Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:33, 29 April 2006

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projects for improving pseudoscience articles

There are two projects for improving pseudoscience articles:

• Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Pseudoscience
• Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Rational Skepticism

keeping them in the proper balance, according to the NPOV, etc. In particular, here is a proposed format for pseudoscience articles that I think is good: Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Pseudoscience/Green Cheese Model of Lunar Composition. Bubba73 (talk), 14:30, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

This is marvelous. However, it should be noted that these aren't Misplaced Pages policy but rather a group of users deciding policy for themselves. I think "The Green Cheese Model" brings to light something great for striking most of the debated list on Pseudoscience. You see, we landed on the moon... any science that said it was made of green cheese was blown out of the water and rendered pseudoscience for sure. Show me the proof that renders Chiropractic's Vertebral Subluxation as pseudoscience? Well, according to these projects, the burden of proof lies with the adherents. I and other users have pointed to numerous texts, research, documenations and entire websites dedicated to the science of Vertebral Subluxation. We've done our end of the bargain. Why aren't you upholding yours? Currently, VS is listed in both Pseudoscience and Protoscience as prime examples. Well, which one is it? Pseudo or Proto? Or is it just plain science at this point? Given all of the research and all of the scientific evidence, the latter must be true and VS should be struck from the Pseudoscience list. TheDoctorIsIn 16:40, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

I didn't mean to say that the projects were PW policy, but this is: Misplaced Pages:NPOV#Pseudoscience. Bubba73 (talk), 18:40, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Again, the majority of the science does support chiropractic and VS. It is as mainstream as an alternative/complimentary medicine can get. So much so, that it is mainstream. Aside from being one of the most widely used CAM treatments, aside from its popularity with a great deal of the public, aside from it being considered a filed that is growing faster than average by the US gov't labor statistics, aside from it being used by every NBA, MBL, and NFL team, there is the science and research (hundreds of links and articles and projects and reports - all scientific performed by labrotory scientists, PhDs, DC, MDs et cetera) that so many users have pointed to on this and other discussion pages. Calling chiropractic or VS pseudoscience is encyclopaedically false. So why does it still remain here? TheDoctorIsIn 01:57, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

500 faculty members from the Florida State University College of Medicine called it pseudoscience and convinced the university to turn down 9 million dollars a year instead of add a chiropractic school. 500 faculty members, including 2 Noble laureats, and 9 million dollars a year. That's serious evidence that the people who know about medicine don't consider it valid.

Astrology makes millions a year, and has been used by presidents. That doesn't make it right. All the popularity in the world doesn't make something non-psuedoscience. I don't regard myself capable of evaluating the scientific evidence you dump here; I'd rather trust those who are qualified. --Prosfilaes 02:56, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Actually you have been misled with regards to FSU. The faculty rejected the chiropractic school for more political reasons than scientific ones. The school's board of directors were accused of kowtowing to Gov. Jeb Bush and the rejection of chiropractic was more of a demonstration of political solidarity rather than an outright rejection of chiropractic (as many chiro critics have incorrectly cited). Senator Dennis Jones who spearheaded legislative support for the school, said the professors were "overreacting" and he directly fingered anti-chiropractic groups from outside the state of stirring faculty opposition at FSU. A group headed by the former university system chancellor filed a lawsuit against the board, accusing it of failing to flex its constitutionally granted muscle and pointing to the chiropractic school as a prime example. Further, the two noble laureates that you mentioned have little or nothing to do with healthcare. One is a professor of chemistry (who is strongly aligned with pharmaceuticals); the other is a professor of physics. In fact, of the 500 memebers of the faculty that signed the petition, less than 70 were from the actual medical school.

I don't think the FSU argument is very credible in your argument to define chiropractic as pseudoscience. Clearly, it was more about politics than science or medicine. What else do you have? Or are you pigeonholing chiropractic as a pseudoscience solely on the FSU outcome? TheDoctorIsIn 05:46, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Clearly, if the person who started the idea for a chiropratic school for the university says it was political, then it must have been. Ignore what the people signing the petitions said; ignore the fact that 500 members of the faculty would be unlikely to agree on any political purpose. But it's very important that you dismiss someone by saying that they are "strongly aligned with pharmaceuticals"; that must mean they're a brainwashed idiot.--Prosfilaes 12:52, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Please try to stay rational. I was merely pointing out the facts. The petition was less about chiropractic as a discipline and more about "sticking it" to the board for allowing Jeb Bush and some state senators to shove them around. Therefore, I don't think that this is a good basis for you or anyone else to use to call chiropractic pseudoscience. So, if not this, what other basis are you using to label chiropractic as pseudoscience? Surely, someone with you convictions has other reasons. I just want a chance to read them. TheDoctorIsIn 17:07, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Sticking it to the board because they accepted $8 million a year for a new college? If it's just politics, then why were "FSU professors circulating a parody map of their future campus that places a fictional Department of ESP Studies, a Bigfoot Institute, School of Astrology, and Faith Healing School adjacent to a future Chiropractic School." Why were people threatening to resign over this? --Prosfilaes 17:55, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

One of the outside anti-chiros created the map and it got circulated because it was funny. Funny things get circulated. I would consider resigning my post if I felt my university board was allowing itself to get bullied by politics. People can feel just as heated about political controversary as they do about scienitific controversary. Did you read the petition? It said nothing about pseudoscience. So why are you hinging your entire debate on this? It's pretty flimsy support at best. TheDoctorIsIn 18:46, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

System of concepts

JA: To remove a potential contradiction in terms, I have substituted "system of concepts" for "body of knowledge", since it does not make sense to call something "knowledge" if you are at the same time calling it "false". Jon Awbrey 13:02, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Sub

JA: Science is not limited to the physical world, that is, to the "natural sciences" or "the hard sciences" as they are popularly called, so I have made the above substitution. This may require additional clarification as to what one means by "real" and "phenomena", but these concepts have fairly standard definitions in and out of philosophy and science. Jon Awbrey 13:30, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Introduction

JA: I started out with the simple intention of substituting "system of concepts" for "body of knowledge" in the Introduction, and found myself in the thicket of such a tangled paragraph that I was led to make the following additional changes.

Introduction
The standards for any system of concepts, methodology, or practice to qualify as science vary in their details from application to application, but they typically include (1) the support of empirical evidence, (2) the formulation of hypotheses that meet the logical criterion of contingency, defeasibility, or falsifiability, (3) the use of scientific method. The procedures of science typically include a number of heuristic guidelines, such as the principles of conceptual economy or parsimony that fall under the rubric of Occam's Razor. A conceptual system that fails to meet a significant number of these criteria is likely to be considered "nonscience", and if its exponents further claim the status of science for it, then they put themselves at risk for the charge of "pseudoscience".

A number of attempts have been made to apply philosophical rigor to the notion of pseudoscience, with mixed results. These include Karl Popper's criterion of falsifiability and the historiographical approach of Imre Lakatos in his Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes. Other historians and philosophers of science (including Paul Feyerabend) have argued, from a sociology of knowledge perspective, that a clear philosophical distinction between science and pseudoscience is neither possible nor desirable.

JA: Being by nature a positive person, I think that it is clearer to describe science in positive terms, and then say why a given system of concepts fails to meet those criteria. Jon Awbrey 14:08, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Dictionary defs

JA: Trying to wade further into the article I found it a brew of so many brewmasters-brewmistresses that I could not make any sense of the putative arguments or variant perspectives. In particular, why do some people keep insisting that the term pseudoscience is not pejorative, that is, "having negative connotations, belittling, deprecatory, disparaging" (Webster's), when it so clearly gets used in all of those manners? From reading the previous talk on dictionary defs, part of the problem seemed to be the mutation that took place from any of the standard defs. The M-W def seems best to me as it mentions three elements of scientific method itself, whereas the AHD definition suffers from a large amount of redundancy between method and practice. So I went back to the M-W definition. Now, the word is still pejorative, but at least this definition localizes the negative connotations to an attribution of error. Still, that does not quite cover all of the disparaging connotations that are actually flung about in practice, as any observation of recent discurse on this page amply shows. Jon Awbrey 05:44, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

I don't see it as pejorative, but if you want to leave it in, I'm not going to take it out. Calling a pseudoscience item "stupid" would be pejorative. The term has been in use since 1844, it isn't a neologism. If something meets the criteria for pseudoscience, then I think that is what it is. If it walks like a duck and the shoe fits.... What do you propose to call these things that isn't pejorative? Items of pseudoscience are not science. Neither are they in the same category as religious, philisophical, or political beliefs, so I don't think calling them a belief is quite appropriate. The term "pseudoscience" applies, and I don't know of any more polite term for it. Bubba73 (talk), 05:54, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: I did not say it was a neologism. I am simply inferring from some standard definitions of "pseudoscience" and "pejorative" that attributing "pseudoscience" to a system of whatever has negative connotations for whatever, at the very least, and is therefore pejorative. I don't see a logical way around that. Jon Awbrey 06:04, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: Let's step back a bit and see if we can address the question or the assumption that I think may be behind your question, and that seems to be the sense that recognizing science is as cut and dried as "the difference between a duck", as we used to say in my old school. Personally, I believe that there are things called science and its method, though I sometimes use other words, like inquiry, to avoid some of the problematic connotations that some folks attach to the word "method" in our Al-Gore-Rhythmic Age, but if it were all as pre-cut and freeze-dried as all that, we would have been done with our homework Ages Ago. Yikes, but it's late here, so I'll have to pick it up again tomorrow. Jon Awbrey 06:22, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

Just a few comments. There is nothing wrong with the term being considered pejorative by those who hold pseudoscientific viewpoints. It can't be any other way. Pseudosciences often blend philosophical and even religious elements into their theories. The vertebral subluxation (VS) is such a blend, being a metaphysical construct used to explain perceived benefits of "adjustments." Even "adjustments" are considered to be different from "manipulation," because the term implies manipulation for the purpose of correcting VS, which haven't been proven to exist. It is the intention behind "adjustments" that makes the difference. Chiropractic is to science, what Scientology is to religion. It is just as much a pseudoscience, as Scientology is a pseudoreligion. If a philosophy claims to be scientific, then it certainly borders on pseudoscience.

