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* ''']''' – method of ] that treats farms as unified and individual organisms. Biodynamics uses a calendar which has been characterized as ] and unconventional preparations and composts. For example, field mice are countered by deploying ashes prepared from field mice skin when Venus is in the Scorpius constellation.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = ]| isbn = 978-0-520-24800-7| last = Goode| first = Jamie| title = The science of wine: from vine to glass| date = 1 March 2006|ref=harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Linda |last=Chalker-Scott|url= http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Biodynamic%20agriculture.pdf |title=The Myth of Biodynamic Agriculture|magazine= Master Gardener Magazine|year= 2004|ref=harv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| last = Smith| first = D.| title = On Fertile Ground? Objections to Biodynamics| url= http://www.csicop.org/si/show/biodynamics_in_the_wine_bottle/ |journal = ] (archived at ]) (| year=2006|issue =12|pages=108–113 | accessdate=29 November 2013|ref = harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1007/BF02349036 | last = Kirchmann | first = Holger | year = 1994| title = Biological dynamic farming – an occult form of alternative agriculture? | journal = J. Agric. Environ. Ethics | volume = 7 | issue = 2| pages = 173–187 | ref = harv }}</ref> | * ''']''' – method of ] that treats farms as unified and individual organisms. Biodynamics uses a calendar which has been characterized as ] and unconventional preparations and composts. For example, field mice are countered by deploying ashes prepared from field mice skin when Venus is in the Scorpius constellation.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = ]| isbn = 978-0-520-24800-7| last = Goode| first = Jamie| title = The science of wine: from vine to glass| date = 1 March 2006|ref=harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Linda |last=Chalker-Scott|url= http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Biodynamic%20agriculture.pdf |title=The Myth of Biodynamic Agriculture|magazine= Master Gardener Magazine|year= 2004|ref=harv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| last = Smith| first = D.| title = On Fertile Ground? Objections to Biodynamics| url= http://www.csicop.org/si/show/biodynamics_in_the_wine_bottle/ |journal = ] (archived at ]) (| year=2006|issue =12|pages=108–113 | accessdate=29 November 2013|ref = harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1007/BF02349036 | last = Kirchmann | first = Holger | year = 1994| title = Biological dynamic farming – an occult form of alternative agriculture? | journal = J. Agric. Environ. Ethics | volume = 7 | issue = 2| pages = 173–187 | ref = harv }}</ref> | ||
* ''']''' – ] arguments disputing ] have been identified as being pseudoscientific.<ref name=NCSE>, ], January 13th, 2012</ref><ref name=Shermer_SA>]. , '']'', September 15, 2011</ref><ref name=Morrison>Morrison, David. , '']'', Volume 37.2, March/April 2013. Book review of ''The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe'', by Michael D. Gordin.</ref><ref name=Brown>Brown, Michael. , ‘’]’’, Sep 26, 2013</ref><ref name=Plait>]., ‘’]’’, Jan. 14, 2013</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Kennedy|first= D|title=An Unfortunate U-turn on Carbon|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/content/291/5513/2515.full|journal=Science|date=30 March 2001|page=5513|ref=harv|doi=10.1126/science.1060922|volume=291|issue=5513}} Subscription needed</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Brown|first= R. G. E., Jr.|title=Environmental science under siege: Fringe science and the 104th Congress, U. S. House of Representatives. |work= Report, Democratic Caucus of the Committee on Science |publisher=]|location=Washington, D. C. |date= 23 October 1996|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926222320/http://democrats.science.house.gov/Media/File/Reports/environment_science_report_23oct96.pdf|ref=harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Lahsen|first= Myanna|title= Technocracy, Democracy, and the U.S. Climate Politics: The Need for Demarcations|journal= ]|date=Winter 2005|pages= 137–169|ref=harv|doi=10.1177/0162243904270710|volume=30}}</ref> | * ''']''' – ] arguments disputing ] have been identified as being pseudoscientific.<ref name=NCSE>, ], January 13th, 2012</ref><ref name=Shermer_SA>]. , '']'', September 15, 2011</ref><ref name=Morrison>Morrison, David. , '']'', Volume 37.2, March/April 2013. Book review of ''The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe'', by Michael D. Gordin.