Answering the Critics:

II. On the Charge of Overgeneralization

I think I need to discuss the scope of my critique (i.e. what has been called my 'round indictment' or 'damnation' of the entire field). I do not maintain preconceptions of any ONE individual based on his or her affiliation with psychology. I make all judgements on a case by case basis, as I wish they could have done with my own thesis and dissertation and planned programs had I applied for a tenure-track university position. So the question then becomes this: What are the numbers? How many psychologists are worthy of my critique? What is the number or percentage?

Some critics attempt to cast doubt on the validity of my argument by attempting to lure me into the rather ambiguous task of estimating the number or percentage of professors worthy of my criticism. When it appears I have no basis for assigning a definitive number (no empirical research or sample of anecdotes representative of a population of professors that numbers in the tens of thousands), then my argument can be dismissed or denied. However, it is my contention that the actual number is not necessary to justify the argument, and that their requests are aimed to weigh down my argument with baggage it cannot carry. I need only claim too many professors, defined here as enough to create and maintain the current state of affairs, as sufficient basis for my argument. I need only shed light on the state of affairs so that it becomes obvious that such an establishment cannot exist without the complicity of a large number of academics and/or professionals. This requires only a systematic series of observations coupled with an educated sociological analysis of Psychology's business practices. As a social psychologist, I am qualified to opine on the workings of my own field and have essentially been given the tools with which to do it during my training. This irony in no way reflects on the viability of Psychology, for if the knowledge and training were sufficient, my criticism would not have been so unprecedented. Other social psychologists would have stolen my punchline.

I will also not be drawn into an argument as to whether psychology professors are 'evil' and of what 'evil' consists. It does not take a theologist to see the misguidedness in psychology departments, nor do they need to show malice to be guilty of wrongdoing.

But if you did want a number, I would be happy to offer a subjective estimate based on my own experiences across 9 colleges and universities and bsed on my own familiarity with the norms governing day-to-day operations of research and teaching, which I have been taught to believe are 'universal': ~70%. This is a disturbing number, especially when we consider that had I considered as necessary and sufficient only a complicity with the norms, the figure would be closer to 95% and include virtually all tenured faculty. Even if this number were 30%, it would still be cause for concern as a critical minority with substantial influence over the fates of many students, clients, and the body of knowledge about human nature.

Furthermore, generalizations are the nature of our business. This is the fundamental unit of our intellectual currency, as it is of any discipline that draws conclusions based on the partitioning of variance. Also, generalizations can be warranted, grounded in fact. Sociological forces and evolutionary trends can shape whole peoples, chipping away the variations that would have made a field diverse. This has happened to psychology. I do not believe the fault lies entirely with the fact certain people are DRAWN to a profession. I think that the characteristics of the membership can also be attributed to SELECTION (from among the many suitors at various levels of the training process. [It seems people in this field are never done applying or petitioning for things, from admission to graduate school to publication to an oral defense of a thesis or dissertation to post-docs, externships, internships, faculty appointment, and finally tenure or licensure). Along the way there are pressures to conform in advance to the known criteria for selection, and I believe the criteria pressure to an unnecessary uniformity, in some cases creating real uniformity and in others encouraging applicants to suppress personal sources of diversity. Over generations of hiring and training, competition and committees magnify this effect, creating a situation in which the candidates selected are those who best embody the epistemology. This process is not unlike that of natural selection. We do not see many orange moths in a forest, and similarly we do not see many curious or independently-minded academics/professionals with an appetite for intellectual freedom or with a disposition to think.

Thanks for spurring me to this clarification.

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