BTW, don't you all find it ironic that believers in pseudoscience have such a large say in editing an article on pseudoscience? Their whole effort is aimed at whitewashing themselves and doing revisionistic editing. If they could get their way, they would eliminate mention of their nonsense from the article, and write their own articles, where they would claim their nonsense to be scientific. Hmmm....in fact, that's what's going on! -- Fyslee 09:04, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

Which of the folks here are believers in pseudoscience?Phiwum 17:18, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

I believe in science. And there is enough science out there to say that vertebral subluxations do exist. No whitewashing as the user above claims. I would say, given this user's editing history (adding anti-chiro slander on seemingly unrelated pages such as Mass Marketing and Oxymorons) he/she is doing what WP calls soapboaxing. Soapboxing against chiropractic. I am always weary of users who come to WP with such a clear unwaivering agenda. They are usually the ones to blind to consider changing their minds about anything. Careful with this one. TheDoctorIsIn 18:08, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, your opinions about chiropracty aside, the field belongs on a list of alleged pseudosciences. So does Darwinian evolution in my opinion, because some philosophers of science have wondered whether the principle of natural selection is really tautologous. (I would add evolution to the list but I don't have any references to this debate and I don't trust the authority of my addled memory.) Being on the list simply means that there has been some debate on the scientific merits of the theory. This is a historical fact in the case of chiropracty, regardless of your or my opinions on the subject. Phiwum 06:37, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

In partial answer to my own comment about evolution, I found a reference to Popper calling evolution "almost tautological" and later retracting the claim. See . I don't have any first hand references, but this seems to give prima facie reason for adding Darwinian evolution to the list. The main reason against this suggestion is, of course, the misleading impression it gives regarding evolution. At the least, if one were to add natural selection to the list of alleged pseudoscience, we'd want a brief explanation of why it was there (that is, tracing the argument back to philosophers of science rather than creationists and ID folk). Phiwum 16:42, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Definition, Connotation, Contention

JA: I have attempted to clarify the first paragraph in the following way:

A pseudoscience is defined as "a system of theories, assumptions, and methods erroneously regarded as scientific" (Merriam–Webster, 1950). The term has negative connotations in so far as it attributes an "erroneous regard" to the holders of the system of concepts and practices in question. Consequently, its use is likely to be contentious, with claims of ideological bias being made by one or more parties to the contention.

JA: The word "pejorative" is gone, replaced by the minimal component of its definition, to wit, negative connotations. The nature of those negative connotations is pinpointed to the attribution of an "erroneous regard", or mistaken view, to the holders of a given system. The fact that applying the word to some system-holder is "contentious" is simply the observational fact that it frequently leads to contention, however unsurprising such an observation may be. Jon Awbrey 18:44, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

I think that is better (but I wasn't going to change it). Calling (e.g.) string theory "pseudoscience" at this point would definitely by using the term in a pejorative way. But I think what you have done improves the ar6icle and I am happy with that. For what it is worth, here is another dictionary definition that I don't think has been given: "Pseudoscientific - pretending to be scientific, falsely represented as being scientific", from Oxford American Dictionary, published by the Oxford English Dictionary but much smaller and not nearly as authoratative. Bubba73 (talk), 17:06, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Merriam-Webster is more authoritative than the OED? Are you kidding? Sorry, but the OED is the authoritative English Dictionary.

Additionally, the first paragraph is utterly incorrect and significantly violates NPOV. Misplaced Pages is not here to worry about people's feelings getting hurt, but rather to provide the truth. I'm adding an NPOV tag as the paragraph is in clear violation of NPOV, and quite probably NOR.Jim62sch 18:55, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

BTW: calling string-theory pseudoscientific would also be false. Jim62sch 00:59, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: Please review WP:VERIFY. The WP policies are quite explicit that the criterion in force here is not "truth" but "verifiability". Requesting a citation for a definition means that you have to give a citation for the definition used. The requirement is not met simply by posting a footnote and then citing a very different definition in the cited reference. That is what is called by some influential thinkers a "pseudocitation", said Jon weasely. Jon Awbrey 20:24, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

I sincerely hope you are kidding. Paraphrasing is actually OK, believe it or not, and an OED source trumps a Merriam-Webster source for accuracy any day of the week. (BTW: pseudocitation is macaronic and a neologism). Oh wait, I get it, you're going to argue that "erroneously" and "falsely" aren't synonymous. Actually, semantically, you are correct. See, I was being kind. If you'd like I can make the change to match the cite. You and the rest of the influential thinkers decide. Jim62sch 00:55, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Revision, more correctly reversion

I think the revision to the earlier version is a great idea. The recent edits have left a bit of a mish-mash of this and that, without such clear direction as the previous version. Call it the problem of writing-by-committee.

Sorry to all those who have made the many recent revisions, but I like the clarity and simplicity of the earlier version. Phiwum 19:17, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Er, the clarity and simplicity except for minor bits. I've added a re-write about pejorative what-nots, but feel free to have at it. Of course. Phiwum 19:25, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: I have taken the WP:CON process seriously, observing a Zero Revert Rule, as I have found it advisable to do when it come to these brands of hot disputes, and I have explained every one of my edits that I thought might possibly require explanation on the talk page either before or shortly after the edit. When other editors do not exhibit a corresponding restraint and respect — using terms like "misbegotten" and acting as if their POV concerning what's "good" is a fiat unto itself — reverting several days of joint work that had about as much consensus as one could expect in this type of situation, then I believe it is time to call in another level of mediation. As I have never had to do that myself, I will ask for advice on how to do that. Jon Awbrey 19:58, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Feel free. Jim62sch 01:00, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Pseudoscience vs. alternative science

I have just been browsing the Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Pseudoscience pages. It seems to me that there is a grand chasm between perpetual motion machines and the moon as green cheese, on the one hand, and fields of alternative medicine - such as chiropracty, homeopathy and acupuncture - on the other. There are many studies relating to alternative medicine published in established journals; the results vary from noting effects to noting no significant effects (beyond placebo), but the fields are treated as serious questions needing answers. Note that the University of Bern has a chair in alternative medicine, split between three different specialties (I believe that these are Chinese medicine, homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine). I would therefore suggest making an intermediate category between established science and pseudoscience: alternative science.

Pseudoscience should include areas simply ignored by the vast, vast majority of respectable researchers: UFOs, perpetual motion machines, green cheese, and directly in conflict with our scientific understanding of the world. Alternative science, with subsections alternative medicine, alternative physics, etc., should include theories that seem doubtful to many, but are taken seriously (treated in mainstream journals, for example). String theory probably needs to go here as an unproven but interesting (and possibly valid) theory. So should homeopathy and chiropracty. They are not in direct conflict with established medicine, and there is evidence on both sides.

I feel strongly that the current polarity is partly a result of there being no middle category in Misplaced Pages for work that has some standing and is still under evaluation. (I would take the latter criterion literally: if there continue to be articles about a subject in serious, peer-reviewed journals, it is under evaluation and not yet decided. There are not many articles about phrenology these days, but quite a few about string theory - and homeopathy.) Hgilbert 14:04, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Protoscience is the middle term. And, actually, string theory would be protoscience. It is real science. Jim62sch 01:32, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Quite a few about homeopathy? Where? Homeopathy is in direct conflict with established medicine, which believes that the higher the dose, the greater the effect, and with established chemistry and physics, which conclude that a typical homeopathic dose has exactly zero atoms of anything listed as an active ingredient.--Prosfilaes 20:30, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Well... try

1. research done by the centre for complementary medicine research at the Technical University in Munich
2. Annals of Internal Medicine
3. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
4. another Munich study
5. this study from the Department of Complementary Medicine in the Medical School of the University of Exeter.

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Already the fact that many established European universities have centers for complementary medicine should give pause to a hasty categorization. I realize that it is very upsetting to scientific theory about substances to consider homeopathic doses as having an effect. But it is a subject of serious scientific inquiry at the moment, by serious scientists. Misplaced Pages policy is not to project one's own narrow view of a subject as the mainstream when the mainstream includes other voices.