</ref><ref name=Brown>Brown, Michael. , ‘’]’’, Sep 26, 2013</ref><ref name=Plait>]., ‘’]’’, Jan. 14, 2013</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Kennedy|first= D|title=An Unfortunate U-turn on Carbon|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/content/291/5513/2515.full|journal=Science|date=30 March 2001|page=5513|ref=harv|doi=10.1126/science.1060922|volume=291|issue=5513}} Subscription needed</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Brown|first= R. G. E., Jr.|title=Environmental science under siege: Fringe science and the 104th Congress, U. S. House of Representatives. |work= Report, Democratic Caucus of the Committee on Science |publisher=]|location=Washington, D. C. |date= 23 October 1996|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926222320/http://democrats.science.house.gov/Media/File/Reports/environment_science_report_23oct96.pdf|ref=harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Lahsen|first= Myanna|title= Technocracy, Democracy, and the U.S. Climate Politics: The Need for Demarcations|journal= ]|date=Winter 2005|pages= 137–169|ref=harv|doi=10.1177/0162243904270710|volume=30}}</ref> | ||
* ''']''' – a proposal that Earth is either entirely hollow or consists of hollow sections beneath the crust. Certain folklore and conspiracy theories hold this idea and suggest the existence of subterranean life. | * ''']''' – a proposal that Earth is either entirely hollow or consists of hollow sections beneath the crust. Certain folklore and conspiracy theories hold this idea and suggest the existence of subterranean life. |
Revision as of 19:17, 5 March 2015
This is a list of topics that have, at one point or another in their history, been characterized as pseudoscience by academics or researchers. These characterizations were made in the context of educating the public about questionable or potentially fraudulent or dangerous claims and practices - efforts to define the nature of science, or humorous parodies of poor scientific reasoning. Criticism of pseudoscience, generally by the scientific community or skeptical organizations, involves critiques of the logical, methodological, or rhetorical bases of the topic in question. Though some of the listed topics continue to be investigated scientifically, others were only subject to scientific research in the past and today are considered refuted but resurrected in a pseudoscientific fashion. Other ideas presented here are entirely non-scientific, but have in one way or another infringed on scientific domains or practices. Many adherents to or practitioners of the topics listed here dispute their characterization as pseudoscience.
Each section summarizes the pseudoscientific aspects of that topic.
Physical sciences
Physics
- Autodynamics – alternative to special relativity proposed by Ricardo Carezani based on revised Lorentz transformations. In addition to failing to make accurate predictions at relativistic velocities, the proposed transformations do not correspond to classical velocity addition. Promoters also propose several revisions to the "particle zoo" of subatomic physics, including the nonexistence of neutrinos.
- Bogdanov affair – was an academic dispute regarding the legitimacy of a series of theoretical physics papers written by French twin brothers Igor and Grichka Bogdanov.
- Einstein–Cartan–Evans theory – proposed unified theory of physics due to Myron Evans, a Welsh chemist.
- Electrogravitics – a hypothesis, based on the 1920s work of Thomas Townsend Brown, that an electrical charge applied to a mass can produce an (anti) gravity effect.
Astronomy and space sciences
- 2012 millenarianism – a belief that cataclysmic and apocalyptic events were to occur in the year 2012. The proposal was derived from the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar which by most proposed alignments with the Gregorian calendar reached a calendar rollover that year. Doomsday mechanisms were predicted to occur by means of a "galactic alignment", "solar storm", "pole shift", or catastrophic collision with an asteroid, comet, or planet (e.g. Nibiru).
- Ancient astronauts – proposal by Erich von Däniken (1968) that Earth was visited by ancient astronauts. Such beings have been claimed to have initiated the rise of human civilization or provided significant technological assistance to various ancient cultures.
- Anunnaki from Nibiru (Sitchin) (variant) - Zecharia Sitchin proposed in his book The 12th Planet (1976) that ancient Sumerian cuneiform suggests that ancient astronauts (the Anunnaki from the planet Nibiru) visited Earth and created human beings through biogenetics. Sitchin claims that these writings tell of a Planet X beyond the dwarf planet Pluto. Scholars have criticized his interpretations and qualifications (noting that he has no degree in Semitic Languages). Michael Heiser, who has a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages, has challenged Sitchin to present one text that confirms his claims.
