Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience

Author: Allison B. Kaufman

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-03-12

Total Pages: 537

ISBN-13: 0262537044

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Case studies, personal accounts, and analysis show how to recognize and combat pseudoscience in a post-truth world. In a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opinions are more widely disseminated than scientific findings, and self-proclaimed experts get their expertise from Google, how can the average person distinguish real science from fake? This book examines pseudoscience from a variety of perspectives, through case studies, analysis, and personal accounts that show how to recognize pseudoscience, why it is so widely accepted, and how to advocate for real science. Contributors examine the basics of pseudoscience, including issues of cognitive bias; the costs of pseudoscience, with accounts of naturopathy and logical fallacies in the anti-vaccination movement; perceptions of scientific soundness; the mainstream presence of “integrative medicine,” hypnosis, and parapsychology; and the use of case studies and new media in science advocacy. Contributors David Ball, Paul Joseph Barnett, Jeffrey Beall, Mark Benisz, Fernando Blanco, Ron Dumont, Stacy Ellenberg, Kevin M. Folta, Christopher French, Ashwin Gautam, Dennis M. Gorman, David H. Gorski, David K. Hecht, Britt Marie Hermes, Clyde F. Herreid, Jonathan Howard, Seth C. Kalichman, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Arnold Kozak, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emilio Lobato, Steven Lynn, Adam Marcus, Helena Matute, Ivan Oransky, Chad Orzel, Dorit Reiss, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Kavin Senapathy, Dean Keith Simonton, Indre Viskontas, John O. Willis, Corrine Zimmerman


Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal

Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal

Author: Jonathan C. Smith

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-09-26

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1444358944

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Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit provides readers with a variety of "reality-checking" tools to analyze extraordinary claims and to determine their validity. Integrates simple yet powerful evaluative tools used by both paranormal believers and skeptics alike Introduces innovations such as a continuum for ranking paranormal claims and evaluating their implications Includes an innovative "Critical Thinker's Toolkit," a systematic approach for performing reality checks on paranormal claims related to astrology, psychics, spiritualism, parapsychology, dream telepathy, mind-over-matter, prayer, life after death, creationism, and more Explores the five alternative hypotheses to consider when confronting a paranormal claim“/li> Reality Check boxes, integrated into the text, invite students to engage in further discussion and examination of claims Written in a lively, engaging style for students and general readers alike Ancillaries: Testbank and PowerPoint slides available at www.wiley.com/go/pseudoscience


Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience

Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience

Author: Caleb W. Lack, PhD

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

Published: 2016-03-08

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0826194265

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This unique text for undergraduate courses teaches students to apply critical thinking skills across all academic disciplines by examining popular pseudoscientific claims through a multidisciplinary lens. Rather than merely focusing on critical thinking grounded in philosophy and psychology, the text incorporates the perspectives of biology, physics, medicine, and other disciplines to reinforce different categories of rational explanation. The book is also distinguished by its respectful approach to individuals whose ideas are, according to the authors, deeply flawed. Accessible and engaging, it describes what critical thinking is, why it is important, and how to learn and apply skillsóusing scientific methods--that promote it. The text also examines why critical thinking can be difficult to engage in and explores the psychological and social reasons why people are drawn to and find credence in extraordinary claims. From alien abductions and psychic phenomena to strange creatures and unsupported alternative medical treatments, the text uses examples from a wide range of pseudoscience fields and brings evidence from diverse disciplines to critically examine these erroneous claims. Particularly timely is the text's examination of how, using the narrative of today's "culture wars," religion and culture impact science. The authors focus on how the human brain, rife with natural biases, does not process information in a rational fashion, and the social factors that prevent individuals from gaining an unbiased, critical perspective on information. Authored by a psychologist and a philosopher who have extensive experience teaching and writing on critical thinking and skeptical inquiry, this work will help students to strengthen their skills in reasoning and debate, become intelligent consumers of research, and make well-informed choices as citizens. Key Features: Addresses the foundations of critical thinking and how to apply it through the popular activity of examining pseudoscience Explains why humans are vulnerable to pseudoscientific claims and how critical thinking can overcome fallacies and biases Reinforces critical thinking through multidisciplinary analyses of pseudoscience Examines how religion and culture impact science Enlightens using an engaging, entertaining approach Written by experienced and innovative scholar/educators well known in the skeptic community Features teaching resources including an Instructor's Guide and Powepoint slides