JA: One of the important "community of inquiry" issues that is being neglected here is the leveling effect of genuine scientific community. I am far more interested in process issues — both the inquiry process and the WP process — than content issues, but just by way of ancedote, I did spend a decade moving from a student statistical aide to a professional consultant, during which time I worked on a variety of health-science education and research projects, and during which time my university adopted a school of osteopathic medicine in addition to the school of medicine that it already had in place. As a purely nerdy bystander, it was all just data to me — in the beginning all the usual cliches were aired, but by the end of the decade I think that it was a fairly general consensus that the levels of training were on a par with each other, differences in emphasis and orientation aside. The plan fact is that being a part of an academic research environment exerts a pressure to prove that methods and practices work, or else they have to be abandoned. But doing that requires that all parties sit at the table. There's a lesson in that. Jon Awbrey 14:48, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Repeated reversions without comments

I have made an edit to the introduction which has been reverted without comment twice. Now, I am more than willing that my edit is rejected by others, but I'd like an explanation.

I have slightly changed the language so that it reads the term "pseudoscience" is typically pejorative, a claim that I think is not particularly controversial. I don't know of any skeptic that uses the term without negative normative overtones.

Instead, the two editors reverting apparently think that only adherents of dubious theories view the term as pejorative. This strikes me as dismissive and false. It is rather more natural to think that the claim "X is a pseudoscience" is almost always a negative judgment about either X, some of the arguments for X or the honesty or scientific understanding of some of X's advocates.

Surely we can agree that "pejorative" does not imply "subjective". Many terms are pejorative while still being factual. For instance, the term "irrational" is undeniably pejorative (mathematical usage aside), but it is certainly objective in at least some of its uses. Similarly, acknowledging that calling a theory pseudoscience is a negative judgment is not giving away too much: such claims can still have objective grounds. Phiwum 20:26, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

I think the direction you were heading with successive edits was progressively beneficial. I first reverted via popup because I have come to trust Jom62sch's judgment as a general rule, and because I didn't notice your original explanation, only the disagreement about reverts. Most importantly, the introduction is not the place for specific examples of how a field might choose to defend or counterattack. If it is worthy of saying, there can be made or found a place in the article for the specific points. I also left a response on my page. Take care... Kenosis 20:56, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation. I certainly agree that your latest edit is an improvement. It also includes my main concern, namely that it is not just adherents that find the label to be pejorative. (The bit about ideology didn't matter to me, but I kept it as a leftover from the earlier intro.) Phiwum 21:08, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, the new edit is better -- I restored the previous merely because the version I reverted had really drifted away from a good definition (no offence). Jim62sch 01:38, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Unfalsifiable Labels (No, the other UL)

JA: Give it up, guys, can't you recognize an unfalsifiable label when you see one? Anyone who criticizes the arguments or the evidentiary basis of any bull e-dicted by this particular Closed Circle is automatically labelled an "Adherent" of some unspecified pseudoscience or another. At least they are providing us with an object example of how that works, so maybe there's a lesson in that after all. Jon Awbrey 21:21, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

If you refer to the second sentence of the intro, I agree with you. But given the obvious demand for this "insight", I couldn't quite see my way clear to avoid stating the obvious right up front. Should it be "supporter" instead of "adherent"? Problem is, of course, like the jailhouse statement from The Shawshank Redemption, "Everyone in here's innocent"...Kenosis 02:14, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: Uhhuh, and there's a process for putting 'em in thar. Hint: It no longer involves dunking chairs or autos-da-fé. Jon Awbrey 03:38, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Indeed, pretty arbitrary in distinguishing between pseudoscience and protoscience at times--there should perhaps be an International Court of Science to arbit these things :) Kenosis 04:05, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: There is a court like that. Reality just keeps on banging its gavel on our heads until we wake up from the drone of all the false counsels. Jon Awbrey 04:16, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Though there are some reasonable consensus limits to what can be gotten away with on both sides of any given spat. And of course, if one's slant has enough corporate backers, who knows what one can get away with...Kenosis 04:09, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: Which is precisely why I don't waste my time tilting at sunday funnies horoscopes. Jon Awbrey 04:16, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

:-) Kenosis 04:29, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Anthropomorphism considered harmful

JA: I previously commented on the host of intellectual errors inherent in anthropomorphism — we'll discuss the sexist implications of that term another time — but found myself roundly set upon by the adherents of pseudogrammar. Perhaps heads are cooler now. Jon Awbrey 15:30, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

There's no inherent sexist implication in athropomorphism. Ανθρωπος is the equivalent of Latin homo (human), while ανηρ (genitive ανδρος) is the equivalent of Latin vir (English cognate wer, were as in werewolf).

JA: Hence the humor. Jon Awbrey 22:58, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Ah, so you are very subtle...excellent! And I wasted all that time typing in Greek! Oh well. Jim62sch 00:30, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

I'd love to see your definition of pseudogrammar, as well. Jim62sch 22:53, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: Locally speaking, an inductive definition suffices. Jon Awbrey 22:58, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Yet, I don't know specifically to what pseudogrammar you are referring. Jim62sch 00:30, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: And cooler heads, if you'll excuse the synecdoche, will already have noticed the same problem in the abridged reference to an abridged reference that we find here:

"Pseudoscientific - pretending to be scientific, falsely represented as being scientific", from Oxford American Dictionary, published by the Oxford English Dictionary.

Let's see. While pseudoscience is a macaronic word, (tsk), in essence it means, "false knowledge". This would match very well with the OED (the real one) definition of pseudoscience, "a pretended or spurious science; a collection of beliefs about the world mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method or as having the status of scientific truths," So, the problem would be what? Jim62sch 23:04, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: In the exact sciences, exact definitions are widely considered, so weasely to speak, as having some importance, and instances of paralogic are not lightly excused under the cover of "paraphrase". Jon Awbrey 15:45, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Really? That'll shock a lot of scientists. Paralogic? You meant paralogism -- no need for a neologism when there's already a word sufficent to the need. Jim62sch 23:09, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: I probably shouldn't try to get serious about anything this close to the twitching hour, but here is my attempt to analyze why the anthropomorphism is so akin to the galemorphism or the kerdomorphism (Gk: weasel, wily).

JA: First, a word from our sponsor:

WP:WEASEL

Weasel words are words or phrases that smuggle bias into seemingly supported statements by attributing opinions to anonymous sources. Weasel words give the force of authority to a statement without letting the reader decide if the source of the opinion is reliable. If a statement can't stand on its own without weasel words, it lacks neutral point of view; either a source for the statement should be found, or the statement should be removed.

JA: To keep things general, and yet keep them grounded in concrete, real-life examples, here's a formal abstract of an assertion that I tore from the headlines of an actual article in WP.

B-ism and C-ism reject J-ology as a pseudoscience.

D-ism maintains that J-ology misconceives X.

This statement is criticizable on the grounds that it uses anthropomorphisms (A-isms) in the manner of weasel wording to insinuate pseudosourced generalizations.

JA: The statement as a whole conjoins three assertions, to wit:

1. B-ism rejects J-ology as a pseudoscience.
2. C-ism rejects J-ology as a pseudoscience.
3. D-ism maintains that J-ology misconceives X.

JA: Problem 1. Each of the three claims has the form of an A-ism, in other words, their subjects are not the grammatical sort of nouns that are subcategorized to take verbs like "rejects" or "maintains".

JA: Problem 2. The grammatical problem would normally be solved by rephrasing. Most likely, a person who says "B-ism rejects J-ology" means to say that the overwhelming majority of B-ists reject J-ology, or that there is a tenet of B-ism whose acceptance defines what it means to be a B-ist, and that it contradicts a fundamental principle of J-ology. However, in each of these cases, the A-ism is used to cover an extremely broad generalization, as if to claim that all B-ists share a tenet that contradicts a tenet that all J-ologists share, and respectively for C-ists and D-ists.

JA: Problem 3. More signficantly with respect to the WikiPedia policy of WP:VERIFY, none of the above claims is sourced. The effect of the A-ism is to make them sound sourced, to make a pretense of sourcing them, and thus to finesse the freedom of the reader to "consider the source". At any rate, WP:VERIFY states that the burden of proof is on the editor who makes the claim or who desires to keep it in the article, not on anyone else to provide contrary evidence.

JA: Problem 4. The fact that, say, some B-ists reject some of the tenets of some J-ologists still does not mean that those B-ists reject J-ology "as a pseudoscience". All sorts of folks reject each others axioms and maxims without necessarily calling each other pseudo-anything. If the statements above appear to imply that B-ists, C-ists, and D-ists present a united front against J-ology, then it's necessary to observe the fact that they don't really say that. It may happen that they reject some of each others' principles as well, all without needing to raise the charge of pseudoscience.

JA: But enough about weasels for one day. Jon Awbrey 05:07, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Jon, I wasn't arguing that anthropomorphism isn't bad (I've noted that myself on a number of pages), I was questioning the "exact definition" portion. Also, "some" is actually required in certain syllogisms. (For example, the Baroco syllogism, "All P are M. Some S are not M. Therefore, Some S are not P.").

Also, I agree with all four of your points (listed above as problems). Point 4 should really have a 4a and 4b, with 4b explaining why, for example, phrenology (call it P-ism) is a pseudoscience.

