Difference between revisions of "Pseudoscience"

From Psiram
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Translated from german)
 
m (otherlang +fr)
 
(9 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[image:pseudoscience2.jpg|400px|thumb]]
 
[[image:pseudoscience2.jpg|400px|thumb]]
'''Pseudoscience''' are theories, beliefs and claims which are presented as scientific but do not adhere to the strict standards of science. They are usually not supported by evidence, not sufficiently tested or even implausible. Scientific terms are often misused or used in a confusing way to resemble real science. Pseudoscientific claims are often not falsifiable and expressed in unclear terms, with the intend to make them difficult to disprove.
+
'''Pseudoscience''' are theories, beliefs, and claims which are given a semblance to science but do not adhere to the strict standards of science. Pseudosciene will more often than not immunise itself against falsification by applying terms they do not properly define and by refusing to commit themselves to falsifiable predictions.
  
The term "pseudoscience" has been in use since the 18th century and one of the first recorded uses of the word "pseudo-science" was in 1844 in the Northern Journal of Medicine, I 387: "That opposite kind of innovation which pronounces what has been recognized as a branch of science, to have been a pseudo-science, composed merely of so-called facts, connected together by misapprehensions under the disguise of principles". Current definitions are more or less based on the works of Thomas Huxley and Karl Popper. Popper proposed falsifiability as an important criterion in distinguishing science from pseudoscience<ref>[http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/CE5/S&PS.html T. H. Huxley: Science and Pseudo-Science]</ref><ref>„Incidentally, the philosopher Karl Popper coined the term, ‘pseudo-science’. The examples he gave were (Western) astrology and homeopathy, the medical system developed in Germany.“ V. V. S. Sarma: Natural calamities and pseudoscientific menace. Current Science 90:2 (25. Januar 2006); „The notion of pseudoscience, as coined by philosopher Karl Popper is discussed in the context of its application to library science and its implications for selection.“ Graham Howard: Pseudo Science and Selection. Collection Management 29:2 (24. Mai 2005)</ref>
+
The term "pseudoscience" has been in use since the 18th century and one of the first recorded uses of the word "pseudo-science" was in 1844 in the Northern Journal of Medicine, I 387: "That opposite kind of innovation which pronounces what has been recognized as a branch of science, to have been a pseudo-science, composed merely of so-called facts, connected together by misapprehensions under the disguise of principles". The current definition is more or less based on the works of Thomas Huxley and Karl Popper. Popper proposed falsifiability as an important criterion in distinguishing science from pseudoscience<ref>[http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/CE5/S&PS.html T. H. Huxley: Science and Pseudo-Science]</ref><ref>„Incidentally, the philosopher Karl Popper coined the term, ‘pseudo-science’. The examples he gave were (Western) astrology and homeopathy, the medical system developed in Germany.“ V. V. S. Sarma: Natural calamities and pseudoscientific menace. Current Science 90:2 (25. Januar 2006); „The notion of pseudoscience, as coined by philosopher Karl Popper is discussed in the context of its application to library science and its implications for selection.“ Graham Howard: Pseudo Science and Selection. Collection Management 29:2 (24. Mai 2005)</ref>
  
 
==Overview==
 
==Overview==
There are several categories that distinguish science and pseudoscience. Basically, if a scientific claim does not meet scientific norms it can be classified as pseudoscience. To distinguish between bad or deceptive research in science and pseudoscience is often difficult. One difference is that pseudoscientific claims are often in conflict with current scientific knowledge and created specifically to support some model of thinking, while bad science tries to fit into the current model of science. Scientific jokes and fraud in science are not considered to be pesudoscience.
+
There is a multitude of criteria which distinguish science from pseudoscience. Generally speaking any aberrance from the basis of scientific approach may be an indication of pseudoscience. Distinguishing between bad or deceptive research within science on the one hand and pseudoscience on the other, however, may often be problematic. Pseudoscience is most often characterized by being especially designed to support a certain prefabricated construct of ideas. Furthermore, pseudoscientific results will be in contradiction of empiric scientific theories, while cases of fraud within established science will predominantly attempt to incorporate "results" into existing theories. Scientific jokes and fraud may not be considered as pseudoscience.
  
Pseudoscientists often use "experiments" to prove their claims, but manipulate the selection or the results to "show" that their claims are valid.<ref>http://www.xy44.de/belladonna/ Gerhard Bruhn, Erhard Wielandt, Klaus Keck: Pseudowissenschaften an der Universität Leipzig</ref> Often an "inverted [[Occam's Razor]]" comes to play: A complex and/or absurd theorie is preferred to a simple explanation. Also, pseudoscience never changes and updates its views when new evidence is found. If it can be fitted into the theory, the evidence is embraced and used. If it does not fit, evidence is ignored, dismissed or claimed to be bogus.
+
The construct of a particular pseudoscience often bases on one person whose authority must not be doubted. The original statements of its initiator will be presented in dogmatic ways, and both theoretic approaches of explanation and possible series of experiments will always be interpreted in accordance with the original dogma.
 +
 
 +
Pseudoscience often uses "experiments" and takes random data from the statistical noise which support fake desired effects by handy selection and manipulation.<ref>http://www.xy44.de/belladonna/ Gerhard Bruhn, Erhard Wielandt, Klaus Keck: Pseudowissenschaften an der Universität Leipzig</ref> Often an "[[Inverted Occam's Razor]]" will be applied: Complex or absurd theories are preferred over approaches with an economical application of hypotheses. One of the characteristics of pseudoscience is that it does not recognize any method of detecting mistakes of its studies or conclusions, let alone correct them in the first place.
 +
 
 +
Many esoterics tend to look for a substitute of or complement to science and thus eventually appear to be fighting science.
  