- Ancient astronauts from the Sirius star-system (Temple) (variant) - Robert K. G. Temple's proposal in his book The Sirius Mystery (1976) that the Dogon people of northwestern Mali preserved an account of extraterrestrial visitation by aliens from the Sirius star-system around 5,000 years ago (core evidence the Dogon people and Sirius B claim).
- Astrology (see also astrology and science) – refers to any of several systems of divination based on the relative positions and movement of various real and construed celestial bodies.
- Dogon people and Sirius B – a series of claims that the Dogon tribe knew about the white dwarf companion of Sirius despite it being invisible to the naked eye.
- The Face on Mars – (in Cydonia Mensae) is a rock formation on Mars asserted to be evidence of intelligent, native life on the planet. High-resolution images taken recently show it to appear less face-like. It features prominently in the works of Richard C. Hoagland and Tom Van Flandern.
- Modern flat Earth beliefs – proposes that the earth is a flat, disc-shaped planet that accelerates upward, producing the illusion of gravity. Proposers of a flat Earth, such as the Flat Earth Society, do not accept compelling evidence, such as photos of planet Earth from space.
- Lunar effect – the belief that the full Moon influences human behavior.
- Moon landing conspiracy theories – claims that parts of the Apollo program were hoaxed and subsequently covered up. While many of the accusations are best categorized under conspiracy theories, some do attempt to use faulty science to prove that the Moon landing could not have happened, thus qualifying them as pseudoscientific claims.
- Nibiru cataclysm – a prediction first made by contactee Nancy Lieder that a mythological planet Nibiru would collide with Earth. After having adjusted her prediction many times, she later claimed the year of the occurrence to be 2012.
- Worlds in Collision (Velikovsky) – writer Immanuel Velikovsky proposed in his book Worlds in Collision that ancient texts and geographic evidence show mankind was witness to catastrophic interactions of other planets in our Solar system.
Earth sciences
- 366 geometry or Megalithic geometry – posits the existence of an Earth-based geometry dating back to at least 3500 BC, and the possibility that such a system is still in use in modern Freemasonry. According to Alexander Thom and, later, Alan Butler and Christopher Knight, megalithic civilizations in Britain and Brittany had advanced knowledge of geometry, mathematics, and the size of the Earth. Butler correlates Thom's megalithic yard to the polar circumference of Earth using a circle divided into 366 degrees.
- The Bermuda Triangle – a region of the Atlantic Ocean that lies between Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and (in its most popular version) Florida. Ship and aircraft disasters and disappearances perceived as frequent in this area have led to the circulation of stories of unusual natural phenomena, paranormal encounters, and interactions with extraterrestrials.
- Biodynamic agriculture – method of organic farming that treats farms as unified and individual organisms. Biodynamics uses a calendar which has been characterized as astrological and unconventional preparations and composts. For example, field mice are countered by deploying ashes prepared from field mice skin when Venus is in the Scorpius constellation.
- Climate change denial – politically contentious arguments disputing aspects of global warming have been identified as being pseudoscientific.
- Hollow Earth – a proposal that Earth is either entirely hollow or consists of hollow sections beneath the crust. Certain folklore and conspiracy theories hold this idea and suggest the existence of subterranean life.
- Lysenkoism, or Lysenko-Michurinism – denotes the biological inheritance principle propounded by Trofim Lysenko, which derives from theories of the heritability of acquired characteristics. Lysenkoism is a theory of biological inheritance which departs from Mendelism, and which Lysenko named "Michurinism". Lysenko's theories came to prominence in the Soviet Union during the late 1940s and early 1950s, when genetics was declared a "bourgeois science" in the wake of the famines caused by Joseph Stalin's collectivization campaign. The Soviet Union quietly abandoned Lysenko's agricultural practices in favor of modern agricultural practices after the crop yields he promised failed to materialize. By the mid-1950s, his influence had declined considerably. Today Lysenko's agricultural experimentation and research is largely viewed as fraudulent.
- Flat Earth - a theory that the Earth is flat not spherical. Still supported by some fringe groups.