Could you rephrase this a bit, "bias must be controlled, either directly, through the manipulation of factors" -- while I understand exactly what you are saying, and note that you are correct, the terms "bias", "controlled", "manipulation" and "factors" may be miscontrued by the casual reader who knows nothing of the scientific definitions of the terms. Gratias tibi ago. Jim62sch 11:32, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Sciences, exact & excruciating

JA: By exact science I mean mathematics, statistics, and the deductive ring in the big top of logic. One of the big jolts to me personally — as I took a raison detour from the exact science of mathematics and the not-so-exact science of physics through the rougher ringers of psychology, computer science, and statistics as she is spoke in the real world — was the way that the monastic monographists of exact and formal knowledge must negotiate with the world-that-goes-on-as-it-darn-well-pleases. So that's what I'm talking about when I say that. Start now, finish later, time is like that ... Jon Awbrey 15:18, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: To continue to continue ... If I remember correctly (a fallible assumption), the word "control", same as "comptroller", derives from "counter-roll", which refers to the practice of keeping two sets of books in the innocent sense of redundant backup copies for error-detection and error-correction purposes. This is the parchment scroll equivalent of the primitive practice of keeping an account of a transaction by notching a twig along the edge, then splitting it lengthwise with one's counterpart as a way of ensuring a bona fide copy thereof. Hence, our word "compute" by way of the Latin putare, to wit, to prune. So control is originally about error control, not messing with Mother Nature. This proto-echoes our own era's late grasp of the complementarity between information and control, or the mathematical duality between observability and controllability in cybernetics and systems science. To be continued ... Jon Awbrey 16:54, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I know all of that. My point was that the casual reader may not. We're not writing for each other, but for a broader audience. On the other hand, I look forward to the continuation of the continuation's continuation.

JA: I did the best that I could, for the time being, to rubricize a complex issue on a front bumper sticker, which most folks are quite naturally trying to dodge first and ruminate later. It's usually just easier to stick with one cliche pseudotruth or another. As far as speaking to a wider congregation, not just preaching to the choir, there's a kind of a (DIYD)^2 phenomenon in that. My last day's BTT&S at relating scientific inquiry to everyday reasoning got branded and reverted as a "personal essay". So the homiletics of science is a risky business, especially when "sounds scientific" is the criterion of soundness and some people wouldn't know science if it was under their gnosis. The next generation always pays more attention to what the last does than to what it says. And you can trite me on that. Whew! Gotta go find something productive to do. Jon Awbrey 14:30, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Good points. I think I might've chosen "most people" rather than "some people". :) I suppose, too, that you point to the one weakness of an encyclopedia -- brevity. On the other hand, if the article is written well enough, perhaps the reader will be spurred on to reading actual books on the topic (assuming the reader have the requisite attention span to read a book).

Three categories: a suggestion

I would like to suggest that the list of fields considered on this page be divided into three separate lists (and pages). One would be for those fields that do not use scientific methodology or for which there is really no evidence. These could be termed pseudoscience.

A second list would be for new fields that are undergoing or seeking to undergo methodologically sound testing, but for which evidence is not decisive as yet. This would include string theory. These belong on a page devoted to protoscience.

I would suggest a third page for practical fields that have had some record of success, but that have not been given a theoretical foundation compatible with present scientific theories and/or for which the presently available empirical studies are insufficient. Much of what is commonly called alternative medicine would fall here: Chinese medicine, chiropracty, homeopathy. Since established universities offer specialties in these subjects and peer-reviewed, respected scientific publications discuss them (see above), these make up a special topic of their own. Research in progress might be a title for such work; they are not decided one way or another by any scientific standard, but their scientific status will hopefully be clarified as more research is done. If people feel that this group belongs on the protoscience page, I would accept this, but feel that these areas have a fundamentally different character than new scientific theories...perhaps it is simply a matter of one coming from the praxis, the other from the theoretical side. Hgilbert 17:33, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

JA: This is beginning to sound sensible to me. Just by way of one comment, the term "protoscience" is criticizable on the grounds that it involves a kind of retrospective projection or post hoc revisionary anachronism. What I mean is, just as nobody ever wrote their YOB on a job application as "500 BC", nobody ever says, "Mommy when I grow up I want to be a protoscientist". So the use of such terms involves an inherently extrinsic coordinate system for describing intellectual history. Probably a measure of extrinsicality cannot be avoided — but it's important for us to keep seeing it for what it is. Jon Awbrey 17:56, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you, although protoscience is the accepted term (that and 75 cents will get you a cheap cup of coffee). What would you suggest as a definer for the term, as in "Protoscience, which refers to disciplines that have a scientific basis, but are as yet..."? Jim62sch 23:26, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Note: I've gone through my mental Latin and Greek lexicons and cannot think of a word to replace proto (except dynamo, as in potential, but that word has been coopted by a different meaning). All else sounds predictive. Jim62sch 23:34, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm wondering how the concept of protoscience relates to the Misplaced Pages policy against original research. Misplaced Pages isn't the place for proposing many of the concepts being termed "protoscience." They must be verifiable and established. Speculative theories are limitless and could quadruple the size of Misplaced Pages if allowed to fill the servers. -- Fyslee 09:33, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

All that is required is sourcing. Jim62sch 13:30, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Ah but surely there is a difference between historical protoscience and modern protoscience, e.g. Alchemy was a protoscience, but labelling something as modern protoscience is probably crystal-ball gazing. — Dunc|☺ 14:27, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

I noted that earlier on when I said it was predictive. The problem is, I can't think of a better word, and protoscience, for all of its flaws (and there are many), is the accepted term. I'm open to suggestions. Jim62sch 18:40, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

I have attempted a preliminary split into the three pages:

Pseudoscience

Protoscience, and

Prescientific systems

Please help me sorting these out!!! Criteria I propose are: Pseudoscience must be really disproven or use totally non-scientific methods and standards Protoscience to be reserved for work by trained scientists that is revolutionary or not yet fully recognized/confirmed, but also for historical precursors of modern sciences such as alchemy...recognizing that if these were practiced today they would be pseudosciences. Prescientific systems for all empirical work (including traditional and modern medical and psychiatric therapies) that has no firm scientific standing, basis and/or proof, especially where ongoing studies are taking place to determine the status and efficacy of the field. Question: do such areas as precognition fit this? I have tentatively placed them here, but they almost need their own category.

JA: I moved it to the singular form Prescientific system per local standard usage. Jon Awbrey 14:08, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Text removed from Problem of demarcation section

This historical material is temporarily removed from article for discussion, as it is incomplete and not fully representative of the most relevant parts of the historical discussion...Kenosis 18:31, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Logical positivism, for example, espoused a theory of meaning which held that only statements about empirical observations are meaningful, effectively asserting that statements which are not derived in this manner (including all metaphysical statements) are meaningless. Later, Karl Popper attacked logical positivism and introduced his own criterion for demarcation, falsifiability. This in turn was criticised by Thomas Kuhn, who illustrated with historical examples that falsification did not play a largely causative role in changes between scientific theories, and also by Popper supporter Imre Lakatos, who proposed his own criteria that distinguished between progressive and degenerative research programs.18:31, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Restored Pseudoskepticism to intro

I've restored the reference to Pseudoskepticism as a valid sub-category of Pseudoscience, as described on the Pseudoskepticism page.

Phiwum, at least have the courtesy of providing an explanation for your removal of the statement. --Iantresman 14:40, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Okay. Pseudoskepticism is not a very widely used term and it is not very relevant to the topic. If you feel like a reference to the term is essential, why not put it in the body rather than the intro? The fact is that this notion is close to a neologism to my eyes. Ever see pseudoskepticism in a reputable academic journal without a pseudoscientific bent? I haven't. I take this as evidence that the term isn't essential to understanding pseudoscience and hence the reference doesn't belong in the intro.

I'll leave it there for now and await input from other editors. Phiwum 15:50, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree that it's not widely used, and perhaps the introduction is not the right place. I've now moved the sentence on section on "Classifying pseudoscience".

The article on pseudoskepticism seems to include a number of references. I don't have any citations to peer-reviewed references, but then most of the article on pseudoscience is also lacking refererences --Iantresman 16:06, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm happy with this change. Sorry I didn't comment when I reverted. I'm afraid I have been playing with popup-reversions and they make it too easy to revert without comment! Good we came to an agreement here.Phiwum 16:18, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Recent addition of pseudoskepticism to section on Classifying pseudoscience

I believe a clear consensus should be developed and documented about what can go in the section on Classifying pseudoscience. There is a reasonable argument for pop science and pseudoskepticism here because they are classes that have specifically to do with the lack of use of analytical rigor and nothing more specific in terms of the content of the arguments--they have more to do with style of analysis of whatever particular field of practice or research they're dealing with. If the editors do not achieve a clear consensus about their inclusion here (rather than in the list section), it opens the door to inevitable additions by passersby with no thought to organization. Seems to me all further attempted additions of more specific classifications should be immediately put on the list of pseudosciences, or rejected completely if it can be shown why they do not belong on the list...Kenosis 17:06, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

As it happens, I think the section on "Classifying pseudoscience" is more accurately to do with "Indentifying pseudoscience" which is not the same thing. It shouldn't be too difficult to find an appropriate place for the sentence on pseudoskepticism. (unsigned by Iantresman)

This is a good point I think which should help to keep it under control. Going to implement it now, pending of course the normal course of discussion about the issue...Kenosis 17:24, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I would add something to the effect of "claims to be skeptical via the scientific method", but that might simply be redundant with "non-rigorous" and "claiming to be" ColdSalad 12:06, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Citations & Examples

I think that since an article on pseudoscience considers the scientific method to be so important, that it (a) adds peer-reviewed citations where appropriate (b) applies the "Classifying pseudoscience" identifiers to a real situation, such as the Big Bang theory, in order to demonstrate its veracity. For example

• by asserting claims which cannot be verified or falsified... what aspect of the Big Bang makes a prediction that can be falsified? And how does this differ from observations that require the theory to be modified?
• by habitually changing the nature of its claims to deflect criticism... why do all the changes to the Big Bang theory not count as "habitually changing" the theory.
• by failing to make use of operational definitions... what are the Big Bang's operational definitions?

