When research goes wrong

The fallacy of knowledge and human understanding is truly remarkable. Our pomp and self-confidence, even as a civilization, can go well beyond the point where it makes sense. A perhaps more relatable example is the situation with Covid-19. Regardless of what discussion is, it's obvious that each side thinks they know the best and many times disregard the facts for emotions.

This fallacy of human understanding is exploited by marketing communication, by politicians, hell even by therapists. It's a good thing if we understand it and use it for the better of the world, but also a bad thing when it goes too far.

Now I have read a lot of this fMRI mapping research. They said it would spawn a new age of discovery into the way the mind works. Neuromarketing, Neuro this, neuro that. We finally seemed to know how the mind works and can dissect our thoughts minutely and really know what makes people tick. Amazon is full of books from the past decade, from various researchers, publishing (promoting) their research in the field, however, it all seems to be for nothing.

A recent article (https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-brain-scientists-thought.html ) how the now decade long research into the way the mind works through the use of fMRT mapping are all turning out to be.......useless. According to Dr Ahmad Hariri from Duke University, fMRI mapping can still help explain the parts of the mind that fire up during a specific action, feeling, etc. However, they don't fire up in the same person, in the same place, twice, therefore using it as a prediction tool is not really possible. Dr Hariri is having to expand research and not only use this fMRI but combine it wit genetic testing and psychological assessment to find 'biomarkers' that differ among individuals on how they process emotions and thoughts.

This is science, at its best and at its worst. The best scientist, pumping out paper after paper, of trendy new research. Finally, someone comes and stops them, showing them what they are doing is wrong. It is easy to trash on a decades work of unreliable research promoted by professionals in popular science books. Perhaps we should. But thankfully the system is not so broken that it won't correct itself.

Science is fallible, which is why it works

Umair Usman is a Rapid Transformational Therapy Practitioner, a businessperson, and a blogger. You can know more about him at www.thecognitiveconsultants.com. To book a free consultancy session, please fill the form https://tinyurl.com/y6n2vv8w