Thanks Christopher for your very eloquent, thoughtful response to my query. I found your points well-reasoned, and I agree with you that defining what a scientist is necessitates taking time/context into consideration. The question is definitely a complex one.
Allow me one correction. Christopher said: >In any case, > the example that Todd provides of a single letter (written when? to > whom?) I looked through a bunch of my Personality texts, and couldn't find this quote, but I know it is out there (oh, oh, I am sounding like Louis! ha,ha). I seem to want to say it was Rosenzweig (does that ring a bell with you experts on Freud?) >hardly makes the general case. (Imagine if someone attempt to > dismiss *your* whole career by citing the last time to "brushed off" an > annoying stranger who e-mailed their "study" that "proved" wrong > something you had been working on your whole adult life. That isn't what happened. Rosenzweig (or whoever it was -- sorry for the lack of a name here) was trying to tell Freud "Hey dude, I did an experiment that CONFIRMS a part of your theory!" and Freud essentially "poo-poo'd" the guy's efforts [nice, huh?] Looking forward to hearing what Christopher and the rest of the TIPSters have to say on the issue of "what is a scientist"? Todd Todd D. Nelson, Ph.D. Gemperle Foundation Distinguished Professor Department of Psychology California State University 801 W. Monte Vista Ave. Turlock, California 95382 (209) 667-3442 (209) 664-7067 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.csustan.edu/psych/todd/index.html --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
