Posted by BD on 12/22/83 11:26

Nice quote. I wonder if a person who was held up at knifepoint and has
a strong reaction against knives would be labeled as being sexually
retarded. ;)

Fruedianism cracks me up. The problem with Freud's theories, IMO (aside
from the fact that they have a ludicrous number of references to sexual
conflicts) is that they cannot be proven wrong. Hard-core freudians
would interpret questioning/challenging their theories as some kind of
repressed Oedipal complex, or something which is in line with their
dogma, and claim that the fact that you are even challenging the theory
confirms it! If circumstances cannot be conceived of which would
invalidate a theory, then the theory is useless, outside of a
philosophical/academic context. Might as well tout invisible angels
with grappling hooks as the real reason things fall, rather than
gravity.

I think that clinical application of his theories has little value; but
the process of psychoanalysis has been a viable contribution to
psychiatry/psychology. So he wasn't a complete clown. ;)

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