 
==Typical Characteristics==
 
==Typical Characteristics==
* Claims that are not supported by evidence. These claims often stand in conflict with current experimental data or to mathematical theories and sometimes even contradict common sense.
+
* Claims which will not be substantiated by experiment or are not deductible mathmatically: Often, such claims will be in contradiction to experiments, mathmatic theories, and very often also to so-called common sense.
* Based on sources that cannot be validated
+
* will quote sources which cannot be reproduced and therefore cannot be validated
* Based on experiments that cannot be reproduced (or if, lead to different results)
+
* will be based on experiments which cannot be reproduced (or yield different results)
* Contradicting [[Occam's Razor]]
+
* will be contradictory to [[Occam's Razor]]
* Systematically ignore evidence or only select fitting evidence
+
* will systematically suppress evidence or select evidence and observations particularly convenient.
  
 
==The seven sins of pseudoscience==
 
==The seven sins of pseudoscience==
Several science theoreticians have compiled lists of the sins that distinguish pseudoscience from real science. This includes lists by Langmuir ([1953] 1989), Gruenberger (1964), Dutch (1982), Bunge (1982), Radner and Radner (1982), Kitcher (1982, 30–54), Hansson (1983), Grove (1985), Thagard (1988), Glymour and Stalker (1990), Derkson (1993, 2001), Vollmer (1993), Ruse (1996, 300–306) and Mahner (2007)<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/ Science and Pseudo-Science], Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref><ref>Deerksen A.A: ''The seven sins of pseudo-science'', Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Volume 24, Number 1 / März 1993</ref>. These are usually:
+
Several science theoreticians have compiled lists of the sins distinguishing pseudoscience from real science. This includes lists by Langmuir ([1953] 1989), Gruenberger (1964), Dutch (1982), Bunge (1982), Radner and Radner (1982), Kitcher (1982, 30–54), Hansson (1983), Grove (1985), Thagard (1988), Glymour and Stalker (1990), Derkson (1993, 2001), Vollmer (1993), Ruse (1996, 300–306) and Mahner (2007)<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/ Science and Pseudo-Science], Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref><ref>Deerksen A.A: ''The seven sins of pseudo-science'', Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Volume 24, Number 1 / März 1993</ref>. These are usually:
  
#Belief in authority: It is contended that some person or persons have a special ability to determine what is true or false. Others have to accept their judgments.
+
#Belief in authority: It is contended that some person or persons have a superior comprehension and thus their statement is to be accepted.
#Nonrepeatable experiments: Reliance is put on experiments that cannot be repeated by others with the same outcome.
+
#Irreproducible experiments: Reliance is put on experiments which cannot be repeated by others with the same result.
#Handpicked examples: Handpicked examples are used although they are not representative of the general category that the investigation refers to.
+
#Handpicked examples: Handpicked examples are used although they are not representative of the general category the investigation refers to.
 
#Unwillingness to test: A theory is not tested although it is possible to test it.
 
#Unwillingness to test: A theory is not tested although it is possible to test it.
#Disregard of refuting information: Observations or experiments that conflict with a theory are neglected.
+
#Unfounded immunisation: critical arguments will be dismissed, while arguments supporting one's own conceptions will be cultivated systematically.
#Built-in subterfuge: The testing of a theory is so arranged that the theory can only be confirmed, never disconfirmed, by the outcome.
+
#Embedded deception: Testing of a theory is arranged in such ways that a theory may only be confirmed by results, but never falsified.
#Explanations are abandoned without replacement. Tenable explanations are given up without being replaced, so that the new theory leaves much more unexplained than the previous one. (Hansson 1983)
+
#Explanations are removed without replacement. Tenable explanations are eliminated so that the new theory explains less than the previous one. (Hansson 1983)
  
 
<!-- Skipped parascience, seems to be even less used in english than in german -->
 
<!-- Skipped parascience, seems to be even less used in english than in german -->
  
==Quotese==
+
==Quotes==
 
*''In science, the burden of proof falls upon the claimant; and the more extraordinary a claim, the heavier is the burden of proof demanded. The true skeptic takes an agnostic position, one that says the claim is not proved rather than disproved. He asserts that the claimant has not borne the burden of proof and that science must continue to build its cognitive map of reality without incorporating the extraordinary claim as a new "fact." Since the true skeptic does not assert a claim, he has no burden to prove anything. He just goes on using the established theories of "conventional science" as usual. But if a critic asserts that there is evidence for disproof, that he has a negative hypothesis --saying, for instance, that a seeming psi result was actually due to an artifact--he is making a claim and therefore also has to bear a burden of proof [...]''<ref>Marcello Truzzi, On Pseudo-Skepticism</ref>
 