--Iantresman 17:18, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

If those criticisms were valid, they belong on the Big Bang page itself more than they would here. ColdSalad 02:57, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Doesn't matter in any event. Big bang theory is not a field per se, or a practice with its own agreed name used by its "practitioners." Astrophysics appears to be the most used term for the field. "Big bang theory" as it has come to be popularly known, actually is a forensic speculation which makes use of, among other concepts, relativity theory (now a law really), and quantum mechanics, itself a field with a number of theories currently on the table within it. If the "big bang" is wrong, or is shown to be radically flawed, so are a number of either observations or principles that have been used to arrive at it. And if so, it will need to be adapted accordingly, not to deflect criticism but to reconcile principles or theories that have repeatedly proven useful for other calculations and observations that can be tested and replicated.

Perhaps there is another example of a field that could be of benefit to the readers of this article, but not clog up the page with a rapid flurry of rabid objections? Perhaps the classic illustration of phrenology, for instance?...Kenosis 04:46, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

This is not about a criticism of the Big Bang, but illustrating the points on pseudoscience. Sure, let's included phrenology, but as a comparison with "real science", let's include the Big Bang too. It does not matter than the Big Bang is not entire field, after all, pseudoscience has been "applied" to many individual's work... and technically it's an individual that is guilty of pseudoscience, not the subject. --Iantresman 07:06, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

The big bang is not a field or area of practice; it is a speculation, one which has some consensus today incidentally. If you are advocating that astophysics is a pseudoscience, you are by no means alone. Personally I refuse to take on, among others, Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose in this article in Misplaced Pages...Kenosis 07:47, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

removed sentence

Just removed this from Intro because it's a bit too field specific for intro, and applies to fields involving human factors. Placing it here because of its potential value to the article...Kenosis 07:42, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

In certain kinds of science involving human factors as an object of study, double blind testing is often appropriate.07:42, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Technological singularity

An anonymous editor recently removed this entry from the list of "fields" associated with pseudoscience. I have reverted that removal, since we have a consensus that such edits should be discussed (right?).

Nonetheless, I tentatively agree with the edit. This is a concept or perhaps a claim, but not a field. If the list is a list of fields, what is this doing there? Phiwum 09:29, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Hello again Phiwum. I too provisionally agree. Upon noticing the edit, I did several searches and found nothing where proponents of this view attempt to cast it as science. And, it does appear to be more in the realm of theoretical speculation, with an added twist picked up by other speculators (not Kurzweil, whose original prediction continues to become more and more true) that make some yet more profound assumptions about human consciousness. But I see no attempt to cast it as science...Kenosis 16:22, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree that it should be removed from this article. There are specific, testable aspects to the technological singularity. It perhaps might fall in the category of Protoscience, but definitely not Pseudoscience. (Cardsplayer4life 18:15, 12 April 2006 (UTC))

I'd say that t.s. does not belong here - definietly not without an academic citation. I'd have thought t.s. is a respectable theory in future studies.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 18:53, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

I'd say t.s. does not exhibit the properties for a science or even proto-science. It does not satisfy Karl Poppers Falsifiability criteria, being an untestable phenomena. Perhaps there is a need for questionable theories article to put theories which do not lay claim to being scientific. --Salix alba (talk) 19:45, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

TS can say whatever it wants so long as it does not cast itself as science. It does not appear to do so to date...Kenosis 19:56, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Kenosis. This page is about pseudoscience, not questionable non-scientific theory. But, interestingly, there are two defenses for removing T.S. at present:

• It isn't a pseudoscience because it is not claimed to be a scientific theory.
• It isn't a pseudoscience because it is a respectable (proto-)scientific theory.

Obviously, these two claims are incompatible.Phiwum 20:21, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

If it doesn't claim to be scientific or to have any scientific legitimacy, then it can't be considered a pseudoscience. There are other possibilities for things that aren't classifiable as pseudoscience: metaphysics, religion, philosophy, protoscience, nonsense, etc. -- Fyslee 22:45, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Er, yes, that point was first suggested by Keonisis and I agree. But the question is whether, as some say, it is a respectable science (and hence doesn't belong here) or it isn't claimed to be a science (and hence doesn't belong here). Or we can just accept the consense that it doesn't belong here without worrying that the two offered reasons are contradictory. Phiwum 05:36, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

The primary problem with "pseudo-science(s)" is that it (or they) attempt(s) to draw upon the accumulated credibility of science(s) without responding to the responsibilities of science to be open to verification by others to determine how reliable the "body of knowledge" and/or its premises is/are for use by others in their life and work. An "open" body of knowledge that is faulty will quickly enough be detected as such by others who have the wherewithall to deal with the technicalities--if it is adequately open to scrutiny. Here, TS neither seems to pretend to be "science," nor is particularly vague about its premises. If it were to pretend to be a science, I believe it should be reinstated here, because the "event" it strives to predict is a one-time event that is not replicable, testable, etc, etc...Kenosis 06:04, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Calling a pejorative a pejorative

JA: The term "pseudoscience" is pejorative. Nobody who can read a dictionary definition of "pejorative" and apply it to a case of predication could say otherwise. Could somebody please explain why they have a problem with the simple statement that "pseudoscience" is a pejorative term? Are scientists supposed to be such nice people that they never criticize other people? Or is it some wish to criticize without assuming the responsibilities and the risks of doing so? This is commonly recognized as "Man Behind The Screen" behavior — well, at least it's so recognized when other folks do it. Jon Awbrey 06:20, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Your revert stated your case adequately--the rest that you just stated is either gravy or icing, depending on your POV...Kenosis 06:21, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

JA: Well, irony aside, at least for a second, and since I suspect, empirically speaking, that it will probably come up again, I really would like to understand where in the ointment the flies are. Jon Awbrey 06:30, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

I vaguely suspect a "strange bedfellows" conspiracy between the Wizard Behind The Curtain focus groups in DC, and the obsessive/compulsive co-dependent nice guys, psuedo-nice-guys and proto-nice-guys (leaving aside, for convenience of terms, the gender neutrality issue for the moment)...Kenosis 06:51, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Please excuse me if I misunderstand anything here. (I've been away from this article for awhile, and may not understand the finer nuances of your ongoing discussions.) I'd also like to know "where in the ointment the flies are." Is there a real disagreement about whether the term "pseudoscience" is also a "pejorative," and thus has "negative connotations?" Or is this a matter of political correctness regarding what wording to use in the lead section? -- Fyslee 07:29, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

There is a very significant difference between "political correctness" and avoiding making one's self involved in the judgment whether it's "good" or "bad", or whether somebody or some group meets the "style test" for casual respectability and invitation to the next social function, or whatever the current off-the-books judgment junk that's being passed around for lack of a more suitable outlet for those feelings. I maintained the article should just state the facts and walk away. Who the heck gives a whoot to see in writing that it's typically pejorative (whereupon, I suppose, the reader is perhaps expected to say "whoa-ho-ho-ho ! That makes it even worse!") with a link to the "Pejorative" article... is that supposed to be instructive or something? I thought not, I felt it's just prurient in a minor kind of way. There also is a verifiability problem that's involved, because there is not study out there about the relative frequency with which the term "pejorative" can properly be attached. So we already agree it's probably "pejorative" almost all the time; by the time you get to that threshold, there's no longer any need to attach the statement because it's not informative. And, in my view it's also pretty irrelevant, because people resent other people for all kinds of reasons including complete success and perfection...

That was my position, Jon reverted, and as far as I'm concerned that ends the argument. The rest of what Jon talked about was therefore either gravy or icing, depending on your POV...Kenosis 14:30, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

JA: Again, I continue to be flummoxed about this. Is there something pejorative about the term "pejorative-user" (PU)? It does not say "obsessive PU", just "occasional PU", and it imparts no judgment as to the fairness or the frequency of ones PU-hood. Should we not follow Patrick Henry? — "If this be pejorative, make the most of it!" Jon Awbrey 14:54, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Isn't there supposed to be a "h'rumph" attached to that?  ;-) ...Kenosis 15:20, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Jon and Fyslee, As I said, I had already relinquished the issue before, except to explain further. But, it just struck me why that passage bothered me. It was because it is arguably gratuitous--adds nothing substantive to the article (at least in my view)...Kenosis 15:32, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

JA: Yes, that whole bit about "it is pejorative to call somebody a fool and/or a liar, and of course they will protest their innocence, being as they are fools and/or liars" is logically gratuitous. But it's not gratuitous in a practical sense, because there may indeed be people who do not know that the predicate "pseudoscience" is logically equivalent to the predicate "fool and/or liar", so that is why dictionaries include that sort of information when there's a possibility that word users might not know it. Jon Awbrey 15:42, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

