--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Early in my career, I was disappointed…" description: "\"Early in my career, I was disappointed that psychoanalysis was not becoming more empirical, was not becoming more scientific. It was primarily concerne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/eric-kandel-10189_becoming_early-in-my-career-i-was-disappointed-th_2407189.png" --- # Early in my career, I was disappointed that psychoanalysis… ![“Early in my career, I was disappointed that psychoanalysis was not becoming more empirical, was not becoming more scientific. It was primarily concerned with individual patients. It wasn't trying to collect data from large groups of people who have been analyzed.” quote by Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/eric-kandel-10189_becoming_early-in-my-career-i-was-disappointed-th_2407189.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/eric-kandel-10189_becoming_early-in-my-career-i-was-disappointed-th_2407189.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/eric-kandel-10189_becoming_early-in-my-career-i-was-disappointed-th_2407189.png) > “Early in my career, I was disappointed that psychoanalysis was not becoming more empirical, was not becoming more scientific. It was primarily concerned with individual patients. It wasn't trying to collect data from large groups of people who have been analyzed.” [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He expresses disappointment that psychoanalysis lacks empirical rigor and large‑scale data, limiting its scientific credibility. **In simple terms:** Psychoanalysis isn’t data‑driven. Key Takeaway Advocate for evidence‑based practice. Themes science psychology methodology Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy practice - academic curricula - policy making Key Concepts empiricism clinical research Questions to Reflect On - How can psychoanalysis incorporate more quantitative methods? - What barriers exist for large‑scale mental health studies? A Different Perspective Data collection can be costly and ethically complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Career](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/) [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Disappointed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointed/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Psychoanalysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychoanalysis/) [Scientific](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific/) ## Related quotes > [But being able to talk to so many patients from so many walks of life gives a tremendous window into people's lives. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mason/but-being-able-to-talk-to-so-many-patients-from-so-many-walks-of-life/) [Daniel Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mason/) > [I do not practice clinical medicine and hence do not treat individual patients. My career is in medical science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jarvik/i-do-not-practice-clinical-medicine-and-hence-do-not-treat-individual/) [Robert Jarvik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jarvik/) > [We should be concerned not only about the health of individual patients, but also the health of our entire society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/we-should-be-concerned-not-only-about-the-health-of-individual/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [I think in our lifetime, that level of acceptance of "well, we couldn't do any better," won't be tolerated. We're going to start to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-kamen/i-think-in-our-lifetime-that-level-of-acceptance-of-well-we-couldn-t/) [Dean Kamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-kamen/) > [Discerning the merits of competing claims is where the empirical basis of science should play a role. I cannot stress often enough that what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-m-krauss/discerning-the-merits-of-competing-claims-is-where-the-empirical/) [Lawrence M. Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-m-krauss/) > [Our empirical criterion for a series of theories is that it should produce new facts. The idea of growth and the concept of empirical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imre-lakatos/our-empirical-criterion-for-a-series-of-theories-is-that-it-should/) [Imre Lakatos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imre-lakatos/) > [To define knowledge as merely empirical is to limit one's ability to know; it enfeebles one's ability to feel and think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-define-knowledge-as-merely-empirical-is-to-limit-one-s-ability-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Empirical debunking cannot reach the deepest fear of the reactionary mind, which is that the state - that devouring leviathan - will soon swallow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perlstein/empirical-debunking-cannot-reach-the-deepest-fear-of-the-reactionary/) [Rick Perlstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perlstein/) > [The child who has no need to feign empirical knowledge about life can wonder and fantasise with great ease. The world is his oyster,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-leunig/the-child-who-has-no-need-to-feign-empirical-knowledge-about-life-can/) [Michael Leunig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-leunig/) > [“Empirical reality becomes nature when we view it with respect to its universal characteristics; it becomes history when we view it as particular and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-nardin/empirical-reality-becomes-nature-when-we-view-it-with-respect-to-its/) [Terry Nardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-nardin/) > [Investing is not a natural science but rather a social science. So, it's never purely empirical; what you are trying to do is everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-browne/investing-is-not-a-natural-science-but-rather-a-social-science-so-it/) [William Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-browne/) > [ \[The aim of science is\] to explain what so far has taken to be an explicans, such as a law of nature. The task… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/the-aim-of-science-is-to-explain-what-so-far-has-taken-to-be-an/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [“The fundamental basis by which the court’s decision might be made is, in itself, imperfect and subject to contradictions. There is very little consideration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/the-fundamental-basis-by-which-the-court-s-decision-might-be-made-is/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [A system is empirical or scientific only if it is capable of being tested by experience. These considerations suggest that not the verifiability but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/a-system-is-empirical-or-scientific-only-if-it-is-capable-of-being/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [I had made an empirical discovery and it carried all the weight of a mathematical proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-had-made-an-empirical-discovery-and-it-carried-all-the-weight-of-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## More by Eric Kandel > [“Indeed, the underlying precept of the new science of mind is that all mental processes are biological—they all depend on organic molecules and cellular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/indeed-the-underlying-precept-of-the-new-science-of-mind-is-that-all/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychoanalysis swept through the intellectual community, and it was the dominant mode of thinking about the mind. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/in-the-1950s-and-early-1960s-psychoanalysis-swept-through-the/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [In art, as in science, reductionism does not trivialize our perception - of color, light, and perspective - but allows us to see each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/in-art-as-in-science-reductionism-does-not-trivialize-our-perception/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [I don't think neurobiology is going to replace aesthetics or art history. It's a parallel discipline that adds a new dimension. I always compare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/i-don-t-think-neurobiology-is-going-to-replace-aesthetics-or-art/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [One of the ultimate challenges of biology is to understand how the brain becomes consciously aware of perception, experience and emotion. 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They thought that God was a mathematician and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/ever-since-the-enlightenment-people-thought-that-we-were-living-in-a/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [I was interested in the nature of human mental processes, which is what got me interested in psychoanalysis. And it became clear to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/i-was-interested-in-the-nature-of-human-mental-processes-which-is/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [It may act as an ancillary factor, but by itself, the mutation in tau doesn't give you Alzheimer's disease. This is not to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/it-may-act-as-an-ancillary-factor-but-by-itself-the-mutation-in-tau/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [If you have a lesion in the hippocampus in both sides, you have short term memory, but you can convert that short term memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/if-you-have-a-lesion-in-the-hippocampus-in-both-sides-you-have-short/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [My heart beats in three-quarter time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/my-heart-beats-in-three-quarter-time/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [Vienna is relatively small. And it had wonderful salons, opportunities for people to get together. 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