*''In science, the burden of proof falls upon the claimant; and the more extraordinary a claim, the heavier is the burden of proof demanded. The true skeptic takes an agnostic position, one that says the claim is not proved rather than disproved. He asserts that the claimant has not borne the burden of proof and that science must continue to build its cognitive map of reality without incorporating the extraordinary claim as a new "fact." Since the true skeptic does not assert a claim, he has no burden to prove anything. He just goes on using the established theories of "conventional science" as usual. But if a critic asserts that there is evidence for disproof, that he has a negative hypothesis --saying, for instance, that a seeming psi result was actually due to an artifact--he is making a claim and therefore also has to bear a burden of proof [...]''<ref>Marcello Truzzi, On Pseudo-Skepticism</ref>
  
==Literature==
+
{{OtherLang|ge=Pseudowissenschaft|en=Pseudoscience|fr=Pseudo-science}}
<!-- ToDo: Replace german literature
+
 
*G. Bakker, L. Clark: Explanation. An introduction to the philosophy of science. Mountain View (Ca.): Mayfield 1988
+
==Literatur==
*Hans-Peter Beck-Bornholdt, Hans-Hermann Dubben (1997): Der Hund, der Eier legt - Erkennen von Fehlinformationen durch Querdenken, Reinbek
+
German: <!-- Anmerkung: Einige Bücher sind im DE und EN Teil vorhanden. Das ist Absicht -->
 +
*Alan Sokal, Jean Bricmont (1999): Eleganter Unsinn. Wie die Denker der Postmoderne die Wissenschaften missbrauchen, Muenchen
 +
*Alexander K. Dewdney (1998): Alles fauler Zauber? IQ-Tests, Psychoanalyse und andere umstrittene Theorien, Basel
 +
*Andreas Hergovich (2001): Der Glaube an Psi - Die Psychologie paranormaler Überzeugungen. Bern
 +
*Ben Goldacre: Die Wissenschaftslüge: Wie uns Pseudo-Wissenschaftler das Leben schwer machen. Fischer Frankfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3596185108
 +
*Bernd Harder: Geister, Gothics, Gabelbieger. 66 Antworten auf Fragwürdiges aus Esoterik und Okkultismus. Aschaffenburg: Alibri 2005
 +
*Carl Sagan: Der Drache in meiner Garage. Oder: Die Kunst der Wissenschaft, Unsinn zu entlarven. München: Droemer Knaur 1997
 
*Christoph Bördlein (2002): Das sockenfressende Monster in der Waschmaschine - Eine Einfuehrung in das skeptische Denken, Aschaffenburg
 
*Christoph Bördlein (2002): Das sockenfressende Monster in der Waschmaschine - Eine Einfuehrung in das skeptische Denken, Aschaffenburg
*Mario Bunge: Scientific research. New York: Springer 1967, vol. I, 36-44
+
*Colin Goldner (2000): Die Psycho-Szene
*Anton Derksen: The seven sins of pseudoscience. Journal for General Philosophy of Science 24 (1993) 17-42
+
*Douglas R. Hofstadter: Wissenschaft und Aberglaube: ein Kampf zwischen David und Goliath. Spektrum der Wissenschaft April 1982, 8-13
*Alexander K. Dewdney (1998): Alles fauler Zauber? IQ-Tests, Psychoanalyse und andere umstrittene Theorien, Basel
 
 
*Gerald L. Eberlein (Hrsg.): Schulwissenschaft – Parawissenschaft – Pseudowissenschaft. Stuttgart: Hirzel 1991
 
*Gerald L. Eberlein (Hrsg.): Schulwissenschaft – Parawissenschaft – Pseudowissenschaft. Stuttgart: Hirzel 1991
*M. Ecker: Kritisch argumentieren. Aschaffenburg: Alibri 2006
+
*Gerhard Vollmer: Wozu Pseudowissenschaften gut sind. Argumente aus Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftspraxis. Universitas 47 (Feb. 1992) 155-168
*Kenneth L. Feder: Frauds, Myth, and Mysteries - Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, 2001
+
*Gerhardt Vollmer (1993): Wissenschaftstheorie im Einsatz - Beitraege zu einer selbstkritischen Wissenschaftsphilosophie, Stuttgart
*Martin Gardner (1957): Fads &; Fallacies - In the Name of Science, New York
+
*Gero von Randow (Hrsg.): Der Fremdling im Glas und weitere Anlaesse zur Skepsis, entdeckt im ''Skeptical Inquirer'', Rowohlt, Reinbek, 1996
*Ben Goldacre: Die Wissenschaftslüge: Wie uns Pseudo-Wissenschaftler das Leben schwer machen. Fischer, Frankfurt, 2010
+
*Gero von Randow: Mein paranormales Fahrrad – und andere Anlässe zur Skepsis, entdeckt im ''Skeptical Inquirer''. Rowohlt (rororo), Reinbek, 1993
*Colin Goldner (2000): Die Psycho-Szene
+
*Hans-Peter Beck-Bornholdt, Hans-Hermann Dubben (1997): Der Hund, der Eier legt - Erkennen von Fehlinformationen durch Querdenken, Reinbek
*Patrick Grim (ed.): Philosophy of science and the occult. Albany: State University of New York Press 1982, 1990
 
