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When Trump boasted that his IQ was higher than Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's, it was part of a pattern. In 2013, he tweeted that his IQ was "much higher" than Barack Obama and George W Bush. He has also claimed a higher IQ than comedian Jon Stewart. This is a guy who seems obsessed with IQ…. what psychologists might rightly call “illusory superiority,” a condition of cognitive bias wherein a person overestimates their own qualities and abilities, in relation to that of others…..or what we might call wishful thinking.Trump has never revealed his own IQ. So can we work it out? Well, it’s not as impossible as it looks, here is a review of what we do know, all of it quite revealing and refection of a person’s intelligence. After all, isn't the real issue not an abstract IQ number, but how we leverage our intelligence to interact, socialize, learn and maneuver through the ups and downs that life throws at us?So let's take a look at the evidence readily available in regard to both men.Trump is a guy who doesn't read, has no interest in any type of intellectual pursuits of any kind and was rated as really dumb by one of his Profs;"William T. Kelley, who taught Trump at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.”Source: Chicago Tribune “Donald Trump's biggest flaw: He's not that bright” https://www.chicagotribune.com/n...“Trump transferred into Wharton’s undergraduate program — then known as the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce — after spending two years at Fordham University in New York. Despite Trump’s repeated mention of Wharton, his own classmates hardly remember him, and he even describes the school’s high-flung reputation as overwrought in his 1986 book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”In a 1985 biography of Trump, Jerome Tuccille wrote that he was not an honor student and “spent a lot of time on outside business activities.”Another biographer, Gwenda Blair, wrote in 2001 that Trump was admitted to Wharton on a special favor from a “friendly” admissions officer. The officer had known Trump’s older brother, Freddy.Source: Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mystery. The Daily Pennsylvanian; Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mysteryTony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of “The Art of the Deal,” ( you really didn’t think Trump wrote this did you?) said Trump had “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.”Source: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This is not a smart person. By the way, one of the markers of intelligent people is their vocabulary. One psychologist who tests students rated Trump’s vocabulary at the grade 6 or 7 level, virtually spot on to General Jim Mattis’ assessment.Source: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...David Cay Johnston, a financial reporter, and someone who knows Trump intimately, having literally followed and reported on Trump and his career for decades, had this to say after scoring an interview with Trump, at a time when Trump was planning to enter the casino business. Johnston said he was stunned by Trump’s lack of business acumen and stated: “Trump couldn’t answer basic business questions that a first-year Wharton student could.” This was a poseur, a phony, someone who always got by on bluff and intimidation, unable and/or unwilling to do the work or take the time to learn the business or develop the business skills necessary to succeed.Source: “It's Even Worse Than You Think; What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America By David Cay JohnstonIt has become more than apparent that Trump knows little about most things and next to nothing in terms of either managing his administration, the country or in fulfilling his role as president. Not only are these accusations voiced by his opposition, but similar concerns have also been even documented by his cabinet ministers, a number of whom have called him an idiot, a “fucking moron” or as “having the intelligence of a 5th or 6th grader”, virtually spot on with General Jim Mattis’ assessment of Trump’s ability.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardSource: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This guy is always claiming he " is like a real smart guy", yet Gary Cohn, the former White House adviser and former head of Goldman Sachs, someone considered as one of the, if not the, smartest guys on Wall Street, having joined TRUMP as an advisor, stated “this man HAS THE I.Q. OF AN INBRED TANNING BED”.Cohn said he was “astounded” by the depths of the president’s stupidity. He said it was a stone-cold, mind-blowing, we’ve-never-seen-an-I.Q.