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adiflesher's picture

We have existed for thousands of years

I want to second akerle's comments.  

I always find the "we have existed for thousands of years without" argument to be specious. You don't hear intelligent people talking about how we existed for thousands of years without electric toothbrushes, x-rays, telephones and uninvasive hip replacements.

The discussion should always be more nuanced.  We have to talk about the ways that a given innovation has improved our lives as well as the things that it may have cost us. This type of discussion - will help frame individual innovations in a larger cultural context.  

If we approach talk therapy in this way - its clear that it has been a tremendous help to many people who suffered greatly. It is less clear to me that it has significantly weakened social structures.

Rather it seems as pointed out above that social structures - for good and for bad have been eroded by modernity and city life. We have significantly more freedom and that freedom - can be both very helpful for people (especially people who do not "fit in") but it can also prove to be very isolating to people.  

If anything it seems that good talk therapy is trying to help people cope wtih a new situation of big, open societies where people are free to make their own meaning - instead of having meaning and order imposed upon them by religious and social structures. 

One can make the argument that we have lost something due to this increased freedom. It would be interesting to discuss how societies can find ways to create more sense of community and keep people from becoming desperately isolated.  

 

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