The field of psychology is nothing more than opinion and statistical sampling. The reason for the sampling is there is no way to know the true population and the underlying trend. The social sciences, even economics, are based on guesses and estimates. There are no “hard” answers like in mathematics, physics or chemistry. So even the “experts” do not know. Secondly, those very experts do just that – look for patterns, i.e., correlations between their assumptions and observations Well, I had to comment on this Cobra. All of the social sciences are "science" or they could not be called such. It is not based on "opinion" "guesses" or "estimates." True, the systematic observation in social science differs than in physics, math, etc , but all science is tentative. What we consider fact at one point in time may be "proven" false at another. ie. earth center of the galaxy or the sun (just as an example). The social sciences certainly use more subjective testing than the hard sciences but it systematic, measurable, testable. You are right about always looking for patterns and correlations. You brought up narcissism and arrogance. How is that measurable? Well, a psychologist would look to see to what DEGREE the behavior is impacting the person's life. Is it becoming dysfunctional to them and/or others around them? All mental health professionals work out of the DSM-1V (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) which has every mental health diagnosis recognized in the profession. I don't have it in front of me but Narcissistic Personality Disorder is diagnosed based on the individual meeting certain critieria (probably 7 out of 9 of the following traits/behaviors, something like that). Only a trained mental health professional can make that diagnosis, obviously. It's fun though to self-diagnose as well as all friends and family around you. I do it all the time You have some interesting ideas Cobra and you do come off very professor-like