-in-the-single-digits-before levels of stupidity.He called the president a joke a liar and a “con on the public”, this from Cohn, the Goldman Sachs president turned National Economic Council director. Cohn stated he came away from his very first meeting with Donald Trump “astounded” by just how dumb the guy was.Cohn gave examples of what he meant. During a chat about various economic issues, Cohn told Trump that the Federal Reserve would likely increase rates during his first term in office, to which the President responded, “We should just go borrow a lot of money, hold it, and then sell it to make money.” This suggestion and “lack of basic understanding” about how federal debt works apparently sent chills up Cohn’s spine.Cohn went on to explain that borrowing more money would increase the deficit and add to the debt, something that would, in theory, be counterproductive for a delusional president who had pledged to completely eliminate the federal debt!!But “ I’m like a really smart guy”, wasn’t finished: The president-elect offered a solution. “Just run the presses—print money,” Trump said. Cohn suggested that would be detrimental to the fiscal and economic health of the U.S., since printing vast amounts of money leads to inflation. . . . Cohn also pointed out that there was a federal debt ceiling, a statutory limit to the amount of debt the federal government can have outstanding. Even approaching the debt ceiling can be harmful to the stock market and U.S. economic growth. But Cohn’s message did not seem to connect. Cohn told friends “It was clear that Trump did not understand the way the U.S. government debt cycle balance sheet worked”. Of course, the fact that the 45th president of the United States is an idiot is not exactly a new revelation.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardBy contrast, Obama attended two top Ivy league schools, Columbia and Harvard Law, where he earned the very vaunted Harvard Law Review role in 1990.Here is what the New York Times reported at the time back in 1990: “The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist who did fieldwork in Indonesia.”As well as the high office won on merit, of note is the fact that both of Obama’s parents were well educated, each holding graduate degrees as well as a Ph.D. in his mother’s case. The education of parents is often a harbinger of similar intelligence levels in their offspring.Harvard professor Laurence Tribe is a sort of legal rock star rated as one of the very best of the best legal minds and American Law Professors who taught Obama and had this to say about his famous student: Upon checking his day timer, Tribe pointed out, "and there's an exclamation point next to it. ( Obama’s name)" That was to remind Tribe how impressed he was by this skinny kid in jeans, a sweatshirt and an afro, then a lowly first-year law student.” Their first conversation lasted hours, and Obama went on to work for Tribe on articles and books, including one called Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes.Tribe recalls that his research assistant tried to find a way out of deeply entrenched lines of the abortion debate, focusing instead on education and access to birth control. "It's as though he was looking not just for a point in the middle of a spectrum, but for a line that was perpendicular, so that one could get outside the tragic choice."The two have remained close, with Tribe serving as a mentor and informal adviser to the president over the years.Professor Charles Ogletree plays a similar role in Obama's life. In 1989, Ogletree taught a non-credit Saturday course to give first-year students a basic set of skills in law school.Ogletree remembers the student “who always arrived on time, sat in the front row, and was professorial almost to a fault. After answering the question, Obama would say, "But Al, who talked earlier, had a very good point when he said X. And Sarah, I think she really captured it when she said Y. And if you think about Latoya, her analysis was ..." at which point Ogletree would interject, "Barack, I'm teaching this class, not you!" That might sound like the arrogance Obama is sometimes accused of, but to Ogletree it sounded like this student was trying to bring everyone into the conversation.Bridge-BuilderAccording to Harvard classmate Ken Mack, “He (Obama) seemed to know who he was, be very grounded. Even then, classmate Ken Mack recalls, Obama stood apart. Mack is now a professor at Harvard Law School and author of the book Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer."He seemed to know who he was, be very grounded," says Mack. There was no sign of the kid people used to call "Barry.""If you would've told me that someone had called him Barry, I would have been surprised. Barry is a little bit diminutive — that would not have fit him at all," Mack saysTaking The LeadBy the end of Obama's second year, his academic record and reputation had qualified him to run for one of the most prestigious roles at the law school — president of the Harvard Law Review.The review editors were a partisan, contentious group. Classmate Brad Berenson remembers the guy from Hawaii who floated above the fray. "One of the enduring images I have of him is of a guy in jeans and a leather jacket, Jimmy Dean style, standing out in front of Gannett House smoking a cigarette."Berenson was one of the conservatives, and