Energy
- Hongcheng Magic Liquid – a 1983 pseudoscience incident in China where an inventor claimed that he could turn water into a usable fuel by just adding a few drops of his "secret formula" liquid. The government of China and the Chinese Communist Party were alarmed by pseudoscience developments like this one and issued a joint proclamation condemning the recent decline of public education in science. (Also see: Gasoline pill)
- Hydrinos – are a supposed state of the hydrogen atom that, according to proponent Randell Mills, are of lower energy than ground state and thus a source of free energy.
- Perpetual motion – class of proposed machines that violate one of the Laws of Thermodynamics. Perpetual motion has been recognized as extrascientific since the late 18th century, but proposals and patents for such devices continue to be made to the present day.
- Free energy – particular class of perpetual motion which purports to create energy (violating the first law of thermodynamics) or extract useful work from equilibrium systems (violating the second law of thermodynamics). This is in contrast to proposals made most notably by Harold Puthoff which involve the extraction of zero point energy, a real energy which in quantum mechanics is thought not to be available to do work.
- Water-fueled cars – an instance of perpetual motion machines. Such devices are claimed to use water as fuel or produce fuel from water on board with no other energy input.
Life sciences
Psychology
- Attachment therapy – common name for a set of potentially fatal clinical interventions and parenting techniques aimed at controlling aggressive, disobedient, or unaffectionate children using "restraint and physical and psychological abuse to seek their desired results." (The term "attachment therapy" may sometimes be used loosely to refer to mainstream approaches based on attachment theory, usually outside the USA where pseudoscientific form of attachment therapy is less known). Probably the most common form is holding therapy in which the child is restrained by adults for the purpose of supposed cathartic release of suppressed rage and regression. Perhaps the most extreme, but much less common, is "rebirthing", in which the child is wrapped tightly in a blanket and then made to simulate emergence from a birth canal. This is done by encouraging the child to struggle and pushing and squeezing him/her to mimic contractions. Despite its name it is not based on attachment theory or research. In 2006 it was the subject of an almost entirely critical Taskforce Report commissioned by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). Not all forms of attachment therapy are coercive and since the Candace Newmaker case there has been a move towards less coercive practices by leaders in the field.
- Brainwashing or Mind Control - A theoretical indoctrination process which results in "an impairment of autonomy, an inability to think independently, and a disruption of beliefs and affiliations. In this context, brainwashing refers to the involuntary reeducation of basic beliefs and values". The term has been applied to any tactic, psychological or otherwise, which can be seen as subverting an individual's sense of control over their own thinking, behavior, emotions or decision making. In 1983, the American Psychological Association (APA) asked Margaret Singer to chair a taskforce called the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC) to investigate whether brainwashing or "coercive persuasion" did indeed play a role in "cult" recruitment. The APA found that brainwashing theories were without empirical proof, and rejected the DIMPAC report because the report "lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur". Two critical letters from external reviewers Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi and Jeffery D. Fisher accompanied the APA's rejection memo. The letters criticized "brainwashing" as an unrecognized theoretical concept and Singer's reasoning as so flawed that it was "almost ridiculous."
- Conversion therapy – sometimes called reparative therapy, seeks to change a non-heterosexual person's sexual orientation so they will no longer be homosexual or bisexual. The American Psychiatric Association defines reparative therapy as "psychiatric treatment...which is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that a patient should change their sexual homosexual orientation."
- Graphology – psychological test based on a belief that personality traits unconsciously and consistently influence handwriting morphology – that certain types of people exhibit certain quirks of the pen. Analysis of handwriting attributes provides no better than chance correspondence with personality, and neuroscientist Barry Beyerstein likened the assigned correlations to sympathetic magic. Graphology is only superficially related to forensic document examination, which also examines handwriting.
- Hypnosis – state of extreme relaxation and inner focus in which a person is unusually responsive to suggestions made by the hypnotist. The modern practice has its roots in the idea of animal magnetism, or mesmerism, originated by Franz Mesmer. Mesmer's explanations were thoroughly discredited, and to this day there is no agreement amongst researchers whether hypnosis is a real phenomenon, or merely a form of participatory role-enactment. Some aspects of suggestion have been clinically useful. Other claimed uses of hypnosis more clearly fall within the area of pseudoscience. Such areas include the use of hypnotic regression beyond plausible limits, including past life regression. Also see false memory syndrome.
