xepherys

Will, what I'm saying is that once an aqueduct is built to withstand freezing temperatures, the ability to do so becomes a known. It can be duplicated.

Once a medication is 'known' to help manic depression, it still may or may not work in any given patient. It may also make things worse.

From this perspective psychiatry (and to a lesser degree psychology, since medication is not involved) is a guessing game. Or rather, it is in a constant state of theory. Physics is in theory until a general proof is made. Psychiatry is in theory for each new patient. That's why I'm isolating them.

Also, I don't believe it's not viable. It's been around long enough to be established. I also don't believe it is without a system. Lots of things have working systems. That doesn't make them a) science or b) reliable. I'm also not blasting on psych for shits and giggles. I do believe it helps many people. I'm just trying to point out, from the original topic of this thread, that the thinking behind it, while scientific at it's base, is all about theory and not about proofs. Proofs only exist on a person to person basis. That's part of why it would be a 'soft' science and part of why it's questionable as a fundamental rather than a foundation of guesswork.

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