Psychoanalysis and Science

Science has broadened the outlook of man, but new perspectives have brought with them new problems and the need for ways of coping with them. Social issues, such as the urgency to make constructive use of the physical energies available as a product of the discovery of nuclear fission, are well known. In contrast, less attention has been directed to the enormous impact of these additions on knowledge from the sciences and the scientist's way of thinking about other parts of man's nonscientific endeavors and experience. The state of mind that seeks specificity of knowledge and of causal relationships is an imperative quality for the physical scientist, but it is only one of a variety of relevant approaches to enlarging man's comprehension of the universe and of himself as a part of it. The exact sciences have made such immense contributions, however, that their ways of conceptualizing and coping with problems have extended into areas where the nature of the problems is quite different and where the scientific approach may obscure rather than reveal.

A revolution is going on in man's understanding of himself—that is, in his sense of who he is, what he is, and what his place in the universe is. Scientific discoveries are having psychological consequences as spectacular as the advances in our conceptualization of the physical universe. One group having a conspicuous, high degree of inner uncertainty is the present generation of adolescents. It is evident that they are reaching out for a degree of stability and meaning in a world where the values and the world view of their elders have been shaken. They show many false starts and many failures to establish new self concepts. These false starts and failures