What is Pseudoscience?
Pseudoscience is a body of knowledge which presents itself with a veneer of scientific respectability which does not hold up under scrutiny. The term “pseudoscience” is meant to be derogatory; you may also hear terms like “alternative science” or “junk science” used to refer to such fields. Learning to distinguish true science from pseudoscience is very important. The key characteristic of pseudoscience is that it does not conform with the scientific method. This means that pseudoscientific claims cannot be tested, and do not follow a logical order. Plenty of scientific concepts cannot be tested with existing equipment, but the originators of such theories can provide solid information which supports their hypotheses, and these creators also welcome critiques and honest analysis. Pseudoscience has no scientific backing, and it cannot be tested. Several key things can be used to identify a field of knowledge or a claim as pesudoscience. The first is the lack of testability and independe
A common fallacy in exploring new ideas in the scientific field has to do with experimentation – when we experiment, who performs the experiment, and whether we are actually at the point where experimentation is feasible. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the difference between the units of the scientific method because the same words used to describe it are used in everyday conversation but with different meaning. For example, a hypothesis and a theory are different stages of the scientific method and have entirely different qualifications, yet in everyday conversation, the words are interchangable. Applying the scientific method to the paranormal can be hard to do since sometimes we are prone to believe that our own evidence (I saw it with my own eyes!) is enough to end the debate, at least for ourselves. However, many groups in the past from the Egyptians to the Greeks to the Mayans based beliefs strictly on observation, and were proven wrong by future societies who either had differe
by Donald E. Simanek A visitor to my web site asks “What is the definition of pseudoscience?” That’s a fair, but challenging, question. Normally one would expect the practitioners of a discipline to define it, but in this case the practitioners of pseudoscience don’t recognize the validity of the label. The question translates to “How does one distinguish between science and pseudoscience.” Perhaps we should first settle on a definition of science. Even that isn’t an easy task, for it has so many nuances. Whole books have been written on the subject. The scientist might answer “I know pseudoscience when I see it.” But the boundary between science and pseudoscience is murky. Sometimes it’s hard to tell cutting edge scientific speculation from pseudoscience. Let’s recognize two uses of the word ‘science’. First, it is an activity carried out by scientists, with certain raw materials, purpose and methodology. Second, it is the result of this activity: a well-established and well-tested bo
Pseudoscience is use of scientific language to describe blatantly unscientific ideas. The film “Ghostbusters” is an amusing parody of pseudoscience; its characters describe their goofy “ghost science” with all the jargon and clinical detachment of a real science. But while “Ghostbusters” is smart enough to know it’s a comedy, other forms of pseudoscience such as Creationism aren’t. They take themselves very seriously, and they hope you will too. The trick is to draw you so deeply into the minutae of their deception that you forget to step back and look at what they’re selling. In the case of biblical Creationism, they try to sell the idea that the theory of evolution is somehow less scientific than an ancient tribal mythology about the Earth appearing out of nothing in six days (the numerous impossibilities are dismissed because “God doesn’t have to obey the laws of physics”), the universe being only 6000 years old despite observations of galaxies millions of light years away, a pile o
Pseudosciences are practises that masquerade themselves as science but have little or no scientific rigour or cohesion to them. They claim to be factual and scientific, yet do not adhere to scientific methodology and principles; notably the scientific principle of falsifiability. It can be difficult for the non-scientist to discern whether something being claimed as scientific actually is or not. Fortunately pseudoscience has many recognisable features that are distinct from genuine science. These features are outlined below. Whilst not every feature will be common to every form of pseudoscience, any claimed scientific practise that displays at least some of these features is increasingly likely to be pseudoscientific. Features of pseudoscience: • It’s dogmatic. A dogmatic belief or position is one that is deemed, by its proponents, to be accepted authority; and as such, not to be doubted or disputed. Pseudosciences tend to have evolved very little, or not at all, since the dogma was f