*Bernd Harder: Geister, Gothics, Gabelbieger. 66 Antworten auf Fragwürdiges aus Esoterik und Okkultismus. Aschaffenburg: Alibri 2005
 
*Wolfgang Hell, Klaus Fiedler, Gerd Gigerenzer (Hrsg.) (1993): Kognitive Taeuschungen - Fehl-Leistungen und Mechanismen des Urteilens, Denkens und Erinnerns, Heidelberg
 
 
*Hansjoerg Hemminger, Bernd Harder (2000): Was ist Aberglaube? Bedeutung, Erscheinungsformen, Beratungshilfen, Gütersloh
 
*Hansjoerg Hemminger, Bernd Harder (2000): Was ist Aberglaube? Bedeutung, Erscheinungsformen, Beratungshilfen, Gütersloh
*Andreas Hergovich (2001): Der Glaube an Psi - Die Psychologie paranormaler Überzeugungen. Bern
 
*Joachim Herrmann: Das falsche Weltbild. Astronomie und Aberglaube. Stuttgart: Franckh 1962; dtv 958, 1973
 
*Terence Hines: Pseudoscience and the paranormal. A critical examination of the evidence. Buffalo: Prometheus
 
*Douglas R. Hofstadter: Wissenschaft und Aberglaube: ein Kampf zwischen David und Goliath. Spektrum der Wissenschaft April 1982, 8-13
 
*Wolfgang Hund (2000): Falsche Geister - echte Schwindler? Esoterik und Okkultismus kritisch hinterfragt, Wuerzburg
 
 
*Ingo Kugenbuch: Warum sich der Löffel biegt und die Madonna weint - Übersinnliche Phänomene und ihre irdischen Erklärungen. Humboldt Verlag August 2008
 
*Ingo Kugenbuch: Warum sich der Löffel biegt und die Madonna weint - Übersinnliche Phänomene und ihre irdischen Erklärungen. Humboldt Verlag August 2008
*Paul Kurtz (1992): The New Skepticism: Inquiry and Reliable Knowledge
 
*Paul Kurtz (2001): Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Investigation
 
*Imre Lakatos: Science and pseudoscience. Conceptus 8, Nr. 24 (1974) 5-9
 
*A. Lugg: Bunkum, flim-flam and quackery: pseudoscience as a philosophical problem. Dialectica 41 (1987) 221-230
 
 
*Irmgard Oepen, Amardeo Sarma (Hrsg.) (1995): Parawissenschaften unter der Lupe, Muenster
 
*Irmgard Oepen, Amardeo Sarma (Hrsg.) (1995): Parawissenschaften unter der Lupe, Muenster
 
*Irmgard Oepen, Krista Federspiel, Amardeo Sarma (Hrsg.) (1999): Lexikon der Parawissenschaften - Astrologie, Esoterik, Okkultismus, Paramedizin, Parapsychologie kritisch betrachtet, Muenster
 
*Irmgard Oepen, Krista Federspiel, Amardeo Sarma (Hrsg.) (1999): Lexikon der Parawissenschaften - Astrologie, Esoterik, Okkultismus, Paramedizin, Parapsychologie kritisch betrachtet, Muenster
*Philip Plait: Bad Astronomy - Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax", New York 2002
+
*James Randi (2001): Lexikon der Übersinnlichen Phänomene - Die Wahrheit über die paranormale Welt, Muenchen
 +
*Joachim Herrmann: Das falsche Weltbild. Astronomie und Aberglaube. Stuttgart: Franckh 1962; dtv 958, 1973
 +
*M. Ecker: Kritisch argumentieren. Aschaffenburg: Alibri 2006
 +
*Marcello Truzzi: Überlegungen zur Kontroverse um Wissenschaft und Pseudowissenschaft. In: H.P. Duerr (Hrsg.): Der Wissenschaftler und das Irrationale. Frankfurt: Syndikat 1985, Band IV, 48-63
 
*Markus Poessel (2000): Phantastische Wissenschaften - über Erich von Daeniken und Johannes von Buttlar, Reinbek
 
*Markus Poessel (2000): Phantastische Wissenschaften - über Erich von Daeniken und Johannes von Buttlar, Reinbek
 +
*Michael Shermer, Benno Maidhof-Christig, Lee Traynor (1998): Endzeittaumel - Propheten, Prognosen, Propaganda, Aschaffenburg
 
