Of more interest to me, however, was Arastoo letting his accent slip. What a commentary on the dominant view of religion among the scientific elite! For a lot of scientifically-minded people, it's difficult to justify belief in something that can't be empirically observed. It can be hard to admit to empiricists that one believes in something intangible, but if it's something you can't or don't want to keep secret, it may be tempting to create an image that is less worldly-wise, as Arastoo did. However, just as with any deception, it's difficult and draining to maintain indefinitely. Maybe it's worth taking the time and effort to explain yourself. This isn't just the case for religions, but also alternative medicines, and even the intricacies of human interaction. There are those who would dismiss absolutely everything we do as driven by evolutionary imperatives.
I enjoyed watching Bones butt heads with psychologists in this episode. Her complaints about the discipline - that it's vaguely defined and inexact, for example - are things I struggled with when I studied psychology in school. Psychology seems to be both too broad and too narrow. The various schools of thought in psychology each seem too narrowly defined to be taken seriously - as in the case of evolutionary psychology. However, if taken together as a whole, with each school of thought explaining certain areas of behaviour, a much greater understanding of human nature can be gained. At the other end of the spectrum, research psychologists view psychology as including disciplines such as cognitive science and psychiatry, yet as far as I can tell no cognitive scientist or psychiatrist would ever refer to his- or herself as a psychologist. Nevertheless, if defined more narrowly in this aspect, psychology is an immensely practical and helpful discipline. It is the only discipline truly concerned with the interaction of individuals - and the interaction of individuals makes up our whole lives.
