Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Pseudoscience

The following can be considered definite pseudoscience, the proponents of which are either uninformed, or just after your money. These are not all the fields considered to be pseudoscience, just those that I consider the most prevalent in society and have had extensive study done on them or fail at making any predictions whatsoever(look at my first blog entry)

  • Homeopathy- The belief that in heavy dilutions "like cures like" for instance it asserts that since caffeine causes insomnia, that in heavy dilutions it should CURE insomnia( A cup of coffee is a dilution of caffeine is it not?). It has had a lot of study done to assess its effectiveness and the overwhelming consensus is that it has no effect stronger than the placebo. 
  • Chiropractic - This has a broad philosophical background that varies by practitioner but it focuses on spinal manipulation, and that the body has a natural energy that heals itself and this energy must be nurtured by whatever the practitioner suggests. Shown to be ineffective as well.

  •  Fortune telling - This ranges from Tarot cards, to palm reading, to numerology, crystal balls, even just hotline psychics....quite literally hundreds of  techniques. Quite confidently a bunch of hokum!
  • Seance - Various ways of communicating with dead spirits. Think John Edwards etc. All use psychological techniques to give the impression however false. Watch Derren Brown do exactly the same(he admits he is a fraud, quite a brilliant fraud)
  •  Astrology - The belief that personal traits and fortunes can be predicted or are determined by astrological zodiacs. Probably the most common. Relevance is achieved by making vague and ambiguous predictions that can be easily perceived to be true( no matter which zodiac!) 
  • Intelligent Design- Can't be considered science as it is completely untestable(see 1st blog post)
  • Any health product or technique purported to work by using the natural energies of your body be it electrical, magnetic or spiritual. All hokum! 


I hope this post get a few of you thinking, if you have questions, don't be afraid to ask!

34 comments:

  1. Too many big words....*head explodes*

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hummm I've never believed in any of those to begin with but you make some valid points, great blog!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ahahahah those power bracelets are all that comes to my mind

    ReplyDelete
  4. ah, i see a fellow-minded person here :)
    please continue bashing pseudoscience! love it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. haha John Edwards. Reminds me of the South Park episode where he wins biggest douche bag in the universe

    ReplyDelete
  6. How bout acupuncture? It works but the explanations for it is complete pseudoscience.

    ReplyDelete
  7. power bracelets, wow.
    I guess you can really sell everything with the right marketing :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. "How bout acupuncture? It works but the explanations for it is complete pseudoscience."

    I think accupunture falls under the last bullet. It apparently has some effect on pain treatment, but its not going to help you stop smoking.

    ReplyDelete
  9. hmm interesting. i've never heard these called "pseudosciences" before

    ReplyDelete
  10. yeah the power bracelets were a pretty big hit for something so psychological.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey you've got a pretty good blog too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I didn't know most of these were considered science! XD

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice blog, interesting topics and what not too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very interesting read. Keep up the good work

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very good stuff, I agree on all of these too. Fun read.

    ReplyDelete
  16. i like the pseudoscience of a metaphysical world. where does that fall under?

    ReplyDelete
  17. By metaphysical I assume you mean paraspsychological?(metaphysics is a branch of philosophy)

    Seance - Communication with deceased(ghost included)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I agree completely, but it is a fine line between realism and pessimism

    ReplyDelete
  19. Coulda sworn there was some science behind Chiropractic work but the rest i agree with.

    ReplyDelete
  20. You should check out the show Fringe, it deals with this stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I see where are on the same wave length, just yourself another follower :) look forward to hearing more from your blog

    ReplyDelete
  22. Seance would be really great, if this is working

    ReplyDelete
  23. Certainly we have to be careful with pseudosciences, they are all over the place. Cool, might write an entry about this someday

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow this was a good read.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Yeah, was also under the influence that chiropractors followed a legit science, but eh. Interesting read regardless!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Yes homeopathy realy doesn't work. My mom totaly believes in it so I'm stuck with losy not working medicine.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Cool blog man some interesting points you bring up

    ReplyDelete
  28. Great blog, very insightful. New follower.

    http://gnarlyweather.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  29. I've done a lot of research on theology, esoteric study, demonology, and pseudo-science in general out of general interest. Very interesting topics, but yes, absolutely scientifically unsound and unproven.

    ReplyDelete