Pop Psychology Drivel

[Michael]

One of my favorite websites provides links to high quality articles on a variety of topics. I cruise that site daily.

And yes, 99% of all the articles I check out from that site are excellent high quality articles by reputable authors.

And then there is "Psychology Today". They keep linking to articles from this publication and I'm always deeply disappointed with the bubble-gum level of the article. Seems like EVERY article in this publication has the intellectual quality of "Ten Great Tasting and Low-fat Recipes for Summer!" :ummm:

Here's three articles I checked out this morning - by the titles of the articles, they seemed very interesting.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200906/what-your-stuff-reveals-about-you

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200906/your-music-your-personality

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200906/group-think-is-so-we

Lets just say that in my entire circle of friends, I can't see anyone who fits any of these "types" that these articles reference.

And none of the articles even mentions the category of people who try to limit their consumption of mindless mass-produced corporate packaged products. I guess that doesn't appeal to the magazine's advertisers...

I don't know about you, but the "newest" offering from Tide Laundry detergent (new and improved!) doesn't appeal to me any more than the latest "new music" or the latest "visual arts" being pushed onto the market and trying to create demand. They are all one and the same to me. Corporate packaged crap that is produced for the purpose of generating profits.

The level of analysis and commentary in these three linked articles doesn't seem to reach even high school level of complexity.

So I'm curious, is it just me who finds this kind of navel-gazing drivel to be boring and tiresome? Or that it represents some major dumbing down of the reading public?

Bottom line is that I can't find any articles on the topic of psychology worthy of posting here. It seems to be all navel-gazing drivel and bubble-gum analysis as far as the eye can see in this field. Pity that.

[The Drunk Girl]

One of my favorite websites provides links to high quality articles on a variety of topics. I cruise that site daily.

And yes, 99% of all the articles I check out from that site are excellent high quality articles by reputable authors.

And then there is "Psychology Today". They keep linking to articles from this publication and I'm always deeply disappointed with the bubble-gum level of the article. Seems like EVERY article in this publication has the intellectual quality of "Ten Great Tasting and Low-fat Recipes for Summer!" :ummm:

Here's three articles I checked out this morning - by the titles of the articles, they seemed very interesting.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200906/what-your-stuff-reveals-about-you

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200906/your-music-your-personality

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200906/group-think-is-so-we

Lets just say that in my entire circle of friends, I can't see anyone who fits any of these "types" that these articles reference.

And none of the articles even mentions the category of people who try to limit their consumption of mindless mass-produced corporate packaged products. I guess that doesn't appeal to the magazine's advertisers...

I don't know about you, but the "newest" offering from Tide Laundry detergent (new and improved!) doesn't appeal to me any more than the latest "new music" or the latest "visual arts" being pushed onto the market and trying to create demand. They are all one and the same to me. Corporate packaged crap that is produced for the purpose of generating profits.

The level of analysis and commentary in these three linked articles doesn't seem to reach even high school level of complexity.

So I'm curious, is it just me who finds this kind of navel-gazing drivel to be boring and tiresome? Or that it represents some major dumbing down of the reading public?

Bottom line is that I can't find any articles on the topic of psychology worthy of posting here. It seems to be all navel-gazing drivel and bubble-gum analysis as far as the eye can see in this field. Pity that.

I have to admit, that after reading one and scanning through another I didn't bother to read the third. They reminded me too much of my Cosmo days and all the little quizzes they put in there about what kind of lover are you?...or, what kind of best friend are you?...or what should your zodiac sign really be? And the list pathetically goes on. After so many, you start to realize that they're all the same. Personality articles like these use are similar to the methods that a "psychic" would use during a cold reading. I'm going to refer back to another article from Skeptic, where Ian Rowland explains some tricks that psychics use. In what he calls "The Rainbow Ruse," he states that this method can't be wrong because it "credits a person both with a specific personality trait and with its exact opposite." Although, in the articles that I did read (or skim through), there didn't seem to be a specific and an opposite 1) it is very easy for people to pick out and relate to some particular character trait, because well...we all have them in some way and 2) people will read what they want to read and get from it what they want.

Note: Hearing about the "new" Tide doesn't necessarily get me, but seeing a new vacuum or some other kick-ass cleaning supply is just fucking beautiful to me. Yes, I know. It's sad I have a cleaning (supply) problem:lol:

[Lily]

So I'm curious, is it just me who finds this kind of navel-gazing drivel to be boring and tiresome? Or that it represents some major dumbing down of the reading public?

Bottom line is that I can't find any articles on the topic of psychology worthy of posting here. It seems to be all navel-gazing drivel and bubble-gum analysis as far as the eye can see in this field. Pity that.