Philosophy of Pseudoscience

Philosophy of Pseudoscience

Author: Massimo Pigliucci

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2013-08-16

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 022605182X

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“A remarkable contribution to one of the most vexing problems in science: the ‘demarcation’ problem, or how to distinguish science from nonscience.” —Francisco J. Ayala, author of Darwin’s Gift to Science and Religion What sets the practice of rigorously tested, sound science apart from pseudoscience? In this volume, the contributors seek to answer this question, known to philosophers of science as “the demarcation problem.” This issue has a long history in philosophy, stretching as far back as the early twentieth century and the work of Karl Popper. But by the late 1980s, scholars in the field began to treat the demarcation problem as impossible to solve and futile to ponder. However, the essays that Massimo Pigliucci and Maarten Boudry have assembled in this volume make a rousing case for the unequivocal importance of reflecting on the separation between pseudoscience and sound science. Moreover, the demarcation problem is not a purely theoretical dilemma of mere academic interest: it affects parents’ decisions to vaccinate children and governments’ willingness to adopt policies that prevent climate change. Pseudoscience often mimics science, using the superficial language and trappings of actual scientific research to seem more respectable. Even a well-informed public can be taken in by such questionable theories dressed up as science. Pseudoscientific beliefs compete with sound science on the health pages of newspapers for media coverage and in laboratories for research funding. Now more than ever the ability to separate genuine scientific findings from spurious ones is vital, and The Philosophy of Pseudoscience provides ground for philosophers, sociologists, historians, and laypeople to make decisions about what science is or isn’t. “A manual to overcome our natural cognitive biases.” —Corriere della Sera (Italy)


SR - A PSEUDOSCIENCE

SR - A PSEUDOSCIENCE

Author: Si-Xian Liang

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2013-03

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 1479784966

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About the Book The book has an interesting topic that would attract curiosity. To read it only high school mathematics is needed. But physics concepts may be challenging. However, that is not a problem for those keen thinkers who pursue scientific truth with passion. Which giant will you stand by: Einstein or Newton? You would make the right decision after reading. There are 8 Sections in the main part of the book: In Section 1. The primary concepts of space and time are described. The most important concepts are "attached space", "overlapping space" and "identity of universe instant". GT (Galilean Transformation) is a natural product from the primary concepts of space and time and there is no room left for LT (Lorentz Transformation). In Section 2. Under Einstein's Postulate of "absolute velocity of light", LT is formally deduced. In searching the light wavefront sphere the missing light source system is found to be a normal Galilean system that would lead a group of Lorentz systems by determining their space and time through LT. That means LT totally relies on light source system. In Section 3. Using light source system as a stepping stone Lorentz system can be explored. It has been found that Lorentz space dilating outwards from its central plane while the systemic part of Lorentz time contracting toward the initial instant. However, the Transformation Principle of "identical spatial spot at identical instant" forbids these strange things happening, so that no way for LT to gain "real meaning". In Section 4. The Assertion of "moving rod contracts and moving clock slower" and other paradoxes, as well as the relativistic mechanics, have been discussed and analyzed. It is ascertained that all are the product from a serious conceptual error of "applying LT wrongly on second party body". In Section 5. It is recognized that, causing the so-called relativity of simultaneity, the local-time part of Lorentz time varies along the î-axis in Lorentz space at a universe instant t but, once preset at initial instant, would never change. That is a shocking finding that the Lorentz local-time actually is a false time of no flux, and hence the whole Lorentz time with a false part becomes untrustworthy. The consequence cannot be more serious. The whole building of SR would collapse immediately as a fundamental stone has to be withdrawn. In Section 6. The famous M-M Experiment has been re-interpreted carefully. After clarifying all historical mistakes involving the false concept of ether, the M-M Experiment is ascertained that, apart from negating the existence of ether, it confirms the concept of light source Galilean system but has no any support for SR. In section 7. The Doppler Effect of sound is introduced first for the sake of contrasting. Then light's Doppler Effect is profoundly analyzed. Comes out a conclusion that Doppler Effect and SR's Postulate are bound to be mutually exclusionary. It is another shocking finding that there would be no Doppler Effect for light if SR' Postulate is true, but if light really has Doppler Effect then SR's Postulate must be wrong. The existence of Doppler Effect in astronomy is unarguable evidence denying the Postulate and SR. In section 8. With so many fatal problems, SR has to be justified as a pseudoscience. In tracking Einstein's path to SR, it is discovered that he proposed the Postulate without reasonable logic in first. No wonder SR would end in a verdict of a pseudoscience.


Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology, First Edition

Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology, First Edition

Author: Scott O. Lilienfeld

Publisher: Guilford Press

Published: 2012-12-18

Total Pages: 498

ISBN-13: 1462509029

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This is the first major text designed to help professionals and students evaluate the merits of popular yet controversial practices in clinical psychology, differentiating those that can stand up to the rigors of science from those that cannot. Leading researchers review widely used therapies for alcoholism, infantile autism, ADHD, and posttraumatic stress disorder; herbal remedies for depression and anxiety; suggestive techniques for memory recovery; and self-help models. Other topics covered include issues surrounding psychological expert testimony, the uses of projective assessment techniques, and unanswered questions about dissociative identity disorder. Providing knowledge to guide truly accountable mental health practice, the volume also imparts critical skills for designing and evaluating psychological research programs. It is ideal for use in advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in clinical psychology, psychotherapy, and evidence-based practice.


