. If I believe gay marriage is against the wishes of god, then I can pretend that equality under the law doesn’t pertain to gays in spite of evidence from reality that assures me it does. And the list goes on and on.
Belief that faith is equivalent to reality is a handy denial tactic that helps to maintain problems. If more people would recognize faith to be such a tool, to be such an obstacle, then I think young people could learn to first recognize and then address real problems much sooner while sidelining faith-based positions to irrelevancy.
Comment by tildeb — April 5, 2012 @ 10:36 am |
I would like to think that teaching the scientific method from an early age gives people a way to reject fatih-based evidence. If it’s made clear what constitutes as ACTUAL evidence (instead of the old: it looks designed, therefore it IS designed!) more people will realise that a lot of what they get from their environment is balony. Sadly I don’t see this happening anytime soon.
I think a large part has to do with hope. I keep hearing people say, without faith there is no hope. But that to me is childish. Just because you don’t like the world we live in doesn’t mean you get to make one up that is better. And besides, what better hope is there than the advancement of the human species? Going off into space and exploring the galaxy, shit, I’d give anything to see that.
Comment by Quantum Gag — April 5, 2012 @ 11:08 am