Proposed: A Psychology and Self-Help Forum

[I D Shukhov]

I think the "Religion" part of the Politics, Religion and Society forum might as well be removed since religion is never discussed.  That's probably because it's completely personal and maybe not all that interesting.

I'd like to see a new Psychology and Self-Help Forum.  It's purpose would be discuss ideas and techniques that members have found interesting and helpful.

Thoughts?

[Origisaurus]

Possibly useful.

A potential drawback is that some people's psy and self awareness programs look like "cults" to some other people.  So again it's like religion - personal.

[Richardk]

But maybe keep it to truly suggestions and "help" and not shouting "my technique is better than yours". If we keep it civil it might be nothing more than a portal to other sites but that's not necessarily bad either.

[The Gorn]

The personal & private section fulfills this need for several members already. And anyone else who wants can add content like that.

I don't like the idea of making a special section for this and making it public. The reason for this is that I don't think that anyone would use such a section because the content is so personal. Also, an explicitly labeled section could open me or others up to liability for the use of the content.

I'd rather keep such use informal and as an off label use of the existing private discussion section.

PS: point taken about the "Religion" word in the section title. But religion does intersect politics and gets blended with it in public life. However, we rarely, if ever, have a stand alone discussion about a religious topic. I'll think it over. I suspect you're right.

[I D Shukhov]

I'm a little surprised by both Origisaurus' and Richardk's thoughts that psychology and self-help would have something confrontational  connected with them.  My thought was always that religion was combined with politics because it was controversial -- ie. the sort of topic that could easily degenerate into angry threads.  Some big organization like government or the religious establishment is impacting one's freedom: e.g. Liberal tax increases, moral injunctions based on other people's religious beliefs, etc.

What would be an example of something confrontational related to psychology?  I was thinking the forum would be something like Psychology Today or Scientific American's Mind magazine.

Goddard, I'm not sure what you are getting at with the use of content concern.   Wouldn't the same copyright restrictions apply in this forum the same as any other?  I.e. no posting unattributed content, or posting large amounts of content instead of linking to it?

[The Gorn]

I'm just uncomfortable with the idea of a specific section for users to bare all. I see it as being a little like posting publicly that you're in the market for Cialis or Viagra, please submit specific experiences?

I'm suggesting that we already "do" this sort of thing on a small scale in the private section. Since all of the sensitive data on user's pecadillos is focused there, it gives me just one place to administer if someone has a change of heart and asks me to expunge any writings of theirs that indicate that they have, er, problems.

I believe that you're only describing self-help discussion in a general way. But someone could infer things about a user based upon their questions. And I'm a bit concerned about legal ramifications, specifically HIPAA overlap.

I'm personally less concerned than the other guys are that it would become confrontational. IMO, it's another off-topic discussion topic for what is a professional's board. I think we have enough of that already (personally.)

[I D Shukhov]

I'm personally less concerned than the other guys are that it would become confrontational. IMO, it's another off-topic discussion topic for what is   a professional's board. I think we have enough of that already (personally.)

Yeah, I can see that.

[Origisaurus]

The thing is this.

Depending on your education, cultural background, etc., you see things differently.

Muslims see politics as part of religion. They have no concept of separation of church and state.

Those raised in socialist countries see equivalence between politics and economics.

Those educated in the traditions of the founding of the American republic see politics, economics and religion as separate. Just to make sure, separation of church and state is the law of the land.

So within the last paradigm, this board lumps religion with politics (not entirely rationally), but economics separately. And nowhere is there a separate place for social issues.

[Richardk]

I was thinking that "self help" could be split out as a reference section for the public facing side but I agree that any discussions would need to be private.

With that said, we could either use the existing sections or create new ones. At this point I'm not sure if we can justify creating new sections. If the reference section idea is so "hot" then why is the "Links and Resources Library" section so quite?

Maybe that section could be further split up and categorized?

[The Gorn]

There is one moderator that yells at me if I create a new section that people wind up actually using.

I don't think a new one along these lines would add that much or be used much.

I think we have a useful set of sections as it is.

[benali72]

>>>>>>  I'd like to see a new Psychology and Self-Help Forum.

I think it's a great idea to have more posts that might be personally useful about psychology/self-help. As G0ddard says, let's just post them in the current sections. I posted a couple times asking for ideas about "inexpensive but healthy eating" and "how to save money on energy costs" and got a ton of good ideas in response (none of it was confrontational or goofy).  BTW ... I now drink lots of water and green tea instead of soda pop and  am exercising more!

[The Gorn]

[Aussie]

"I'd like to see a new Psychology and Self-Help Forum"

Years ago, there was this yarn going round the I.T. shops.......

Techie #1: "Well, gotta go. I'm off to my Compulsive Computer Users' Meeting."

Techie #2: "Hey, can I come ? I'm a compulsive computer user too!"

Techie #1: "No, you're not. You're just trying to get on the compulsive computer user bandwagon!"

Techie #2: "No, fair dinkum, I really am a compulsive computer user."

Techie #1: "Well......OK."

Later at the meeting

Techie #2: "Hello, my name is Dave, and I'm a compulsive computer user. Let me tell you about my life in computers."

Techie #1 (whispered to Techie #3) : "How long do you think it'll take him to work out he's this month's Australian Computer Society guest speaker ?"