Why is reductionism a problem

But are all animals the same? The answer is obviously no, and showing an analogous example about humans can prove this. If we were to apply this to humans, we could say something like humans generally sleep for about seven to eight hours each night, eat a mix of fruits and vegetables and, depending on their habitat, large amounts of carbohydrates and sugary foods.

Applying this reductionist thinking to describe humans sounds a little ridiculous, because we obviously know that the above description does not apply to all humans everywhere. With this in mind, the same goes for animals; not all are alike, and by oversimplifying them because we generalized their behaviors in smaller ways then put them together creates overlooked facts that can make research more interesting and unique.

Another brief example of reductionism is the influence of certain ancient cultures on others. The Ancient Greeks created very foundational ideas and had a particular architecture and way of living that was unique to them.

But, when the Ancient Romans became a more massive empire, they were very much influenced by the Greeks. Then, Greeks and Romans influenced people in the general Mediterranean region.

Soon, the whole Western culture was somewhat influenced by these three cultural groups Ancient History Encyclopedia. In the process of trying to break down these cultures in order to see how they are interconnected, we may lose certain facts that make those cultures different. Although reductionist thinking can become an oversimplification of an idea, reductionism can also be a very useful process to use.

Everyday, science is expanding and more research is being found that brings truly amazing information to the public that will help us grow as a global society in the future. Just as reductionism is the process of breaking down a complex problem and looking at its individual parts, holism is quite the opposite. Qualitative methods of the humanistic approach reflect a holistic position. Referring back to the first quote in this chapter, Aristotle would probably be more incline to take a holistic approach to a situation.

Interactionism is subtly different to holism see below , as interactionism considers how different levels of explanation interact, whereas holism is more concerend with understanding the whole experience, rather than individual explanations.

Company Reg no: VAT reg no Main menu. Subjects Shop Courses Live Jobs board. View shopping cart. View mytutor2u. Account Shopping cart Logout. Explore Psychology Psychology Search.

For example, most experimental psychology is based on the assumption that human behaviour can be studied effectively in relatively simple experiments, where complex behaviour is reduced to isolated variables known as experimental reductionism. This allows researchers to study the different factors that influence human behaviour in a controlled manner while establishing a causal relationship. This would not be possible if psychologists attempted to study all of the factors that influence human behaviour at once, as it would be too complex to interpret the findings.

Furthermore, both biological and environmental reductionism are viewed as scientific. Breaking complex behaviours into small constituent parts means that they can be scientifically tested and over time explanations based on scientific evidence will emerge. In addition, biological reductionism has led to the development of biological therapies, such as drugs. For example, SSRIs are more effective than placebos at treating the symptoms of OCD and reduce the symptoms for up to three months after the treatment Soomro et al.

Criticism of reductionism takes many forms. Some psychologists argue that biological reductionism can lead to errors of understanding because it ignores the complexity of human behaviour. For example, to treat conditions like ADHD with drugs in the belief that the condition consists of nothing more than neurochemical imbalances is to mistake the symptoms of the phenomenon for its true cause. Ritalin may reduce these symptoms, but the conditions which gave rise to the ADHD have not been addressed.

Whether or not this is true depends on what one thinks of as causation, but since success rates of drug therapy are so highly variable, the purely biological understanding seems inadequate.