
Originally Posted by
Singu
The whole point of "understanding" is to control something, that's what "science" is. And social sciences like psychology, sociology, are when that's applied to people, society, etc.
For example, you might encounter someone who is rude, and your response is "Well this person is rude! Must be his Fi PoLR... that's just the way it is". It becomes about some core of his being that can't be changed. Or perhaps you can look further and think "Is it due to his upbringing? His culture? Is he having a bad day? Is it something I did, or someone else did?".
Then it becomes a matter of variables. If you change one variable, and if that variable happens to be the right one, then his "rudeness" disappears. If you can control the variable, then theoretically you can control this person. Now "control" seems to be a bit unethical, but that's just what it is.
The key is to find what is a regularity, and what is some variable that could be easily modified.