I think Jon Awbrey has a point. The article isn't expected to provide much new information for people who are very familiar with the subject. It needs to be written for those who don't know much about it. The explanation about adherents of pseudoscience objecting (to the inclusion of their favorite delusion in a list of pseudosciences) has already been demonstrated very clearly and repeatedly on this talk page, so it is certainly a very relevant observation, and thus deserves inclusion. True believers are so immersed in their ideas that they cannot recognize their idea as a pseudoscience; they cannot consider it to be controversial; and they often claim it to be very scientific and backed up by hard science, when nothing could be further from the truth. They thus demonstrate that the expression "true believer" certainly applies to themselves. This kind of information is only apparent to those who have been involved in these subjects for some time, and who know the difference (not just in definitions) between pseudo- and real science. This "apparentness" is usually limited to those who are open adherents of modern science and the scientific method, while those who are deeply involved in so-Called "Alternative" Medicine (sCAM) often fail to understand the matter, and continue to insist their method is scientific. There are exceptions, but they are very few and far between. Among those exceptions would be those who are deliberate frauds and scammers, who reveal their bad motives and tainted consciences by refusing to allow their method or themselves to be tested (for example by the Randi $1.000.0000 dollar challenge). Those who are truly believers in their delusion are willing to be tested..... IMHO, Fyslee 17:58, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

The explanation about adherents of pseudoscience objecting (to the inclusion of their favorite delusion in a list of pseudosciences) has already been demonstrated very clearly and repeatedly on this talk page...True believers are so immersed in their ideas that they cannot recognize their idea as a pseudoscience;

I think everything on the list is pseudoscience (not including when a adherent to some pseudo-science slips one in until someone catches it)...but nonetheless it seems pretty clearly a list from the POV of the scientific skeptics. The idea that scientific skeptics and scientists are one and the same is simply not true. Roger Penrose argues for Quantum conciousness, which is pretty pseudo-scientific--yet he still has contributed much to science. Newton, and plenty of modern day scientists believed some 2000 year old Jewish guy was channeling the God of Abraham, or perhaps was said God's actual son--hardly scientific skeptics if you ask me...doesn't mean they wern't scientists. I DO in fact adhere to the scientific skeptic philosophy, and have met more than a few scientists, more accomplished than I in science, that don't necessarily. They are NOT one and the same. This list clearly comes from the POV I hold. But I am still able to recognize it as a POV. --Brentt 12:06, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

(Pseudoscient)ology as a Pseudoscience

JA: The drawing up of a blacklist, an Index of Proscribed Thoughts, with no supporting arguments attached to each case, is a very non-scientific, non-scholarly procedure, and violates all of the guidelines of truly critical thinking. The hypothesis that anybody who criticizes the dicta of the Grand Inquisitor is automatically the adherent of some proscribed heresy is not exactly unfalsifiable, since people of good sense see the flaw in it right off the bat, but it is the moral equivalent of Infallible Truth in the eyes of the True Believer in (Pseudoscient)ology, not to be confused with the pseudoscience of Pseudo(scientology). Jon Awbrey 13:52, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Think Its Time For Archiving?

Geese, is there no admins watching this? Its taking forever to load the page.

Jon Awbrey, you have made a lot of headers that could have fit in to existing discussions: please stop doing that, its made the page longer than it ought to be. (and prefacing every paragraph with "JA" is not necesssary, thats what signatures are for, and signatures work fine as long as everyone signs, and if someone doesn't just sign anonymous for them to avoid the ambiguity you are apparently trying to superflously avoid.)--Brentt 17:45, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

JA: Brentt, try to avoid telling other people what to do, and so will I. Jon Awbrey 10:48, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

JA: P.S. It just occurred to me that maybe you were unaware of this, but chunking the talk page into many sections and adding only to the relevent one is one of the ways to avoid problems with browser overload, and also to reduce edit conflicts when the talk gets hot and heavy. Also, it's a good idea to add stuff at the bottom of the page rather than stringing stuff on some high branch of some old tree. 11:44, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Then why do we have sections at all? If we really wanted to start a new section every new comment, it would be easy to set up the code that way. If you can't subordinate simple things like quoting styles and signature styles to the overall style of the board, how can we believe that you can subordinate your personal opinions and personal style to the larger goals of Misplaced Pages?--Prosfilaes 22:22, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

JA: The recommendations about chunking sections and adding at the bottom are things that are suggested in various guidelines and followed more routinely in various parts of WikioPolis, but like most folks you Pseudoscientologists are very selective about which rules you subordinate yourselves to. Jon Awbrey 22:36, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

I think your misunderstanding the guidlines, a good clue that your misunderstanding the standards is when your the only person ahdering to what you think is the standard. Brentt 02:27, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Remainder of discussion from 2005 archived

Discussion through January of 2006 has been moved here: /Archive 2. The previously existing Archive 2 was comparatively brief....Kenosis 13:20, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

many tanks for your effort--Brentt 04:47, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

And discussion through mid-March of 2006 has been moved here: /Archive 3 Hgilbert 05:34, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Homeopathy and vertebral subluxation revert war

There was no agreement as to whether veteral subluxations should be taken off the list so don't pretend there was in order to make it look like taking it off the list is uncontroversial. (specifically refering to Levine2112's edits). From the POV that the list comes from, it IS in fact a considered a pseudoscience. The POV problem is with where the list is...i.e. the pseudoscience article as opposed to the article about the POV it comes from. Your not helping the effort to adress the POV problems in this article, your just coming at it from a different POV, and I think have hurt the efforts to show the editors that have made this a POV article that it is in fact an innappropriate place for this list. I'm going to get around to getting a third party review of this if I can and when I have time to review that procedure. But the way the adherents to the pseudosciences have been approaching it, by shrilly defending their pet pseudosciences, have hurt the efforts to make this a NPOV article by making this a battleground for opposing viewpoints, instead of a sincere attempt to make the article NPOV. --Brentt 13:48, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

My sincere effort to make this article NPOV would be to remove the list entirely. This list represtents what some people consider pseudoscience - sometimes definitionally, but more often as a matter of opinion. That you say Vertebral Subluxation is "considered" a pseudoscience - for example - shows POV. In truth, Vertebral Subluxation is not pseudoscience, but you are saying it belongs on this list because some still "consider" it a pseudoscience (despite it being a science as valid a gravity, atomic theory and psychology). Certainly you can see the inherent POV here. I can't speak intelligently for the other disciplines on the list, nor am I willing to point a finger and say that this or that belongs on the list. I think the best thing that we can do is to remove the list. The article does a very good job of describing the concept. The editors of this page are to be commended. The list is frankly unneccessary, inciteful, and clearly a big thorn of POV wedged in the side of an otherwise neutral article. Levine2112 17:02, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Read my stance in the above arguments about the list. I do think the list is POV and don't think the list belongs in this particular article. But there has been no consensus on that, and saying that there has been consensus on it is disengenous. I don't think your efforts are working towards making the article any less POV, I think your just trying to accomodate the list to your POV. Thats quite distinct from working towards a NPOV article. So you take out Chiropracty...what does that accomplish? Phrenology and "flat-earth theory" and someone elses pet theory are still on the list. The issue isn't whats on the list, its where the list is. --Brentt 21:10, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I am in complete agreement with you, Brentt. The list is POV and it does not belong on this article. I am using Chiropractic as an example about which I can speak of intelligently. I don't know much about the other disciplines listed here but with Chiropractic, at least I can state a case. Rest assured however that I want more than just the reference to chiropractic and vertebral subluxation removed... at this point they have been removed, and yet I am still here. I want what you want, which is to have this very subjective list removed from this otherwise neutral article. Levine2112 23:14, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

We worked through the three categories which have now been made into three articles. Please respect the distinctions made there. In particular:

I have never heard of vertical subluxations before, but the briefest of research confirms that it is not a science or pseudoscience; it is a specialized term. In the words of this article, it is not a body of knowledge, methodology, or practice. I have no idea whether vertical subluxations exist, but the topic is objectively treated in the eponymous article.

As mentioned above, there is serious research being done on homeopathy, and there are major universities and research centers (including the NIH) that continue to treat the subject seriously. The NIH website, for example, says

NCCAM supports a number of studies in this area. For example:Homeopathy for physical, mental, and emotional symptoms of fibromyalgia (a chronic disorder involving widespread musculoskeletal pain, multiple tender points on the body, and fatigue); Homeopathy for brain deterioration and damage in animal models for stroke and dementia; The homeopathic remedy cadmium, to find out whether it can prevent damage to the cells of the prostate when those cells are exposed to toxins. It cannot be termed a pseudoscience.

-- Hgilbert00:36, 25 April 2006

Quote:

"Systems disproven by scientific testing are normally dropped from scientific discourse; if claims continue to be made for the validity of such a system, it may be considered pseudoscientific."

Both homeopathy and subluxations qualify. -- Fyslee 04:44, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Subluxations are not a "system". It is a misalignment of bones. Levine2112 08:19, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

True enough, but we're not talking about orthopedic subluxations, but about chiropractic subluxations (VS), which are far more than just a "misalignment of bones." They can exist with absolutely no objective or subjective evidence for their presence, other than the pronouncement of a chiropractor. They can be asymptomatic, and yet be considered to be a legitimate object for non-stop, lifelong "wellness care."