in a long, contentious election, his group ultimately supported Obama's candidacy."They did that in part because they had a sense that he was more open-minded and would listen to the conservatives, and would value and accept their contributions in a way that some of the other candidates would not," says Berenson, who worked in the George W. Bush White House and is now a member of Romney's justice advisory committee. The following are Obama's top 16 major accomplishments:1. Ended the 2008 RecessionIn February 2009, Congress approved Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. It cut taxes, extended unemployment benefits, and funded public works projects.The recession ended in July 2009 when GDP growth turned positive.In just seven months, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pumped $241.9 billion into the economy. That increased growth to a robust 3.9 percent rate by early 2010. By March 30, 2011, almost all ($633.5 billion) of the funds were spent.2. Modernized the Auto IndustryObama bailed out the U.S. auto industry on March 30, 2009. The federal government took over General Motors and Chrysler, saving three million jobs. It forced the companies to become more fuel efficient and therefore more globally competitive.3. Received the 2009 Nobel Peace PrizeOn October 9, 2009, Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee lauded "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011. He reduced the U.S. nuclear warhead stockpile by 10 percent.4. Reformed Health CareOn March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act revolutionized healthcare. By 2014, the economy benefited from having 95 percent of the population on health insurance.The greater number of people receiving preventive care reduced the number of expensive visits to emergency rooms.That slows the rise of health care costs for everyone. That's because Medicaid reimburses hospitals for emergency care. Those are the most significant of Obamacare's 10 advantages.Why did health care need to be reformed? Rising costs threatened to take over the entire federal budget. It was also the no.1 cause of bankruptcies. In return, Americans received the worst health care in the developed world. It is the only one of 33 developed countries without universal health care.President Donald Trump promised to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. As of October 2017, he has failed to pass any legislation. But he is weakening Obamacare even without repeal.5. Regulated the Big BanksIn July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act improved regulation of eight areas that led to the financial crisis. The Consumer Financial Protection Agencyreduced harmful practices of credit cards and mortgages. The Financial Stability Oversight Council regulated hedge funds and banks that became too big to fail. The "Volcker Rule" banned banks from risking losses with their depositors' money. Dodd-Frank clarified which agencies regulated which banks, stopping banks from cherry-picking their regulators.Dodd-Frank directed the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These regulated the riskiest derivatives, like credit default swaps and commodities futures. Dodd-Frank also asked the SEC to recommend how the credit rating agencies, like Moody's and Standard & Poor's, could be improved.6. 2010 Tax CutsIn December 2010, Obama and Congress agreed upon additional stimulus in the form of an $858 billion tax cut. It had three main components: a $350 billion extensionof the Bush tax cuts, a $56 billion extension of unemployment benefits, and a $120 billion reduction in workers' payroll taxes. Businesses received $140 billion in tax cuts for capital improvements and $80 billion in research and development tax credits. The estate tax was exempted (up to $5 million), and there were additional credits for college tuition and children.7. Eliminated bin Laden Threat and Withdrew Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan WarsOn May 1, 2011, Navy SEALs attacked the al-Qaida leader's compound in Pakistan and eliminated Osama bin Laden. Later that year, Obama withdrew troops from the Iraq War. Three years later, renewed threats from ISIS meant troops had to return. The Sunni-Shiite split within Islam means there may always be wars in the Middle East.In 2014, Obama wound down the war in Afghanistan. Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should have reduced annual military spending. At over $800 billion, it was the largest discretionary budget item and one of the leading causes of the budget deficit and national debt.Instead, spending on the War on Terror remained higher than during the Bush administration.8. Raised Fuel Efficiency StandardsOn August 28, 2012, the Obama administration announced new fuel efficiency standards. He required cars and light trucks obtain 54.5 MPG by 2025. That would reduce oil consumption by 12 billion barrels, saving drivers $1.7 trillion. It would also reduce the damage of climate change by lowering greenhouse gases.The Trump administration promised to roll back these standards. But California requires zero-emissions vehicles. Twelve other states adopted the mandate. Major automakers must build cars to meet stricter standards in the European Union and Asia.9. Won 2012 Presidential Re-electionOn November 6, 2012, Obama won a second term. