LETTERS

Analyzing Freud

In "Nature's Infinite Book" (2/01), Jared Diamond undertakes to compare and contrast the legacies of Darwin and Freud while missing a fundamental difference between the two. Darwin developed a scientific theory susceptible to test and to disproof. What Freud developed was closer to a system of religious belief than it was to a testable scientific theory.

Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D. via e-mail

My problem with Jared Diamond's nomination of Sigmund Freud for membership in the august club of those who have made a "major, lasting difference to the course of science" is that Freud's work was not scientific. There is no objective way of confirming Freud's hypotheses or of disproving any of his concepts, since they are all based on interpretation.

Ronald G. Good Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana

To find Jared Diamond placing Freud on a par with Darwin and publicly acknowledging the value of personal psychotherapy is refreshing and tremendously welcome. The theories of Freud, and of all depth psychologies, will continue to come in for assault simply because they focus on the unconscious, which remains largely unrecognized and uncharted territory. Freud was not dealing with the mind but with the psyche, of which mind is merely a part.

Meredith Sabini, Ph.D. Berkeley California

Darwin and Freud are both interesting and deserving scientists for Jared Diamond to ponder, but his concerns about pills versus talk therapy, in my experience and opinion, are wrong. From 1962 until 1983, talk therapy was used on my chronically depressed wife by psychologists, family counselors, several psychiatrists, a psychotherapist, and clergymen. After tens of thousands of dollars and years of tears, our family doctor began prescribing psychotherapeutic drugs. After four failed attempts, my wife is now enjoying a normal life.

Doug Swanson North Branch, Minnesota

JARED DIAMOND REPLIES:

I sympathize with Mrs. Swanson and with,the many other people who were helped by psychotherapeutic drugs only after years of inappropriate talk therapy. However, I also sympathize with the growing number of people today who are inappropriately given drugs by clinicians lacking the patience, training, skill, or motivation to listen and to talk. As for the comments of Dr. Sax, Mr. Good, and other Freud-bashers, I say to them what I say to Darwin-bashers: There is substance to your critiques, but much more substance to Freud's and Darwin's achievements.

Alpha and Omega

On the matter of "last things" ("Universe," 2/01), readers and Neil de Grasse Tyson might enjoy a story attributed to Johannes Brahms and one of his friends. They were standing by the shore, and the friend was complaining that all the great music had already been written. "Look," said Brahms, pointing at the water, "here comes the last wave."

Roy Wagner University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia

Nisa Now

I read and enjoyed the book review in your 2/01 issue ("Long Live the !Kung"), but I have a question. As one of many anthropologists who has for years assigned the book Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman in the courses I teach, I was under the impression that the cover photo was not that of Nisa, and I have discussed this point in the context of research ethics and protection of anonymity. However, that same photo appears in your review of the book's recent reprint with the caption "Nisa in 1971." Can you tell me if this is really the Nisa of the book?

Barrett P. Brenton, Ph.D. St. John's University Jamaica, New York

MARY KATE MACO OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS REPLIES: Indeed, Natural History wrongly captioned the photo on page 76. The late Marjorie Shostak, concerned with protecting the anonymity of her source, changed her subject's name to Nisa and did not publish a photograph of her in the original book. (A photograph of another woman was used, and this was what the magazine printed.) Shostak's sequel, Return to Nisa, was posthumously published. Harvard University Press, Shostak's husband (Mel Konner), and other anthropologists who knew the !Kung woman studied by Shostak decided to place a photo of the real "Nisa" on the cover and jacket flap of the second book. This decision was based on the knowledge that "Nisa" understood the success of the book and enjoyed knowing that her words would be published. The photo that appears in the Natural History review on page 77 is captioned correctly.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Natural History Magazine, Inc.
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