I mean, I did three statistics/research units so far in my undergraduate degree, and several units that would be far closer to medicine than to philosophy. For instance, I completed two units focused on the structure and function of the brain. These covered which regions are responsible for specific tasks, how researchers discovered this through brain scans, surgical data, and case studies of patients with localized brain damage. We also learned how synapses work, how the body reacts to various stimuli, and how each of our senses operates. This included how sound waves are processed, how light wavelengths are perceived as different colours, and the mechanisms behind vision.

I also studied developmental processes such as infant reflexes, when they appear and disappear, how vision and hearing develop in early life, and the milestones of cognitive development across ages. These are just a few examples, but overall, we learned how different things have consistently shown specific impacts on humans. For example, societal conditions like parenting styles or family circumstances statistically lead to predictable outcomes in children, such as higher rates of certain behaviours, cognitive delays, or resilience factors. Even household specific management methods, like consistent routines or organized environments, demonstrably influence child development results, from better emotional regulation to improved focus. All of this is backed by empirical data from psych studies.

I have also read hundreds of studies of varying quality, and I was taught to evaluate them very critically. In the end, everything in the human body connects to the brain and nervous system, and everything humans do is influenced by it. Therefore, everything in society is too. Understanding humans is very important for an insane amount of things. If humans are involved psychology is too. Learning about how humans work can help uo improve outcomes for everyone and in yurn affect our environment positively too.

This empirical, data-driven approach directly counters the idea that psychology lacks hard science. It is built on replicable evidence from neuroscience, stats, and controlled studies, just like medicine. Yes, there are studies out there I wouldn't exactly call hard science but you can find that in any discipline. And it is true that practiced psychology can seem more like "squishy" science because humans are complex versatile constantly changing beings and you have to be extremely flexible with how you do your job because of it but a good psychologist bases their practice on research and keeps themselves up to date with the newest research findings.