Psychology Across Cultures - Ethan Watters

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/02/04/Ethan_Watters_The_Globalization_of_the_American_Psyche

Ethan Watters, author of Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, describes the relationship between psychological healing and a culture's sense of the self. "These ideas of the mind are predictive," he says, "and they are all also tied to culturally specific ways of healing."

-----

American culture is homogenizing the way the world goes mad. Our exportation of everything from movies to junk food is a well-documented phenomenon. But neither our golden arches nor our bomb craters represent our most troubling impact on the world: the bulldozing of the human mind itself.

In Crazy Like Us, leading trend-spotter and science writer Ethan Watters shows that we are not only changing the way the world treats and understands mental illness, we are actually changing the symptoms and prevalence of the diseases themselves. - Hillside Club

Ethan Watters is the author of Urban Tribes, an examination of the mores of affluent "never marrieds" and the coauthor of Making Monsters, a groundbreaking indictment of the recovered memory movement. A frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine, Discover, Men's Journal, Details, Wired, and NPR, he has appeared on such national media as "Good Morning America," "Talk of the Nation," and CNN. His latest book is Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• psychologists
• psychiatry
• trauma
• PTSD
• post
• traumatic
• stress
• disorder
• treatment
• diagnosis
• DSM
• culture
• society
• social
• anthropology
• fora.tv
• foratv
• fora
• tv
• ethan
• watters
• hillside
• club

[freesk8]

@mogatsamasego I looked up the book (Mask, not Myth) and read some reviews. Thanks for the enlightenment. Most heroes don't stand up to scrutiny. Gandhi had flaws, including racism and hypocrisy, but his strategy of non-violent resistance worked against the British, who's rule was weakened by WW2.

But my point is that a world of force and coercion is worse than one of freedom, individual rights, and free markets. Collectivism sucks, especially for the poor.

[mogatsamasego]

@freesk8 'Gandhi knew that force doesn't work' Actually, he knew it worked which is why he joined British forces in South Africa (at rank of Sergeant-Major) to crush the Zulu rebellion. Gandhi having been a man of peace is a myth and if you want to find out more, get a book called 'Behind the myth of Divinity' by a former US army colonel.

[louisdebx]

Re-read Maslow, he is explaining that by taking the time to listen to someone you help him satisfying his needs. If he has food, a place to sleep and someone who cares, he is gone be pretty happy. Nothing more then human relationship!

[megafr8nk]

forgive me for sounding so condescending earlier

whoever was demanding anything?

the guy is describing internalized psychological mechanisms

[blogbat]

Is this guy crazy or does he just not get out? I know Americans and those from other countries who either go out or stay in to cope depending on their personalities. Stop the stereotyping.

[freesk8]

It appears that I am 12 years older than you are.

The individual and the community are not mutually exclusive, but here is the catch: the community may not demand cooperation of peaceful people. The only cooperation it may have is VOLUNTARY cooperation. THAT is how to strike the balance.

Gandhi knew that force doesn't work.

We ARE social animals, and wise people see that cooperation is in their own interests. But we may NOT force people to "cooperate."

Forced community is a contradiction.

[megafr8nk]

so did I, when i was 20

but the individual and the collective are not mutually exclusive

they are just 2 aspects of the human experience

it's all about where we strike the balance

there's no use pretending that we aren't social animals

you'll get there, in a decade or two :-)

[efex2007]

I don't say that psychologists are charlatans because they believe they can heal.

I'd rather call them shamans, whose placebos have power only as far as someone believes in them.

[freesk8]

Yep. I agree with about 95% of what Rand wrote.

[WellIAMScottish]

Bullshit.