Dysaethesia Aethiopica : This passed as science in the 19th century , wow

[UndertheOcean]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysaethesia_aethiopica

"In psychiatry,<1> dysaethesia aethiopica was an alleged mental illness described by American physician Samuel A. Cartwright in 1851, which proposed a theory for the cause of laziness among slaves..... "

[ck4829]

1. Not sure how far we've actually progressed since the 19th century

Any behaviors that violate norms and customs will still get a person diagnosed with having some sort of mental illness.

[UndertheOcean]

3. I am not quite sure either

[SidDithers]

2. Thankfully, science is self-correcting...

and garbage is refuted as knowledge increases.

Sid

[Matariki]

4. I can't wait until "Science" corrects it's stupid attitude to spirit.

:rofl:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. See, this is the difference between science and woo woo.

Science corrects its mistakes.

Woo woo keeps making the same ones for thousands of years.

[CreekDog]

16. because science only treats the symptoms, woo woo treats the source

:wtf: :eyes:

:rofl:

[Soylent Brice]

6. *facepalm*

[UndertheOcean]

7. *double facepalm , on both cheeks*

[Matariki]

9. Keep up those facepalms kids, hopefully they'll wake you up

:P

[fascisthunter]

12. they are awake

and they are adults too

[anigbrowl]

15. Science eagerly awaits your demonstration of its existence

I have yet to hear what distinguishes this elusive quality from boring old consciousness.

[anonymous171]

17. I'm pretty sure that scientists refuted this one. nt

[Odin2005]

8. Being transgendered is still considered a mental illness, "Gender Identity Disorder"

The misogynistic "Hysterical Woman" diagnosis still survives in the form of Histrionic and Borderline Personality Disorders. Being introverted is pathologized into "Schizoid Personality Disorder", while being a crank gets one diagnosed with "Schizotypal Personality Disorder".

[That Is Quite Enough]

10. Check out the related page about Drapetomania...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania

Now why would a slave want to run away from their master? It just doesn't make any sense!

[gratuitous]

11. Really want to shake your head over it all?

The late Stephen Jay Gould wrote a scholarly book "The Mismeasure of Man" which passed into a certain popularity among lay audiences. It's kind of dense, but mostly accessible. He starts the book off with a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes from a case where a woman was involuntarily sterilized. Holmes, writing for the court majority, reviewed the woman's family history, and found that the state had a compelling public interest reason for sterilizing her as a congenital imbecile (a scientific term of art) whose offspring would only burden, and not help society. Holmes' dictum that, "three generations of imbeciles are enough" became a bit of a cause celebre.

Gould details any number of episodes from the 20th century in the book. I think it's out of print, and as I say, it's not written for a mass audience, but if you're really looking to be appalled . . .

[hunter]

13. What's that disorder where people work hard to buy useless crap like cars?

Consumerism?

Man, that's a deadly one.

[anigbrowl]

14. If you'll excuse me being pernickety...

...it didn't 'pass as science' insofar as it never got near a medical journal. Rather, the daft claims were published in a popular Southern business magazine. It reminds me of the outright nonsense that sometimes appears on the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal (as opposed to opinions that I merely disagree with).

Still, the fact that it got published by anyone at all is truly pathetic.