manipulation, cult groups, sects, and new religious movements
thinking study topics - pseudoscience fact sheets
Distinguishing Science and Pseudoscience
The word "pseudo" means fake, and
the surest way to spot a fake is to know as much as possible about the real thing, in this
case science itself. When we speak of knowing science we do not mean simply knowing
scientific facts (e.g., the distance from earth to sun; the age of the earth; the
distinction between mammal and reptile, etc.) We mean that one must know about the nature
of science itselfthe criteria of evidence, the design of meaningful experiments, the
weighing of possibilities, the testing of hypotheses, the establishment of theories, the
many aspects of the methods of science which make it possible to draw accurate, reliable,
meaningful conclusions about the phenomena of the physical universe.
However, the media provide a continuous
bombardment of sheer nonsense, misinformation, fantasy and confusionall proclaimed
to be "true facts." Sifting sense from nonsense is an almost overwhelming job.
It is therefore useful to consider some of
the earmarks of pseudoscience. The substitution of fantasy and nonsense for fact leaves
behind many different clues that almost anyone can readily detect. Below are listed some
of the most common characteristics of pseudoscience. The presence of any one or more
of these symptoms in any material in question marks it conclusively as pseudoscience. On
the other hand, material displaying none of these flaws might still be
pseudosciencethe pseudoscientists are inventing new ways to fool themselves every
day. What we have here is a set of sufficient, rather than necessary, conditions for
- PSEUDOSCIENCE displays a remarkable and
characteristic indifference to fact. Writers tend simply to make up bogus
"facts"what Norman Mailer calls "factoids"where needed,
instead of going to the trouble of consulting reference works of investigating directly.
Yet these fictitious facts are often central to the pseudoscientists argument and
conclusions! This can also be seen in the fact that pseudoscientists never revise.
The first edition of any pseudoscience book is almost always the last, even though the
book may remain in print for decades or centuries. Even a book with obvious mistakes,
errors, and misprints on every page is just reprinted as it is, over and over. Compare
this to science textbooks, which often see a new edition every few years because of the
rapid accumulation of new facts, ideas, and insights in science.
- PSEUDOSCIENCE "research" is almost
invariably exegesis. That is, the pseudoscientist clips newspaper reports, collects
hearsay, reads other pseudoscience books, or pours over ancient religious or mythological
works. The pseudoscientist never or rarely ever makes an independent investigation to
check his sources. They are taken at face value, or else interpreted as
"symbolic," so that the pseudoscientist can use them as a kind of Rorshach
inkblotreading into the myths and old texts anything he wants to find in them.
- PSEUDOSCIENCE begins with a hypothesisusually
one which is appealing emotionally, and spectacularly implausibleand then looks
only for items which appear to support it. Conflicting evidence is ignored. Generally
speaking, the aim of pseudoscience is to rationalize strongly held beliefs, rather than to
investigate and find out whats actually going on, or to test various possibilities.
Pseudoscience specializes in jumping to "congenial conclusions," grinding
ideological axes, appealing to pre-conceived ideas and to widespread misunderstandings.
PSEUDOSCIENCE shows a total indifference
to criteria of valid evidence. The emphasis is not on meaningful, controlled,
repeatable scientific experimentsinstead it is on unverifiable eyewitness testimony,
stories and tall tales, hearsay, rumor, and dubious anecdotes. Genuine scientific
literature is not cited. Generally pseudoscientists never present any valid evidence of
any kind whatsoever for their claims.