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised to repeal Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. Voters were not sure about eliminating health benefits and regulations against big banks. Romney failed to capture the country's imagination by not presenting a new vision for economic growth.10. Reduced Carbon EmissionsObama announced carbon reduction regulations in 2014. He enacted the Clean Power Plan in 2015. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. It did this by setting carbon reduction goals for the nation's power plants. To comply, power plants agreed to create 30 percent more renewable energy generation by 2030. It encourages carbon emissions trading by allowing states that emit less than the carbon cap to trade their surplus to states that emit more than the cap.11. Nuclear Agreement With IranOn July 14, 2015, Obama brokered a nuclear peace agreement with Iran. That meant Iran could not longer build a nuclear bomb in three months. Instead, it would take at least a year. In return, the United Nations lifted the economic sanctions it imposed in 2010. Trump is weakening the agreement to try and negotiate a better deal for the United States.12. World's Largest Trade AgreementOn October 4, 2015, Obama's team negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It would have replaced NAFTA as the world's largest free-trade agreement. It would have removed tariffs between the United States and 11 other countries that border the Pacific Ocean. On January 23, 2017, Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement. The other countries are planning to continue the agreement anyway. Japan and the European Union are negotiating their own agreement.Obama launched the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union.Obama's term ended before negotiations on the TTIP could be finalized. It would have been bigger than the TPP. President Trump has not made much progress on the TTIP.13. International Climate Change AgreementOn December 12, 2015, Obama and 196 other countries announced the Paris Climate Agreement. Countries agreed to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon trading. The goal is to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Developed countries will contribute $100 billion a year to assist emerging markets. They bear the brunt of damage from climate change. They face increased typhoons, rising sea levels, and more severe droughts.On October 5, 2016, enough countries ratified the agreement that it went into effect. At the 2016 G20 meeting, China and the United States agreed to ratify the agreement. These two countries are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. On June 1, 2017, Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.14. Third-Best Job CreatorObama is the third-bestt job-creating president in U.S. history. His policies put 16 million people to work from the depths of the recession in December 2009 to the end of his term. That's because unemployment continued to rise even after the recession ended in July. It takes a few months of economic growth before businesses are confident enough to begin hiring again.Other AccomplishmentsMaintained Continuation of Federal Reserve Policy - Obama appointed Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke. She maintained an expansionary monetary policy that created the lowest interest rates in 200 years. This allowed the early stages of the housing recovery and slow but steady business expansion to continue. That's because Treasury yields affect mortgage interest rates.Deficit Spending - The major mark against Obama is the increase in the national debt. Part of the reason for this increase was the deficit spending he used to stimulate the economy. Deficits fell in his second term. Obama's total deficits were $6.785 trillion, more than any other president.·FY 2017: $666 billion·FY 2016: $585 billion·FY 2015: $438 billion·FY 2014: $485 billion·FY 2013: $679 billion.·FY 2012: $1.087 trillion·FY 2011: $1.3 trillion.·FY 2010: $1.294 trillion.·FY 2009: Added $253 billion in stimulus spending to the Bush budget.No Personal Scandal - One achievement has gone unnoticed but is nevertheless admirable. That's Obama's unblemished personal record. President Obama has served longer than any president in decades without the appearance of the word “scandal” on the front page of The Washington Post.For any thinking person, looking at Trump and Obama, there is no question that Obama essentially the same height as Trump, but metaphorically Obama is head and shoulders over Trump, more intelligent and smarter in every measurable way.