*Otto Prokop, Wolf Wimmer (1987): Der moderne Okkultismus, Stuttgart
 
*Otto Prokop, Wolf Wimmer (1987): Der moderne Okkultismus, Stuttgart
 +
*Stuart A. Vyse (1999): Die Psychologie des Aberglaubens - Schwarze Kater und Maskottchen, Basel
 +
*Time-Life: Irrwege der Wissenschaft. Amsterdam 1993
 +
*Wolfgang Hell, Klaus Fiedler, Gerd Gigerenzer (Hrsg.) (1993): Kognitive Taeuschungen - Fehl-Leistungen und Mechanismen des Urteilens, Denkens und Erinnerns, Heidelberg
 +
*Wolfgang Hund (2000): Falsche Geister - echte Schwindler? Esoterik und Okkultismus kritisch hinterfragt, Wuerzburg
 +
*[[Harald Wiesendanger]]: Zwischen Wissenschaft und Aberglaube. Grenzbereiche psychologischer Forschung. Frankfurt: Fischer-TB 42326, 1989
 +
 +
English:
 +
*A. Lugg: Bunkum, flim-flam and quackery: pseudoscience as a philosophical problem. Dialectica 41 (1987) 221-230
 +
*Anton Derksen: The seven sins of pseudoscience. Journal for General Philosophy of Science 24 (1993) 17-42
 +
*Ben Goldacre: Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks, Faber & Faber Reprint 2010, ISBN 978-0865479180
 +
*Carl Sagan: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Ballantine Books 1997, ISBN 978-0345409461
 +
*G. Bakker, L. Clark: Explanation. An introduction to the philosophy of science. Mountain View (Ca.): Mayfield 1988
 +
*Imre Lakatos: Science and pseudoscience. Conceptus 8, Nr. 24 (1974) 5-9
 +
*James Randi (1995): Flim-Flam - Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and other Delusions, New York
 +
*James Randi: An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, St. Martin's Griffin 1997, ISBN 978-0312151195
 
*James Randi: Flim-Flam! Buffalo: Prometheus 1982
 
*James Randi: Flim-Flam! Buffalo: Prometheus 1982
*James Randi (1995): F lim-Flam - Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and other Delusions, New York
+
*Kenneth L. Feder: Frauds, Myth, and Mysteries - Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, 2001
*James Randi (2001): Lexikon der Übersinnlichen Phänomene - Die Wahrheit über die paranormale Welt, Muenchen
 
 
*M.A. Rothman: A physicist’s guide to skepticism. Applying laws of physics to faster-than-light travel, psychic phenomena, telepathy, time travel, UFO’s, and other pseudoscientific claims. Buffalo: Prometheus 1988
 
*M.A. Rothman: A physicist’s guide to skepticism. Applying laws of physics to faster-than-light travel, psychic phenomena, telepathy, time travel, UFO’s, and other pseudoscientific claims. Buffalo: Prometheus 1988
*Carl Sagan:The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Random House 1995
+
*Mario Bunge: Scientific research. New York: Springer 1967, vol. I, 36-44
 +
*Martin Gardner (1957): Fads &; Fallacies - In the Name of Science, New York
 
*Michael Scriven: The frontiers of psychology: psychoanalysis and parapsychology. In: R.G. Colodny  Frontiers of science and philosophy. Lanham: University Press of America 1983, 79-129
 
*Michael Scriven: The frontiers of psychology: psychoanalysis and parapsychology. In: R.G. Colodny  Frontiers of science and philosophy. Lanham: University Press of America 1983, 79-129
*Michael Shermer, Benno Maidhof-Christig, Lee Traynor (1998): Endzeittaumel - Propheten, Prognosen, Propaganda, Aschaffenburg
+
*Michael Shermer, Pat Linse (2002): The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience
 
*Michael Shermer: (1998): Why people believe in weird things - pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time, New York
 
*Michael Shermer: (1998): Why people believe in weird things - pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time, New York
*Michael Shermer, Pat Linse (2002): The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience
+
*Patrick Grim (ed.): Philosophy of science and the occult. Albany: State University of New York Press 1982, 1990
*Alan Sokal, Jean Bricmont (1999): Eleganter Unsinn. Wie die Denker der Postmoderne die Wissenschaften missbrauchen, Muenchen
+
*Paul Kurtz (1992): The New Skepticism: Inquiry and Reliable Knowledge
 +
*Paul Kurtz (2001): Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Investigation
 +
*Philip Plait: Bad Astronomy - Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax", New York 2002
 +
*Terence Hines: Pseudoscience and the paranormal. A critical examination of the evidence. Buffalo: Prometheus
 
*Theodore Schick Jr., Lewis Vaughn (2004): How to think about weird things - critical thinking for a New Age
 
*Theodore Schick Jr., Lewis Vaughn (2004): How to think about weird things - critical thinking for a New Age
*Time-Life: Irrwege der Wissenschaft. Amsterdam 1993
 
*Marcello Truzzi: Überlegungen zur Kontroverse um Wissenschaft und Pseudowissenschaft. In: H.P. Duerr (Hrsg.): Der Wissenschaftler und das Irrationale. Frankfurt: Syndikat 1985, Band IV, 48-63
 
