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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Shy_Girl on May 15, 2005, at 16:45:43
Just thought it might be a good thing to add this conclusion I've made (a while ago), lest people reading a certain thread above still thinks I think that way.
After reading a bit of the archived posts way back in '98 and '99, I've come to the conclusion that Dr. Bob is aloof, in a good way...calm, cool-headed, composed, neutral...almost imperturbable.
Posted by alexandra_k on May 15, 2005, at 17:07:00
In reply to For the record...Dr. Bob is benevolent :-), posted by Shy_Girl on May 15, 2005, at 16:45:43
> After reading a bit of the archived posts way back in '98 and '99, I've come to the conclusion that Dr. Bob is aloof, in a good way...calm, cool-headed, composed, neutral...almost imperturbable.
... Which can sometimes give you the impression of banging your head against a brick wall...
We love him really :-)
Although... Maybe this is a picky point but you can't 'confirm' a hypothesis - you are better off to 'disconfirm' a hypothesis. So really, you have found disconfirming evidence for the hypothesis that he is malevolent.
So perhaps the appropriate conclusion is that he probably is not malevolent.
:-)
Posted by alexandra_k on May 15, 2005, at 17:08:09
In reply to Re: For the record...Dr. Bob is benevolent :-) » Shy_Girl, posted by alexandra_k on May 15, 2005, at 17:07:00
... at least not in '98 - '99
;-)
Posted by alexandra_k on May 15, 2005, at 17:10:52
In reply to Re: For the record...Dr. Bob is benevolent :-), posted by alexandra_k on May 15, 2005, at 17:08:09
Now I'm yanking your chain
(sort of)darn it gg.
Thats infectious :-)(See 2 threads up)
Posted by Shy_Girl on May 15, 2005, at 18:16:20
In reply to Re: For the record...Dr. Bob is benevolent :-) » Shy_Girl, posted by alexandra_k on May 15, 2005, at 17:07:00
> ... Which can sometimes give you the impression of banging your head against a brick wall...
Hehe, I think it is good that he interferes as little as possible...both for himself and for us. (sorry 'bout talking about you like you're not here) :o)
> We love him really :-)
I think he deserves all the best, just like everyone else here. ((((everyone))))
> Although... Maybe this is a picky point but you can't 'confirm' a hypothesis - you are better off to 'disconfirm' a hypothesis. So really, you have found disconfirming evidence for the hypothesis that he is malevolent.
>
> So perhaps the appropriate conclusion is that he probably is not malevolent.
>
> :-)Yep, you are entirely correct on that one. (I should have known better, with me heading into a career in science and all.) :-)
I just thought it best to not express things in a way that focuses on the negative...we don't have to be scientists or philosophers here. :-)
Posted by alexandra_k on May 15, 2005, at 19:01:50
In reply to Re: For the record...Dr. Bob is benevolent :-) » alexandra_k, posted by Shy_Girl on May 15, 2005, at 18:16:20
> ...we don't have to be scientists or philosophers here. :-)
I know we don't *have* to be but I really don't think I'm capable of being anything else...
'Philosophy is a form of life'
Wittgenstein.
Posted by Dr. Bob on May 15, 2005, at 22:07:44
In reply to For the record...Dr. Bob is benevolent :-), posted by Shy_Girl on May 15, 2005, at 16:45:43
Posted by so on May 17, 2005, at 23:36:20
In reply to For the record...Dr. Bob is benevolent :-), posted by Shy_Girl on May 15, 2005, at 16:45:43
> Just thought it might be a good thing to add this conclusion I've made (a while ago), lest people reading a certain thread above still thinks I think that way.
>i'm sure you are sincere in representing the way you feel at this moment, but I wonder about the merits of a forum where one is allowed to declare a physician benevolant and not allowed to declare otherwise.
We might be allowed to heap praise on this doctor till judgement day, but to speak critically, our words must be couched as "feelings" and then would only be accepted if the doctor passes a judgement that our feelings might not, in his mind, "make someone feel" put-down or otherwise offended. Even criticism of ideas is represented as a put-down in so far as this doctor claims critique of ideas is uncivil if anyone holding those ideas might take offense at the critique.
Posted by Lou Pilder on May 19, 2005, at 11:55:57
In reply to Re: For the record...Dr. Bob is benevolent :-), posted by so on May 17, 2005, at 23:36:20
so,
You wrote, [...critisism of ideas is...a put down in so far as this doctor claims crtique of ideas is uncivil if anyone...might take offense...].
I was wondering if you have read my posts in regards to a poster named "dancingstar". If so, could what you are referring to, in your opinion, apply to that situation?
Lou
Posted by so on May 19, 2005, at 18:29:30
In reply to Lou's request to so » so, posted by Lou Pilder on May 19, 2005, at 11:55:57
If so, could what you are referring to, in your opinion, apply to that situation?
> LouIf it could, it was not so by design or forethought. I'll have to find some time to read the posts you mention, to review the post you abstracted in your citation, then contemplate a response that will not run afoul of the narrow rules here that allow joking about the doctor in his underpants but don't allow casual critical discussion of abstract ideas. I'll get back to you.
By the way, I enjoy your persistance and your methodical means of dancing around the "okay-to- joke-about-the-doctor-in-his-underpants-but-can't-critique-abstract-ideas" rules that govern this site.
Posted by Lou Pilder on May 19, 2005, at 21:21:29
In reply to Re: Lou's request to so » Lou Pilder, posted by so on May 19, 2005, at 18:29:30
so,
You wrote,[...I enjoy your...].
Thanks for the compliment.
Lou
Posted by so on May 19, 2005, at 23:28:21
In reply to Lou's reply to so-Ijoyyu » so, posted by Lou Pilder on May 19, 2005, at 21:21:29
> so,
> You wrote,[...I enjoy your...].
> Thanks for the compliment.
> Louyou're welcome. I haven't yet found the posts you referenced, and "probably" might seem a disingenuous answer to your querry, even if the reply were based on a recognition that ideas behind your questions are spot on far more often than not.
I did find, in my search, yet another thread where a member complained about capricious administration, specifically in regard to barriers against critical discussion of ideas within popularly accepted standards of civility. Curiously, that thread included a note by the psychiatrist that suggested he might see his administrative approach not merely as a method to maintain what would be considered a civil atmosphere by anyone else's standard, but also as a means to construct a setting in which his interventions have therapuetic value. If that were the case, support and education might be provided here by other members of the group, but therapeutic interventions are imposed by the administrator, who doesn't declare his therapeutic intent or methods in the site FAQ's. He wrote:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20050219/msgs/461642.html
"That use of 'BLOCK' was interesting, one way to look at it is that blocking the old story facilitates a new one..."
Another way to look at it, Lou, might be that some psychiatrists consider invalidating peoples' stories to have some therapeutic value. Sounds like a cognitive therapeutic approach to me, except in most cognitive methods, the therapist cautiously attempts to get the client to block their own ill-conceived stories. Therapists seldom find it their role to tell clients "No! That's not right! If you don't say it right, you can't come to therapy for three weeks."If that were what is taking place here, one way of looking at it could be that people's critical discussion of ideas aren't blocked because they are uncivil by any popular standard or becasue they are disruptive to the group, but because a therapist presenting as an adminstrator is experimenting with a unique therapeutic approach.
If you'll post a link, I'll take a look at the posts you mentioned.
This is the end of the thread.
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