He was born rich, was a difficult, bullying child who once hit a teacher as a pre teenager. He was sent to military school from eighth grade through high school, most likely because of incorrigibility. This experience did not lead to a military outcome. Bone spurs got in the way.For whatever reasons, Trump attended Fordham, then transferred to Wharton Business, a part of the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate, where he claimed he graduated at the top of his class in 1968. He did not. (Thanks to some alert readers, this paragraph has been edited. I had mistakenly said that Wharton was a graduate school at the time.)Trump has threatened anyone who reveals his educational record at any level with a lawsuit. Why? He claimed that being at Wharton was “super genius stuff,” implying that he fit that description. Professors described him otherwise. There is no evidence that he graduated with honors of any sort.Trump worked with his father in real estate while in and out of school, often serving as a rent enforcer.During his 30s and 40s Trump sought endless attention and deals of any kind to promote himself. We have all heard about his bankruptcies, attempts at building big projects, borrowing money he neglected to repay, and stiffing contractors. He moved from that to selling his brand.In 1989, the Central Park Five case made headlines. A group of young men were accused of raping a woman in Central Park in NYC. Trump took out full page newspaper ads declaring their guilt, and that they should be executed. They went to prison. Later, they were released because of a confession and DNA evidence. Trump would not accept that and still does not. He cannot be wrong.We also know about his three marriages and bragging about affairs and that he can grab women’s private parts because he was “famous.” He has been accused of inappropriate sexual advances by dozens of women. He denies it all, and said he would sue all those women after his election. He did not and will not.All through his life he has sought advantage and conned people of all stripes. There is a good chance that he has been involved with criminal types from both here and abroad, specifically Russia, and who knows where else. Money laundering is a good possibility in that mix. All this has been chronicled by many. Tony Schwartz wrote the Art of the Deal, and David Cay Johnston wrote extensively of Trump, showing his egocentric, pathological lying and bullying. There are many others with similar findings.As we know, Trump started many different ventures that failed: casinos, an airline, Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, a magazine, condo developments leaving investors holding the bag, and Trump University, among others.He compulsively sought media attention in tabloids, with Howard Stern, and endless other shows. He sometimes called in disguised as someone like John Barron to tell how rich he was or how many women were after him. He got himself involved in 4000 lawsuits of one form or the other. His constant lies, bullying and bragging were, and are, his method of operation. Add to that zero empathy and you have a toxic stew.Then he ran for President, for the third time, in 2016. The first two were anemic, mostly for show and to increase his exposure. His behavior did not change with that effort and has not changed since. It has only worsened, given the power conveyed to him.What could go wrong if a person who cannot get enough power and attention, gets both? Could corruption possibly follow?He owns golf clubs and claims to be a great golfer, and to have won numerous club championships. Rick Reilly wrote a book about Trump’s golfing called Commander In Cheat, saying that on a 1–10 scale of cheating at golf, Trump is an 11. Golf is like bicycle shorts, it reveals a lot about a man. Remember that he said he would not be playing golf as President? His golfing has cost us far over $100 million.So here we are in a horrible pandemic needing solid, honest, responsible leadership to help heal the nation both economically and medically, without blaming and attacks. We shall see.April 14 edit: On April 13, Trump declared that the President’s authority is “total.” It is not.April 18 edit: After his proclamation that his authority was total, Trump decided to say that it was up to the states when to relax restrictions regarding the Coronavirus. Is it cynical to believe that he could blame them when things go wrong? Soon thereafter, protests arose in Michigan against restrictions. Ignoring social distancing, the protesters, some armed with weapons and Confederate flags, expressed their support for Trump and disdain for the governor who Trump called “that woman.”After the protests, Trump claimed that the protesters were very responsible. In what way? Since there is always something else, Trump Tweeted LIBERATE, followed by the state’s names, to the people of Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia. Those swing states all have Democrat governors. There will be more, the safety and welfare of those people affected be damned.April 24 edit:On April 23, Trump suggested that it might be a good idea to inject disinfectants somehow to help fight the virus. He