They are also the legal and philosophical foundation of the chiropractic profession, in spite of their being considered by many chiros and all scientists outside the profession, to be the biggest hindrance to the advancement of the profession. The most adamant promoter of their existence admits that they are not a proven entity, but that "The vertebral subluxation cannot be precisely defined because it is an abstraction, an intellectual construct used by chiropractors, chiropractic researchers, educators and others to explain the success of the chiropractic adjustment." - Koren

They are not only a system of thought, they are currently (not just historically) the foundation of a whole profession, and practically the only thing uniquely chiropractic. If that doesn't qualify them for inclusion here, then the whole concept of pseudoscience loses all meaning. In spite of chiropractic being based on a pseudoscientific concept, I still don't consider placing chiropractic itself in the list, although good arguments could be made for that possibility. -- Fyslee 20:20, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Vertebral subluxation is simply a misalignment of the vertebra . Are we to add scoliosis to the list of pseudosciences too then? Levine2112 21:29, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

That is simply not the case. Misalignment of the vertebra would be fairly striaghtforward to objectively detect.Geni 05:51, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

But yet that is precisely what Vertebral Subluxation is. Just a misalignment of the vertebra. Now then, when bones move out of place, the soft tissue surrounding the bone becomes inflamed. In the case of the vertebrae, this tissue can cause pressure on the nerve stem and interfere with nervous message flow. It is this point - what chiropractor's believe to be the result of Vertebral Subluxation - that is contentious; albeit not pseudoscience. Vertebral Subluxation is the foundation of a concept, but are in themselves not a concept. Levine2112 17:15, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

"Just a misalignment ....?" Not quite, by a long shot (111 years of contention and changing definitions within the profession).

There are myriad significant differences between the chiropractic vertebral subluxation (VS) and an orthopedic subluxation. I'll name just a few of them here:

• An orthopedic subluxation is always objectively verifiable and no one questions its existence, including chiropractors. It is also nearly always symptomatic, and it usually is not amenable to manipulation of the HVLA thrust variety commonly used by chiropractors. In fact, its presence is usually considered to be a contraindication to the use of manipulation.

• The chiropractic VS is a "claimed" diagnosis: It is "claimed" that there is a "misalignment." This claim is nearly always false, since it is only the chiropractor who determines its existence and location; no two chiropractors find the same "subluxation;" it is not objectively verifiable on x-ray or scans; it is often asymptomatic, yet is the subject of lifelong so-called "maintenance care" (which is expressly excluded from insurance coverage by several major health insurers); ad libitum....

• The very existence of the VS is vigorously debated, even within chiropractic circles, with more and more chiropractors openly expressing "heretical" doubts. This would not be the case if VS were "just a misalignment" that was easily objectively confirmable.

• Only VS is the foundation of a profession, and since it is debated and unproven, it makes a very shaky and unstable foundation, which is the biggest cause of most of the problems chiropractic has endured throughout the years. Of course chiropractors attempt to get around this fact (it's pretty nearly impossible to admit that one has a false belief...) by blaming their troubles on persecution from the medical profession. While there certainly has been persecution, the reason has basically been because of the false VS belief being perpetrated on the public, with its resulting quackeries and scams.

• VS is a confusing and false diagnosis, because it attempts to misuse and twist an existing and legitimate subluxation diagnosis. There is only one "true" subluxation, and that is the orthopedic subluxation.

-- Fyslee 07:40, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Are you suggesting that vertebra cannot become misaligned? I'm not looking for a long answer here. A simple 'yes' or 'no' will suffice. Levine2112 21:09, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Homeopathy

Subluxions aside, what is the opinion on Homeopathy. It's a text book case of pseudoscience. Jefffire 11:03, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I can hardly think of a better example of pseudoscience. Fortunately it is falsifiable and continually fails in good research. (Poor quality research confirms it.) Because it is testable, our skepticism about it is not based on a lack of evidence because of a lack of research, but because good research repeatedly shows it to be lacking in specific effects above the placebo effect. It is simply a disproven method.

The very fact that there are flaky "scientists" who insist that it is scientific and continue to research it, is what makes it classifiable as a pseudoscience. If they gave up and admitted that they are following an old prescientific metaphysical belief system, then it wouldn't be a pseudoscience. It is also this continued research that is being improperly used here as a reason to exclude it from being included, which is an absurd notion. True believers never give up, and since there is so much money involved, they will continue to get funds to research it, instead of admitting defeat. -- Fyslee 11:59, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, indeed. To say water retains long-term ordering (as in, ordering on the timescale of hours) due to trace quantities of solute is to challange the postulates of statistical mechanics. I have not seen a "scientifically mature" criticism of stat. mech. by homeopathy proponents, rather, they assert a model and provide 'evidence' in the form of the placebo effect. I'm not saying it's impossible that homeopathy works, but their model is definately not scientific, discrediting its status as a science. rmbh 16:07, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

The research results have actually been mixed. Of course, those with a bias against homeopathy will claim that only the negative results can be believed. --Lee Hunter 17:39, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Research which was carried out with adaquate scientific rigour has been largely negative. Jefffire 17:50, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

List of pseudosciences

I agree that the whole list of pseudosciences is a delicate, perhaps a highly problematic matter. Removing it is one solution. Another would be giving (and requiring) substantial citations that support each of these fields being classified here. A third approach would be our being very careful (but new editors might not be) about what we put here; innocent until proven guilty would be a highly recommended practice...in other words, doubtful but not proved false theories would not be listed. A fourth approach would be to allow anyone to add anything they are quite sure fits the bill...and, I suppose, anyone to take off anything they are quite sure doesn't. I guess that the latter is the current approach. I'm not sure it's working all that well.

My experience suggests that concrete criteria are the best solution, though I could also go with the cited justifications for the classification. I have suggested that any approach about which articles are being written in peer-reviewed journals, which is studied in universities or recognized organizations (such as the NIH), or which in any way is still a topic of discussion and research (as opposed to mere derision) in academic or professional circles, should not be listed here. The jury is still out on many areas(especially health-related, like homeopathy and chiropracty), and this encyclopedia is not the place to make the judgment. Perhaps some of the contributors here could add to the suggested criteria, or modify them, and come up with a reasonable, objective set that we can all apply. Hgilbert 21:35, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

As for your second approach, I said that I would see if I could get citations for most of the things. I think I can do it with just a handful of books, but I haven't done it yet. Bubba73 (talk), 22:12, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I think the Pseudoscience article does a marvelous job sans the list. The list will always be contraversial and cause headaches, edit wars, and more headaches. The examples don't really help the article. It is merely a list of what some people consider pseudoscience. Since it is a pejorative label, there will always be adherents who will be correct when they cite POV. Removing the list is the most Wikipedian thing to do here. Levine2112 01:35, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

If we keep the list at all, then it should be for fields for which it is difficult or impossible to find citable support. If there is a legitimate mix of opinion out there, the field doesn't belong here. I think that there are some areas that are clear enough to be listed (Wiki policy is also to be bold ... (and be prepared to be corrected, as I am here). I'm worried about the gray areas, though; thus my wish to have objective standards. Hgilbert 05:36, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Mst of the things on the list are in the Category Pseudoscience, aren't they? If so, then I don't see any problem with listing them in the Pseudoscience article. Bubba73 (talk), 01:51, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

There is no meta-science to judge something as pseudo-scientific. I don't even think its about citable support. Flat-earth theory or the moon is green-cheese theories could theoretically use the scientific method to test hypothesis', have studies published in peer-reviewed journals (it doesn't much matter if your peers think like you do...there are peer-reviewed journals for many pseudosciences. They use the scientific method, they just interpret the results unconvincingly.), and just generally act scientific. Of course to most people it would be unconvincing and obviously a facade of science. And in most cases its clear which ones are just putting a veneer of science on their theories...but there will always be a minority opinion of people that think it is real science.

Now if pseudoscience was a term used by only scientific skeptics, which is the POV the list comes from, then it would probably be a non-issue. But many people use the term not, the fact that it was originally made a widely used term by scientific skeptics, and was later usurped by proponents of fringe theories is irrelevant. Creationists call evolution pseudo-science, and some make sophisticated arguments as to why they think it is pseudoscience. So why isn't evolotuion on the list? A small minority of scientists think globabl warming climatalogy is pseudoscientific--why isn't that on the list? Obviously because generally scientific skeptics don't think it is pseudoscience. ergo this is a list from the scientific skeptic POV.

Trying to pretend that there is some meta-science to determine what is an isn't real science is to be naive about the highly contentious issues debated in the philosophy of science. From my POV, everything on that list is pseudo-science, but that doesn't mean its not a POV. Pretending there is such a meta-science to determine whether something is or isn't pseudoscience or science is disengenous.

Please understand I'm not defending any of the theories on the list. I am a scientific skeptic, thats precisely why I've come to recognize the list as coming from my POV. --Brentt 01:36, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

I think you have made it abundantly clear that this list is truly POV and completely inappropriate here. You have my support in taking it down. Is there anyone who can challenge what Brentt has so clearly stated here and give us any good reason to keep this list any longer? Levine2112 02:24, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Of course we should keep the list. The article is about a POV - the scientific POV, and to delete explanations and examples from that POV would be to hollow out the soul of the article. It would be like having an article about weapons, without it being allowed to make a list of typical weapons. Absurd!