- Hypnotherapy – therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis. It is widely considered a branch of Complementary and Alternative Medicine though its founder – James Braid – has been described as "one of the most ardent and influential critics of pseudo-science."
- It should be noted that using hypnosis for relaxation, mood control, and other related benefits (often related to meditation) is regarded as part of standard medical treatment rather than alternative medicine, particularly for patients subjected to difficult physical emotional stress in chemotherapy.
- Memetics – approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer based on the concept that units of information, or "memes", have an independent existence, are self-replicating, and are subject to selective evolution through environmental forces. Starting from a proposition put forward in the writings of Richard Dawkins, it has since turned into a new area of study, one that looks at the self-replicating units of culture. It has been proposed that just as memes are analogous to genes, memetics is analogous to genetics. Memetics has been deemed a pseudoscience on several fronts. Its proponents' assertions have been labeled "untested, unsupported or incorrect" though the same book contains Susan Blackmore's counter article "Memes as Good Science." Supporters of memetics include EO Wilson, Douglas Hofstadter and many others.
- Neuro-linguistic programming – an approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy created in the 1970s. The title refers to a stated connection between the neurological processes ("neuro"), language ("linguistic") and behavioral patterns that have been learned through experience ("programming") and can be organized to achieve specific goals in life. According to certain neuroscientists, psychologists and linguists, NLP is unsupported by current scientific evidence, and uses incorrect and misleading terms and concepts. Reviews of empirical research on NLP indicate that NLP contains numerous factual errors, and has failed to produce reliable results for the claims for effectiveness made by NLP’s originators and proponents. According to Devilly, NLP is no longer as prevalent as it was in the 1970s and 1980s. Criticisms go beyond the lack of empirical evidence for effectiveness; critics say that NLP exhibits pseudoscientific characteristics, title, concepts and terminology. NLP is used as an example of pseudoscience for facilitating the teaching of scientific literacy at the professional and university level. NLP also appears on peer reviewed expert-consensus based lists of discredited interventions. In research designed to identify the “quack factor” in modern mental health practice, Norcross et al. (2006) list NLP as possibly or probably discredited, and in papers reviewing discredited interventions for substance and alcohol abuse, Norcross et al. (2008) list NLP in the “top ten” most discredited, and Glasner-Edwards and Rawson (2010) list NLP as “certainly discredited”.
- Parapsychology – controversial discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities and life after death using the scientific method. Parapsychological experiments have included the use of random number generators to test for evidence of precognition and psychokinesis with both human and animal subjects and Ganzfeld experiments to test for extrasensory perception.
- Phrenology – now defunct system for determining personality traits by feeling bumps on the skull proposed by 18th century physiologist Franz Joseph Gall. In an early recorded use of the term "pseudo-science", François Magendie referred to phrenology as "a pseudo-science of the present day". The assumption that personality can be read from bumps in the skull has since been thoroughly discredited. However, Gall's assumption that character, thoughts, and emotions are located in the brain is considered an important historical advance toward neuropsychology (see also localization of brain function, Brodmann's areas, neuro-imaging, modularity of mind or faculty psychology).
- Polygraphy ("lie detectors") – an interrogation method which measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions. The belief is that deceptive answers will produce physiological responses that can be differentiated from those associated with non-deceptive answers. Many members of the scientific community consider polygraphy to be pseudoscience. Polygraphy has little credibility among scientists. Despite claims of 90–95% validity by polygraph advocates, and 95–100% by businesses providing polygraph services, critics maintain that rather than a "test", the method amounts to an inherently unstandardizable interrogation technique whose accuracy cannot be established. A 1997 survey of 421 psychologists estimated the test's average accuracy at about 61%, a little better than chance. Critics also argue that even given high estimates of the polygraph's accuracy a significant number of subjects (e.g. 10% given a 90% accuracy) will appear to be lying, and would unfairly suffer the consequences of "failing" the polygraph.
