Novels and Scientific Psychology - 907 Words

Human beings are constantly learning new things about themselves. Both novels and scientific psychology allows us to understand and analyze human perception, emotion, reason and language (Van de Lagemaat, 353). Novels are illustrations and reflections of humanity, whereas scientific psychology puts a logical reasoning behind human life and personality (Hill, 12). Thus, novels remain resonant and relevant to an ordinary person in a way that scientific psychology does not. Chomsky’s claim is interesting however, there is an oversimplification about the idea that novels or any other type of literature will teach one about human life and personality more. Novels allow readers to individually feel empathy for the characters in any story because these characters reveal emotions and ideas. Psychology, on the other hand, teaches people about human life and personality by using generalizations that can be applied to groups of people (Hill 12). As an American linguist, Chomsky’s claim can be biased and from a subjective viewpoint however, I believe that both novels and scientific psychology can teach people equally about human life and human personality in different ways. There is a large difference between how novels and scientific psychology can teach people about human life and human personality. Literature is involved with emotions, revealed from usually more than one character, and has the power to make humans understand the deeper meaning of what the writer is trying toShow MoreRelatedThe Gap Between Scientist And Practitioner990 Words   |  4 Pagesthe primary concerns for clinical psychology because these unsubstantiated treatment techniques are being implemented in practices when they lack scientific research. In the majority of these cases, these questionable treatments or practices lack critical evaluation. 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