To make it conform to the NPOV policy, the article must also present the POV of critics of the article's (scientific) POV, which is what the Criticisms section is for. Both POV should be presented, but the article's main POV is of course the subject of the article, and thus maintains the pole position. Readers of the article should come away from it with an understanding of both POV and then be able to make up their own minds. -- Fyslee 21:33, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I feel just like John Treen must have felt when David Duke endorsed him. Brentt 16:14, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Relax, I'm just saying you've sort of poisoned your own well and your support will at best do nothing and at worst discredit my position. --Brentt 19:10, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Great. I feel so much more relaxed. What logical fallacy do you believe I am presenting here? Levine2112 19:19, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

I wasn't saying you poisoned the well, forget that part, I was just saying that you've kind of discredited yourself by showing that your not really interested in a NPOV article but rather just want an article that is more accomadating to your POV. Forget it, its irrelevant, I shouldn't have said anything. --Brentt 19:38, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

And if you read my comments closely, you will see I am not trying to accommodate my POV (except for my POV that the list should be removed entirely). Next time you compare someone to a Klan member, make sure you have done the research. I would appreciate an apology or at the very least the deletion of your attack. Levine2112 19:44, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

I wasn't comparing you to David Duke anymore than saying "the emperor has new clothes" would be comparing the referent to an emperor. But if you want me to delete this subdiscussion I will. Do I have permission to delete your responses to it too so they aren't out of place? --Brentt 20:42, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

You can ask me to delete my responses. Which one(s) would you like me to delete?Levine2112 20:53, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

I by the Category pseudoscience you mean the Platonic category, that's certainly the case. If you mean the Misplaced Pages category, well, it's probably been set up by a lot of the same people who made the list in the Pseudoscience article. The question is whether any sort of objective criteria have been applied to either. String theory, for example, has been described as pseudoscience by respected scientists because of its lack of verifiability. Lack of verifiability is normally a clear sign of a pseudoscience. So what are the criteria here? It does seem to come down to a very arbitrary collection based upon the subjective choices: a pseudoscientific list of pseudosciences. 24.190.149.18 01:12, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Uggh, your being being unproductively contentious. Such frivolous contentiousness isn't going to help people see why the list is POV. Calling the list "pseudoscientific", or making stupid comments about string theory, is just going to goad people into a flame war and make them all the more certain that the list is good and proper because after all "clearly the people against the list are just adherents to quackery". Brentt 01:36, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Quoting from above " Creationists call evolution pseudo-science, and some make sophisticated arguments as to why they think it is pseudoscience. So why isn't evolotuion on the list? A small minority of scientists think globabl warming climatalogy is pseudoscientific--why isn't that on the list?" These are opinions of a small minority. The concensus of the vast majority of scientists is different from the small minority. WP policy says to present the majority scientific opinion as the majority and the minority opinion as the minority. These things are examples of pseudoscience, in the consensus of the majority, and that is the topic of the article. Natural science lists examples of natural sciences, so why can't an article on pseudoscience list examples of pseudoscience? The list gives the reader specific examples to look at. Otherwise, they would have to click on the Pseudoscience category to find them, and not everything in the category is an area of pseudoscience. Bubba73 (talk), 02:47, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Quoting "String theory, for example, has been described as pseudoscience by respected scientists because of its lack of verifiability". String theory doesn't meet the critera for pseudoscience because no one (to my knowledge) is claiming that it is true. Anyone calling string theory pseudoscience is probably using it in a broader context. I doubt they mean that it is a pseudoscience the way, say, ESP is. Bubba73 (talk), 02:52, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

WP policy says to present the majority scientific opinion as the majority and the minority opinion as the minority. Precisely the point. The problem is that the minority opinion is not represented here at all--and it is hard to argue that there isn't a significant minority that believes evolutions is pseudoscience, or that global warming climatology is pseudoscience, or that chiropracty or homeopathy is scientific (or atleast not pseudoscientific). Thats why I proposed moving the list, which I agree is useful, to the article about the majority viewpoint--scientific skepticism--and linking this article to that list (adherents to the minority view wouldn't have a leg to stand on if they tried to change the list there, thus ending the revert wars).

The alternative is to make other lists for the minority viewpoints: do I need to explain why that would be unwieldy? Only counting significant minority viewpoints you'd have to make several lists. Instead we could link to other viewpoints that have used the concept pseudoscience to fields they view as pseudoscientific and state clearly that they are minority views, just like we could state clearly that the scientific skeptic view is the majority view among scientists (it is irrelevant whether the adherents to fringe theories have usurped the term in a sophisitic battle, as I think they have). --Brentt 16:06, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

It seems to me that we need to give a fuller and above all a more differentiated picture than a list offers. I have attempted to give a more differentiated stance to three of the subjects; I would hope that the article will eventually have such a description for all the fields on the list. Please feel free to add more evidence on any side; it will need this to achieve a balanced picture. I hope that everyone will agree that more information can only be better under the circumstances. Please do not add rank and unsubstantiated opinions to the page, however (and let me know if I have unwittingly done so!) Hgilbert 03:27, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

This isn't an article about what is a pseudoscience. This is an article about what pseudoscience is. This article shouldn't become yet another battleground for every controversial topic that someone decides they want to post on this list. I'm sure each topic in the list has it's own article raging with its own flame wars. If we keep using this article to point fingers and place labels, there will never be peace here. The only way to reach an accord is to take out the highly subjective, POV-ridden, and inciteful list. Levine2112 09:34, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Either take out the whole thing or not at all, but I feel it is very useful to the article to give some examples of high profile pseudosciences. Jefffire 09:49, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

I just now searched the site at homeopathic.com and found no instances where homeopathy holds itself out as scientific. What I do see are many instances where practitioners appear to be arguing for more scientific research and some instances where it is argued that scientific research has later shown arguably compelling evidence that some of the techniques or strategies for healing (or attempted healing) are statistically sound. No doubt there are other instances where the techniques and decisions are unique to the homeopath on a patient-by-patient basis. And almost no-doubt there are instances where research may have shown certain strategies not to be effective in healing patients — that has certainly happened to its most prominent competitor as we all know. But I don't see where it holds itself up as scientific. This reference on the list is therefore questionable, at least by my observation.

Of course, the article editors have chosen to leave the catogory labelled as "Fields commonly described as pseudoscience" but doesn't set a standard for who is doing the describing. And thus this article can rely on any field's business competitors or other interested critics to make a judgment about whether something should rightly go on the list. And there's a convenient avenue for using any set of references found by a search on the web, or elsewhere. I feel confident I could fairly easily find a few more that should be on the list by that standard. It seems to me that the section deserves a more cautious approach and a clear demand for credible disinterested sourcing of candidates for inclusion, or that the list should be dropped altogether. Good regards all...Kenosis 10:53, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Cybernetics?

Why is cybernetics on the list of pseudosciences?

I believe the reference is to an attempt to apply cybernetics to direct economic and social life (see the author mentioned), but I am removing it from the list as misleading (cybernetics as we commonly think of it is not a pseudoscience). This illustrates the danger of the current system; how long has cybernetics been listed??!!

Yea, I was a little iffy about that one too when I first saw it added a couple months ago. I don't really know that much about cybernetics, but I know that some thinkers associated with the skeptic movement take cybernetics seriously. Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett both seem to take it seriously as applied to questions of "free will" and what "control" really means. And I think I've even seen Richard Dawkins talk about it in regards to evolutionary theory. (oddly enough those three are all connected to each other...Hoffstadter and Dennett are good friends, and both of them have works that are derivative of Dawkin's ideas.) But they all are usually considered skeptics and Hoffstadter was even one of the founding members of the Skeptic's Society and even wrote an essay defending the "hard-line" skeptics when their was a split in the society between one faction who wanted to be more open and accomodating to "alternative" theories.

I'm sure that there are all kinds of pseudo-scientific renderings of cyberenetics though. I did pick up a book once titled Cybernetics that I suspected was a pseudo-scientific tract upon skimming it (heh, one of the things that made me suspicious was the fact that the author's name was presaged by MD. When I see the author of a supposedly scientific tract having little or nothing to do with medicine presaging their name with MD I get suspicious--because I've seen so many authors of pseudo-scientific tracts use their medical credentials to give a false sense of authority. Creationists are especially fond of that little tactic). But just because its been usurped as such doesn't mean their isn't serious proto-scientific renderings of it (again I don't know that much about it, so maybe it is pseudo-scientific) --Brentt 20:43, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

String Theory!?!?

When I first saw this added my first reaction was what the...!? thats ridiculous!. But then I thought about the title of this list being "fields associated with pseudo-science" and then thought, well strictly speaking, string theory, while most emphatically not a pseudo-science, is often associated with pseudo-science. Not with the auspices of actual string theorists of course, but by New Agers who read a popularization of it and think that their misunderstanding of it reinforces their views (they do it with QM and relativity of course too). But of course, despite the title, I don't think thats what the list is supposed to be about. The term associated probably shouldn't be in there. It does nothing to mitigate the POV of the list (and I do think the list is from a particular POV as I've said before.) But if the list is going to be up, there is no sense of saying "associated with". Maybe "alleged to be", if you want to keep of the facade that the list isn't POV. --Brentt 20:43, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Another list name change

This is unrelated to the POV issue. But I changed the name of the list to Fields alleged to be pseudoscientific and phenomena associated with pseudoscientific methods of study. The main change being so things like UFO's,Telekenisis, and Perpetual motion can be included without any awkward qualifiers, since they are obviously of interest but aren't pseudosciences per se. I thought it would be a uncontroversial change. Hope I'm right? --Brentt 20:50, 29 April 2006 (UTC)