Re:Huge iceberg breaks off Antarctica
by codahale on Friday February 26, 2010 @08:21PM
(#1154665)
Oh, ok. So it takes making predictions to quality as real science.
Here's a real prediction, with actual confirming evidence: giving someone with a high MADRS score an SSRI will reduce their score.
That's beyond seeing and naming depression, it's beyond recording patients' reactions to SSRIs, it's beyond spotting patterns in their reactions, it's even beyond making falsifiable theories about its mechanism of action. It's making predictions which are confirmed on a statistically significant basis.
Does this mean you think psychiatry has the same epistemological standing as physics?
Here's a real prediction, with actual confirming evidence: giving someone with a high MADRS score an SSRI will reduce their score.
That's beyond seeing and naming depression, it's beyond recording patients' reactions to SSRIs, it's beyond spotting patterns in their reactions, it's even beyond making falsifiable theories about its mechanism of action. It's making predictions which are confirmed on a statistically significant basis.
Does this mean you think psychiatry has the same epistemological standing as physics?