Boring and tiresome, yes. Surprising? No. We live in a fast food, throwaway culture. Our attention span is measured is megabytes and soundbites. Fitting everything into little boxes is much easier than thinking. And let's not confuse thinking with critical thinking. We're way beyond having to analyze anything, much less think about it too much.

[Michael]

Boring and tiresome, yes. Surprising? No. We live in a fast food, throwaway culture. Our attention span is measured is megabytes and soundbites. Fitting everything into little boxes is much easier than thinking. And let's not confuse thinking with critical thinking. We're way beyond having to analyze anything, much less think about it too much.

Yes, I see all that and it is not surprising at all - for the pop-culture masses.

But this magazine title is not exactly a seller on the magazine racks is it? It is targetted to the educated elites.

Apparently the elites are dumbing down to the level of pop-culture now and that is what surprises me. Dumbed down elites ain't going to remain "elite" for very long with this trend.

[Lily]

Yes, I see all that and it is not surprising at all - for the pop-culture masses.

But this magazine title is not exactly a seller on the magazine racks is it? It is targetted to the educated elites.

Apparently the elites are dumbing down to the level of pop-culture now and that is what surprises me. Dumbed down elites ain't going to remain "elite" for very long with this trend.

Is it targetted to elites, or is it targetted to those who'd like to think they are elites? I'd be interested in seeing the demographics.

[Michael]

Is it targetted to elites, or is it targetted to those who'd like to think they are elites? I'd be interested in seeing the demographics.

Well, yes, the latter obviously. This title isn't a peer reviewed journal - it is a generally available subscription publication.

[Lily]

Well, yes, the latter obviously. This title isn't a peer reviewed journal - it is a generally available subscription publication.

I don't know, Michael. Pop psychology has long been a part of America's culture, especially among the elites. Remember TM, Gestalt therapy? Heck, advertising has been based on buying something to fill up the emptiness within us. Some sugar-free drink is billed as good for body and soul. It would be nice if drinking Crystal Light would cure schizophrenia, but I don't think it does. It seems people are always looking for quick, easy fixes.

[Americano]

I don't know, Michael. Pop psychology has long been a part of America's culture, especially among the elites. Remember TM, Gestalt therapy? Heck, advertising has been based on buying something to fill up the emptiness within us. Some sugar-free drink is billed as good for body and soul. It would be nice if drinking Crystal Light would cure schizophrenia, but I don't think it does. It seems people are always looking for quick, easy fixes.

American desire for instant gratification is a well-known attribute.

[Michael]

American desire for instant gratification is a well-known attribute.
I think this is a rather common human passion.

What is unique is perhaps the American cultural expectation that desires always ought to be gratified.

Desiring gratification is one thing, expecting it is another thing entirely.

[Lily]

Americans have refined the art; we don't just expect instant gratification, we demand it. Loudly.

[The Drunk Girl]

I WANT MY MTV!!! :lol:

[Michael]

I WANT MY MTV!!! :lol:
So true! :lol:

One line from a famous Nirvana song always struck me as quite disturbing...

"Here we are now, entertain us!"

[Lily]

So true! :lol:

One line from a famous Nirvana song always struck me as quite disturbing...

"Here we are now, entertain us!"


You too? I thought that one line was the very definition of the American mindset taking hold in the 1990s. It's only become more ingrained in our culture.

[Zarquon]

I think what McCain's campaign adviser said about America being a nation of whiners is not off-the-mark either.
People seem to have lost their ability to think(especially long-term), to work hard, accept their responsibility and to take care of themselves, and separate reality from fantasy.
I blame the puerile popular culture (as evidence I'd sight the importance given to popularity over everything else, the obsession with this or that fantasy book/comic/movie,etc, and the recent media hoopla over 'MJ') which is presently busy devouring the global youth, having already done the American one.

[The Drunk Girl]

Our generation is horrible for everything that everyone has mentioned. I remember being in middle school and reality television shows really started to take off. The only true reality show up to that point was The Real World. All my classmates would come in and talk about these "new and fantastic" shows that were coming on and I swore up and down that reality t.v. would be a fad and out the window in a few years. I don't think I could have been anymore wrong.

The Maury Show now, is filled with nothing but "YOU ARE/ARE NOT THE FATHER" shows (something that truly sickens me), music television isn't music television anymore (and hasn't been for a long time now), and the news, as Zarquon mentioned, is filled with needless and pointless shit to keep people occupied.

People want their 15 minutes and the media/society gives it to them, because who is it hurting in their eyes? No one!... They're giving "the people" what they want and feeding off this fucking eye sore of a nation and in turn "the people" feed off what they are being fed through the boob-tube. It's a horrible nasty, god-damned cycle that continues to get more and more out of control.