*Gerhard Vollmer: Wozu Pseudowissenschaften gut sind. Argumente aus Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftspraxis. Universitas 47 (Feb. 1992) 155-168
 
*Gerhardt Vollmer (1993): Wissenschaftstheorie im Einsatz - Beitraege zu einer selbstkritischen Wissenschaftsphilosophie, Stuttgart
 
*Gero von Randow: Mein paranormales Fahrrad – und andere Anlässe zur Skepsis, entdeckt im ''Skeptical Inquirer''. Rowohlt (rororo), Reinbek, 1993
 
*Gero von Randow (Hrsg.): Der Fremdling im Glas und weitere Anlaesse zur Skepsis, entdeckt im ''Skeptical Inquirer'', Rowohlt, Reinbek, 1996
 
*Stuart A. Vyse (1999): Die Psychologie des Aberglaubens - Schwarze Kater und Maskottchen, Basel
 
*[[Harald Wiesendanger]]: Zwischen Wissenschaft und Aberglaube. Grenzbereiche psychologischer Forschung. Frankfurt: Fischer-TB 42326, 1989
 
  
 
==Weblinks==
 
==Weblinks==
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
+
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience Wikipedia about Pseudoscience]
* http://members.fortunecity.com/lange42/pseudo.htm
+
* [http://www.randi.org/site/ Website of James Randi]
* http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/scigen/
+
* [http://www.badscience.net/ Website of Ben Goldacre]
 
+
* [http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/scigen/ SCIgen - An Automatic CS Paper Generator]
==Versions of this article in other languages==
+
* [http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/section.asp?navcode=961 Blog of Edzard Ernst]
*deutsch: [http://www.psiram.com/ge/index.php?title=Pseudowissenschaft Pseudowissenschaft]
+
* http://home.tele2.at/aloisreutterer/wissenschaft.htm  (German)
 +
* http://www.wort-und-wissen.de/index2.php?artikel=sij/sij72/sij72-3.html (German)
 +
* http://members.fortunecity.com/lange42/pseudo.htm (German)
  
 
==Quellennachweise==
 
==Quellennachweise==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 
[[category:Pseudoscience]]
 
[[category:Pseudoscience]]

Latest revision as of 21:46, 27 April 2013

Pseudoscience2.jpg

Pseudoscience are theories, beliefs, and claims which are given a semblance to science but do not adhere to the strict standards of science. Pseudosciene will more often than not immunise itself against falsification by applying terms they do not properly define and by refusing to commit themselves to falsifiable predictions.

The term "pseudoscience" has been in use since the 18th century and one of the first recorded uses of the word "pseudo-science" was in 1844 in the Northern Journal of Medicine, I 387: "That opposite kind of innovation which pronounces what has been recognized as a branch of science, to have been a pseudo-science, composed merely of so-called facts, connected together by misapprehensions under the disguise of principles". The current definition is more or less based on the works of Thomas Huxley and Karl Popper. Popper proposed falsifiability as an important criterion in distinguishing science from pseudoscience[1][2]

Overview

There is a multitude of criteria which distinguish science from pseudoscience. Generally speaking any aberrance from the basis of scientific approach may be an indication of pseudoscience. Distinguishing between bad or deceptive research within science on the one hand and pseudoscience on the other, however, may often be problematic. Pseudoscience is most often characterized by being especially designed to support a certain prefabricated construct of ideas. Furthermore, pseudoscientific results will be in contradiction of empiric scientific theories, while cases of fraud within established science will predominantly attempt to incorporate "results" into existing theories. Scientific jokes and fraud may not be considered as pseudoscience.

The construct of a particular pseudoscience often bases on one person whose authority must not be doubted. The original statements of its initiator will be presented in dogmatic ways, and both theoretic approaches of explanation and possible series of experiments will always be interpreted in accordance with the original dogma.

Pseudoscience often uses "experiments" and takes random data from the statistical noise which support fake desired effects by handy selection and manipulation.[3] Often an "Inverted Occam's Razor" will be applied: Complex or absurd theories are preferred over approaches with an economical application of hypotheses. One of the characteristics of pseudoscience is that it does not recognize any method of detecting mistakes of its studies or conclusions, let alone correct them in the first place.

Many esoterics tend to look for a substitute of or complement to science and thus eventually appear to be fighting science.

Typical Characteristics

  • Claims which will not be substantiated by experiment or are not deductible mathmatically: Often, such claims will be in contradiction to experiments, mathmatic theories, and very often also to so-called common sense.
  • will quote sources which cannot be reproduced and therefore cannot be validated
  • will be based on experiments which cannot be reproduced (or yield different results)
  • will be contradictory to Occam's Razor
  • will systematically suppress evidence or select evidence and observations particularly convenient.

