On Wed, 3 Dec 2003, joanna bujes wrote:
> Miles writes
>
>
> "Yes. Many examples. Demonstrated effectiveness of
> psychological treatments for depression; use of
> cooperative learning to reduce prejudice and increase
> school performance; social skills training to
> reduce recidivism in violent felons. The list
> goes on."
>
> OK. And what theories do these depend on other than the imaginative and
> intelligent application of compassion?
>
> Joanna
>
Um--you could redefine them as "products of compassion", but each of the applications I mentioned above is derived from rigorously tested theories. For instance, the social skills training is based on reinforcement theory and observational learning theory; the treatment of depression is based on cognitive theory; and so on.
I think there's a lot of confusion about what a scientific theory is in this thread. Put simply(!), a theory accounts for the relationships among two or more variables. A good theory in science allows predictions that are consistent with data. Scientific theories do not have to be complex; they just have to be useful. This is why I'm puzzled at the skepticism here about generating scientific theories about human behavior and social structure.
Miles