How to Talk to a Science Denier

How to Talk to a Science Denier

Author: Lee McIntyre

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2021-08-17

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 0262366711

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Can we change the minds of science deniers? Encounters with flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, coronavirus truthers, and others. "Climate change is a hoax--and so is coronavirus." "Vaccines are bad for you." These days, many of our fellow citizens reject scientific expertise and prefer ideology to facts. They are not merely uninformed--they are misinformed. They cite cherry-picked evidence, rely on fake experts, and believe conspiracy theories. How can we convince such people otherwise? How can we get them to change their minds and accept the facts when they don't believe in facts? In this book, Lee McIntyre shows that anyone can fight back against science deniers, and argues that it's important to do so. Science denial can kill. Drawing on his own experience--including a visit to a Flat Earth convention--as well as academic research, McIntyre outlines the common themes of science denialism, present in misinformation campaigns ranging from tobacco companies' denial in the 1950s that smoking causes lung cancer to today's anti-vaxxers. He describes attempts to use his persuasive powers as a philosopher to convert Flat Earthers; surprising discussions with coal miners; and conversations with a scientist friend about genetically modified organisms in food. McIntyre offers tools and techniques for communicating the truth and values of science, emphasizing that the most important way to reach science deniers is to talk to them calmly and respectfully--to put ourselves out there, and meet them face to face.


Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology, Second Edition

Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology, Second Edition

Author: Scott O. Lilienfeld

Publisher: Guilford Publications

Published: 2014-10-13

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13: 1462517897

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This valued resource helps practitioners and students evaluate the merits of popular yet controversial practices in clinical psychology and allied fields, and base treatment decisions on the best available research. Leading authorities review widely used therapies for a range of child, adolescent, and adult disorders, differentiating between those that can stand up to the rigors of science and those that cannot. Questionable assessment and diagnostic techniques and self-help models are also examined. The volume provides essential skills for thinking critically as a practitioner, evaluating the validity of scientific claims, and steering clear of treatments that are ineffective or even harmful. New to This Edition *Reflects the significant growth of evidence-based practices in the last decade. *Updated throughout with the latest treatment research. *Chapter on attachment therapy. *Chapter on controversial interventions for child and adolescent antisocial behavior. *Addresses changes in DSM-5.


On the Fringe

On the Fringe

Author: Michael D. Gordin

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 0197555764

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"Pseudoscience is not a real thing. The term is a negative category, always ascribed to somebody else's beliefs, not to characterize a doctrine one holds dear oneself. People who espouse fringe ideas never think of themselves as "pseudoscientists"; they think they are following the correct scientific doctrine, even if it is not mainstream. In that sense, there is no such thing as pseudoscience, just disagreements about what the right science is. This is a familiar phenomenon. No believer ever thinks she is a "heretic," for example, or an artist that he produces "bad art." Those are attacks presented by opponents. Yet pseudoscience is also real. The term of abuse is used quite frequently, sometimes even about ideas that are at the core of the scientific mainstream, and those labels have consequences. If the reputation of "pseudoscience" solidifies, then it is very hard for a doctrine to shed the bad reputation. The outcome is plenty of scorn and no legitimacy (or funding) to investigate one's theories. In this, "pseudoscience" is a lot like "heresy": if the label sticks, persecution follows"--


Science, Pseudo-Science and Society

Science, Pseudo-Science and Society

Author: Marsha Hanen

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 0889207933

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This volume collects the papers presented at a conference on “Science, Pseudo–science and Society,” sponsored by the Calgary Institute for the Humanities and held at the University of Calgary, May 10–12, 1979. More than many such collections, this one preserves some trace of the intellectual excitement which surrounded this gathering of scholars. A primary inspiration for the symposium on “Science, Pseudoscience, and Society” was a growing awareness of the crucial role the study of pseudo–science plays in the areas of contemporary scholarship which are concerned with the nature of science and its relationship to broader social issues. This volume is organized around three major questions concerning the relationships among science, pseudo–science, and society. The papers in the first section address the question of whether it is possible to draw a sharp demarcation between science and pseudo–science and what the criteria of that demarcation might be. The papers in the second section, recognizing the historical importance of various of the pseudo–sciences, consider their impact—positive or negative—on the development of the sciences themselves. The papers in the third section deal with the question of the relationship between the sciences and pseudo–sciences, on the one hand, and social factors on the other.