The seven sins of pseudoscience

Several science theoreticians have compiled lists of the sins distinguishing pseudoscience from real science. This includes lists by Langmuir ([1953] 1989), Gruenberger (1964), Dutch (1982), Bunge (1982), Radner and Radner (1982), Kitcher (1982, 30–54), Hansson (1983), Grove (1985), Thagard (1988), Glymour and Stalker (1990), Derkson (1993, 2001), Vollmer (1993), Ruse (1996, 300–306) and Mahner (2007)[4][5]. These are usually:

  1. Belief in authority: It is contended that some person or persons have a superior comprehension and thus their statement is to be accepted.
  2. Irreproducible experiments: Reliance is put on experiments which cannot be repeated by others with the same result.
  3. Handpicked examples: Handpicked examples are used although they are not representative of the general category the investigation refers to.
  4. Unwillingness to test: A theory is not tested although it is possible to test it.
  5. Unfounded immunisation: critical arguments will be dismissed, while arguments supporting one's own conceptions will be cultivated systematically.
  6. Embedded deception: Testing of a theory is arranged in such ways that a theory may only be confirmed by results, but never falsified.
  7. Explanations are removed without replacement. Tenable explanations are eliminated so that the new theory explains less than the previous one. (Hansson 1983)


Quotes

  • In science, the burden of proof falls upon the claimant; and the more extraordinary a claim, the heavier is the burden of proof demanded. The true skeptic takes an agnostic position, one that says the claim is not proved rather than disproved. He asserts that the claimant has not borne the burden of proof and that science must continue to build its cognitive map of reality without incorporating the extraordinary claim as a new "fact." Since the true skeptic does not assert a claim, he has no burden to prove anything. He just goes on using the established theories of "conventional science" as usual. But if a critic asserts that there is evidence for disproof, that he has a negative hypothesis --saying, for instance, that a seeming psi result was actually due to an artifact--he is making a claim and therefore also has to bear a burden of proof [...][6]

Versions of this article in other languages

Literatur

German:

  • Alan Sokal, Jean Bricmont (1999): Eleganter Unsinn. Wie die Denker der Postmoderne die Wissenschaften missbrauchen, Muenchen
  • Alexander K. Dewdney (1998): Alles fauler Zauber? IQ-Tests, Psychoanalyse und andere umstrittene Theorien, Basel
  • Andreas Hergovich (2001): Der Glaube an Psi - Die Psychologie paranormaler Überzeugungen. Bern
  • Ben Goldacre: Die Wissenschaftslüge: Wie uns Pseudo-Wissenschaftler das Leben schwer machen. Fischer Frankfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3596185108
  • Bernd Harder: Geister, Gothics, Gabelbieger. 66 Antworten auf Fragwürdiges aus Esoterik und Okkultismus. Aschaffenburg: Alibri 2005
  • Carl Sagan: Der Drache in meiner Garage. Oder: Die Kunst der Wissenschaft, Unsinn zu entlarven. München: Droemer Knaur 1997
  • Christoph Bördlein (2002): Das sockenfressende Monster in der Waschmaschine - Eine Einfuehrung in das skeptische Denken, Aschaffenburg
  • Colin Goldner (2000): Die Psycho-Szene
  • Douglas R. Hofstadter: Wissenschaft und Aberglaube: ein Kampf zwischen David und Goliath. Spektrum der Wissenschaft April 1982, 8-13
  • Gerald L. Eberlein (Hrsg.): Schulwissenschaft – Parawissenschaft – Pseudowissenschaft. Stuttgart: Hirzel 1991
  • Gerhard Vollmer: Wozu Pseudowissenschaften gut sind. Argumente aus Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftspraxis. Universitas 47 (Feb. 1992) 155-168
  • Gerhardt Vollmer (1993): Wissenschaftstheorie im Einsatz - Beitraege zu einer selbstkritischen Wissenschaftsphilosophie, Stuttgart
  • Gero von Randow (Hrsg.): Der Fremdling im Glas und weitere Anlaesse zur Skepsis, entdeckt im Skeptical Inquirer, Rowohlt, Reinbek, 1996
  • Gero von Randow: Mein paranormales Fahrrad – und andere Anlässe zur Skepsis, entdeckt im Skeptical Inquirer. Rowohlt (rororo), Reinbek, 1993
  • Hans-Peter Beck-Bornholdt, Hans-Hermann Dubben (1997): Der Hund, der Eier legt - Erkennen von Fehlinformationen durch Querdenken, Reinbek
  • Hansjoerg Hemminger, Bernd Harder (2000): Was ist Aberglaube? Bedeutung, Erscheinungsformen, Beratungshilfen, Gütersloh
  • Ingo Kugenbuch: Warum sich der Löffel biegt und die Madonna weint - Übersinnliche Phänomene und ihre irdischen Erklärungen. Humboldt Verlag August 2008
  • Irmgard Oepen, Amardeo Sarma (Hrsg.) (1995): Parawissenschaften unter der Lupe, Muenster
  • Irmgard Oepen, Krista Federspiel, Amardeo Sarma (Hrsg.) (1999): Lexikon der Parawissenschaften - Astrologie, Esoterik, Okkultismus, Paramedizin, Parapsychologie kritisch betrachtet, Muenster
  • James Randi (2001): Lexikon der Übersinnlichen Phänomene - Die Wahrheit über die paranormale Welt, Muenchen
  • Joachim Herrmann: Das falsche Weltbild. Astronomie und Aberglaube. Stuttgart: Franckh 1962; dtv 958, 1973
  • M. Ecker: Kritisch argumentieren. Aschaffenburg: Alibri 2006
  • Marcello Truzzi: Überlegungen zur Kontroverse um Wissenschaft und Pseudowissenschaft. In: H.P. Duerr (Hrsg.): Der Wissenschaftler und das Irrationale. Frankfurt: Syndikat 1985, Band IV, 48-63
  • Markus Poessel (2000): Phantastische Wissenschaften - über Erich von Daeniken und Johannes von Buttlar, Reinbek
  • Michael Shermer, Benno Maidhof-Christig, Lee Traynor (1998): Endzeittaumel - Propheten, Prognosen, Propaganda, Aschaffenburg
  • Otto Prokop, Wolf Wimmer (1987): Der moderne Okkultismus, Stuttgart
  • Stuart A. Vyse (1999): Die Psychologie des Aberglaubens - Schwarze Kater und Maskottchen, Basel
  • Time-Life: Irrwege der Wissenschaft. Amsterdam 1993
  • Wolfgang Hell, Klaus Fiedler, Gerd Gigerenzer (Hrsg.) (1993): Kognitive Taeuschungen - Fehl-Leistungen und Mechanismen des Urteilens, Denkens und Erinnerns, Heidelberg
  • Wolfgang Hund (2000): Falsche Geister - echte Schwindler? Esoterik und Okkultismus kritisch hinterfragt, Wuerzburg
  • Harald Wiesendanger: Zwischen Wissenschaft und Aberglaube. Grenzbereiche psychologischer Forschung. Frankfurt: Fischer-TB 42326, 1989