was entirely serious. When there was pushback regarding the obvious dangers of his, he said he was being “sarcastic” to play with the media. He has done that before when caught in an obvious lie or some ridiculous claim. He is never wrong. Remember that.July 4 edit:As of now, nearly 133,000 have died from Covid 19. Trump is bragging about the great job he is doing containing it. After too many states reopened early, cases are rising to about 50,000 per day. It is 4000 per day in Europe. Same population as the US.Because of protests regarding Black Lives Matter, and removal of monuments, Trump is accusing liberals/Democrats of being anti-American and traitors. He spent the July 4 weekend attacking, dividing and having another rally where people are jammed together without masks. Trump’s need for adoration far exceeds the need to keep people safe. He is the Most Patriotic American.July 25 editTrump’s latest is to now pretend that he realizes the dangers of COVID-19 and that we should wear a mask, socially distance, etc. He will claim that he believed that all along. Secondly, he is sending forces to Democratically run cities to conquer the very dangerous, in-American protesters there. All for the benefit of his Law and Order followers. The Law and Order Leader pardoned Roger Stone, who had been convicted of numerous felonies. Trump said that Stone was “unfairly treated.” It is a common Trump accusation, but referring to himself as the victim of that, and Hoaxes and Witch Hunts. Look back 30 years and he did the same then.There WILL be more. Never fear.

In an interesting online article by someone named Savannah Cox, she pointed out that in his lifetime Sigmund Freud cultivated a body of work so contentious and controversial that he has been called everything from a chauvinist to one of the 20th century’s most brilliant minds. For better or worse, few individual have had a deeper impact on modern psychology.Throughout the 20th century, the Austrian neurologist endeavored to dig deep into the human mind to understand our being. Freud dug so deep, in fact, that he claimed human thought itself is not defined by the rational or physically real, but, as cognitive psychologist John F. Kihlstrom put it, by “irrational forces outside our conscious awareness and control” — forces which can only be understood by a process known as psychoanalysis. His theories sometime border on being pseudoscience, or at the very least, unsubstantiated.After his death, Freud’s theories — on everything from homosexuality to gender to human development — have largely been discredited by psychologists. As Psychological Science wrote, “[T]here is literally nothing to be said, scientifically or therapeutically, to the advantage of the entire Freudian system or any of its component dogmas.”However, the fact that many experts now reject the theories of one of the 20th century’s most influential thinkers is not unusual. “Science is self-corrective,” Fordham University Psychology Professor Harold Takooshian told Ms. Cox. “Anyone who wrote about these things 120 years ago is not going to be considered entirely correct.” You wouldn’t use Isaac Newton’s theories as is, so why would anyone use Freud’s ideas in their original form?Freud’s theories inferred that human development proceeds through oral, anal, phallic, and genital stages. While Freud’s positions on homosexuality changed over time, he essentially believed that if a person “fails to reconcile” with one of these stages — particularly the phallic stage — he or she may become homosexual as a result.While Takooshian says the “jury is still out” with regard to what causes variance in sexual orientation, it is the case that Freud’s developmental theory has been widely dismissed among psychologists, since there is no proof that the id, ego, or superego exists, or any evidence that affirms that humans develop through oral, anal, phallic, and genital stages.More concretely, if homosexuality is indeed deterministic, it seems a bit foolish to tell a parent that he or she “made” his child gay after a botched attempt at potty training.For all its incorrectness, it should be noted, however, that for as much as today’s experts would say Freud got wrong about homosexuality, his views were actually progressive for his time. In 1935, when many in the West categorized homosexuality as a mental illness and criminalized its public display, Freud did not.Freud is well known — and rightfully reviled — for his work on the Oedipus complex, which essentially states that while young, boys develop incestuous interest in their mothers, and treat their fathers as “rivals.” Over time, given the boys’ “castration anxiety” — or fear of losing their penis for desiring their mother — they repress those taboo desires and identify with their fathers.While Freud’s theories reflected generation-specific power dynamics more than empirical reality — again, virtually no lab tests have affirmed the validity of his theories (specifically on defense mechanisms) — and, yet, they still persist in popular discourse today.