English:

  • A. Lugg: Bunkum, flim-flam and quackery: pseudoscience as a philosophical problem. Dialectica 41 (1987) 221-230
  • Anton Derksen: The seven sins of pseudoscience. Journal for General Philosophy of Science 24 (1993) 17-42
  • Ben Goldacre: Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks, Faber & Faber Reprint 2010, ISBN 978-0865479180
  • Carl Sagan: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Ballantine Books 1997, ISBN 978-0345409461
  • G. Bakker, L. Clark: Explanation. An introduction to the philosophy of science. Mountain View (Ca.): Mayfield 1988
  • Imre Lakatos: Science and pseudoscience. Conceptus 8, Nr. 24 (1974) 5-9
  • James Randi (1995): Flim-Flam - Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and other Delusions, New York
  • James Randi: An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, St. Martin's Griffin 1997, ISBN 978-0312151195
  • James Randi: Flim-Flam! Buffalo: Prometheus 1982
  • Kenneth L. Feder: Frauds, Myth, and Mysteries - Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, 2001
  • M.A. Rothman: A physicist’s guide to skepticism. Applying laws of physics to faster-than-light travel, psychic phenomena, telepathy, time travel, UFO’s, and other pseudoscientific claims. Buffalo: Prometheus 1988
  • Mario Bunge: Scientific research. New York: Springer 1967, vol. I, 36-44
  • Martin Gardner (1957): Fads &; Fallacies - In the Name of Science, New York
  • Michael Scriven: The frontiers of psychology: psychoanalysis and parapsychology. In: R.G. Colodny Frontiers of science and philosophy. Lanham: University Press of America 1983, 79-129
  • Michael Shermer, Pat Linse (2002): The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience
  • Michael Shermer: (1998): Why people believe in weird things - pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time, New York
  • Patrick Grim (ed.): Philosophy of science and the occult. Albany: State University of New York Press 1982, 1990
  • Paul Kurtz (1992): The New Skepticism: Inquiry and Reliable Knowledge
  • Paul Kurtz (2001): Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Investigation
  • Philip Plait: Bad Astronomy - Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax", New York 2002
  • Terence Hines: Pseudoscience and the paranormal. A critical examination of the evidence. Buffalo: Prometheus
  • Theodore Schick Jr., Lewis Vaughn (2004): How to think about weird things - critical thinking for a New Age

Weblinks

Quellennachweise

  1. T. H. Huxley: Science and Pseudo-Science
  2. „Incidentally, the philosopher Karl Popper coined the term, ‘pseudo-science’. The examples he gave were (Western) astrology and homeopathy, the medical system developed in Germany.“ V. V. S. Sarma: Natural calamities and pseudoscientific menace. Current Science 90:2 (25. Januar 2006); „The notion of pseudoscience, as coined by philosopher Karl Popper is discussed in the context of its application to library science and its implications for selection.“ Graham Howard: Pseudo Science and Selection. Collection Management 29:2 (24. Mai 2005)
  3. http://www.xy44.de/belladonna/ Gerhard Bruhn, Erhard Wielandt, Klaus Keck: Pseudowissenschaften an der Universität Leipzig
  4. Science and Pseudo-Science, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  5. Deerksen A.A: The seven sins of pseudo-science, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Volume 24, Number 1 / März 1993
  6. Marcello Truzzi, On Pseudo-Skepticism