- Primal therapy – sometimes presented as a science. The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology (2001) states that: "The theoretical basis for the therapy is the supposition that prenatal experiences and birth trauma form people's primary impressions of life and that they subsequently influence the direction our lives take... Truth be known, primal therapy cannot be defended on scientifically established principles. This is not surprising considering its questionable theoretical rationale." Other sources have also questioned the scientific validity of primal therapy, some using the term "pseudoscience" (see Criticism of Primal Therapy).
- Psychoanalysis – body of ideas developed by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and his followers, which is devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior. It has been controversial ever since its inception. Karl Popper characterized it as pseudoscience based on psychoanalysis failing the requirement for falsifiability. Frank Cioffi argued that "though Popper is correct to say that psychoanalysis is pseudoscientific and correct to say that it is unfalsifiable, he is mistaken to suggest that it is pseudoscientific because it is unfalsifiable. It is when insists that he has confirmed (not just instantiated) that he is being pseudoscientific."
- Psychometrics – is the field where practitioners have claimed to be able to measure various abstract mental attributes such as intelligence or creativity in individuals and groups using various contrived tests. Additionally, environmental and pre-exposure factors are often disregarded.
- Subliminal advertising, a visual or auditory information that is discerned below the threshold of conscious awareness and claims to have a powerful enduring effect on consuming habits. It went into disrepute in the late 1970s but there has been renewed research interest recently. The mainstream accepted science of Subliminal perception does not have a powerful, enduring effect on human behaviour.
Applied sciences
Health and medicine
- Alternative medicine has been described as pseudoscientific. The National Science Foundation has conducted surveys of the "Public Attitudes and Public Understanding" of "Science Fiction and Pseudoscience", which includes studying the popularity of alternative medicine. It considers belief in alternative medicine a matter of concern, defining it as "all treatments that have not been proven effective using scientific methods." After quoting the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry's listing of alternative medicine as one of many pseudoscientific subjects, as well as mentioning the concerns of individual scientists, organizations, and members of the science policymaking community, it comments that "nevertheless, the popularity of alternative medicine appears to be increasing." "At least 60 percent of U.S. medical schools devote classroom time to the teaching of alternative therapies, generating controversy within the scientific community." In contrast, it has been reported that universities are "increasingly turning their backs on homoeopathy and complementary medicine amid opposition from the scientific community to "pseudo-science" degrees." Degrees in alternative medicine have been described as "'pseudo-science' degrees", "anti-scientific", and "harmful".
- Anthroposophic medicine, or anthroposophically extended medicine – school of complementary medicine founded in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Ita Wegman based on the spiritual philosophy of anthroposophy. It is an individualized holistic and salutogenic approach to health, deemphasizing randomized controlled trials. Medications are formulated to stimulate healing by matching "key dynamic forces" with symptoms, and are prepared for external, oral, or parenteral introduction in various dilutions ranging from whole to homeopathic. The use of vaccinations, antibiotics, and antipyretics is generally restricted or delayed. Skeptic Robert Carroll likens to sympathetic magic the principle that curative plants may be identified by distortions or abnormalities in their morphology or physiology. Carroll and others state that the system is not based in science. Edzard Ernst suggests that no thorough scientific analysis of the efficacy of anthroposophical medicine as a system independent of its philosophical underpinnings has been undertaken; and that no evidence-based conclusion can be drawn as to the overall efficacy of the system.
- Applied kinesiology (AK) – a diagnostic method using manual muscle-strength testing for medical diagnosis and a subsequent determination of prescribed therapy, which proponents believe can identify health problems or nutritional deficiencies through practitioner assessment of external physical qualities such as muscle response, posture, or motion analysis. A variety of therapies are prescribed based on tested weakness or smoothness of muscle action and a conjectured viscerosomatic association between particular muscles and organs. For example, a practitioner will give the patient a jar containing a substance to hold in one hand, then test for muscle strength in the other hand; if there is little resistance, the practitioner may conclude that the patient is allergic to that substance. The sole use of Applied Kinesiology to diagnose or treat any allergy or illness is not scientifically supported, and the International College of Applied Kinesiology requires concurrent use of standard diagnostic techniques. Applied kinesiologists are often chiropractors, but may also be naturopaths, physicians, dentists, nutritionists, physical therapists, massage therapists, and nurses. Applied Kinesiology should not be confused with kinesiology, the scientific study of human movement.
- Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques (NAET) claim to be an alternative diagnosis and treatment of allergies and related disorders. Reviews of the available evidence conclude that the diagnostic techniques used in NAET, primarily a form of applied kinesiology, are ineffective at diagnosing allergies and several medical associations advise against using applied kinesiology in this way. The few available reviews in the literature that discuss NAET directly, state that it lacks any supporting evidence and that its claims are unsubstantiated. The theoretical basis of NAET has been criticized for lacking scientific rationale and the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy advise against the use of NAET.
- Maharishi Ayurveda – traditional Ayurveda is a 5,000 year old alternative medical practice with roots in ancient India based on a mind-body set of beliefs. Imbalance or stress in an individual’s consciousness is believed to be the reason of diseases. Patients are classified by body types (three doshas, which are considered to control mind-body harmony, determine an individual’s "body type"); and treatment is aimed at restoring balance to the mind-body system. It has long been the main traditional system of health care in India, and it has become institutionalized in India's colleges and schools, although unlicensed practitioners are common. As with other traditional knowledge, much of it was lost; in the West, current practice is in part based on the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1980s, who mixed it with Transcendental Meditation; other forms of Ayurveda exist as well. The most notable advocate of Ayurveda in America is Deepak Chopra, who claims that Maharishi's Ayurveda is based on quantum mysticism.
- Bates method for better eyesight – an educational method developed by ophthalmologist William Bates intended to improve vision "naturally" to the point at which it can allegedly eliminate the need for glasses by undoing a habitual strain to see. In 1929 Bates was cited by the FTC for false or misleading advertising in connection with his book describing the method, Perfect Sight Without Glasses, though the complaint was later dismissed. Although some people claim to have improved their eyesight by following his principles, Bates' ideas about vision and accommodation have been rejected by mainstream ophthalmology and optometry.
- Biorhythms – hypothesis holding that human physiology and behavior are governed by physical, emotional, and intellectual cycles lasting 23, 28, and 33 days, respectively. The system posits that, for instance, errors in judgment are more probable on days when an individual's intellectual cycle, as determined by days since birth, is near a minimum. No biophysical mechanism of action has been discovered, and the predictive power of biorhythms charts is no better than chance. For the scientific study of biological cycles such as circadian rhythms, see chronobiology.
- Body memory – hypothesis that the body itself is capable of storing memories, as opposed to only the brain. This is used to explain having memories for events where the brain was not in a position to store memories and is sometimes a catalyst for repressed memories recovery. These memories are often characterised with phantom pain in a part or parts of the body – the body appearing to remember the past trauma. The idea of body memory is a belief frequently associated with the idea of repressed memories, in which memories of incest or sexual abuse can be retained and recovered through physical sensations.
- Brain Gym – commercial training program that claims that any learning challenges can be overcome by finding the right movements, to subsequently create new pathways in the brain. They claim that the repetition of the 26 Brain Gym movements "activates the brain for optimal storage and retrieval of information", and are designed to "integrate body and mind" in order to improve "concentration, memory, reading, writing, organizing, listening, physical coordination, and more." Its theoretical foundation has been discredited by the scientific community, which describe it as pseudoscience. Peer reviewed scientific studies into Brain Gym have found no significant improvement in general academic skills. Its claimed results have been put down to the placebo effect and the benefits of breaks and exercise. Its founder, Paul Dennison, has admitted that many of Brain Gym's claims are not based on good science, but on his "hunches".
- Chiropractic is an alternative medicine practice focusing on spinal manipulation. Many modern chiropractors target solely mechanical dysfunction, and offer health and lifestyle counseling. Many others, however, base their practice on the vitalism of D.D. Palmer and B. J. Palmer, maintaining that all or many organic diseases are the result of hypothetical spinal dysfunctions known as vertebral subluxations and the impaired flow of Innate intelligence, a form of putative energy. These ideas are not based in science, and along with the lack of a strong research base are in part responsible for the historical conflict between chiropractic and mainstream medicine. Recent systematic reviews indicate the possibility of moderate effectiveness for spinal manipulation in the management of nonspecific low back pain. The effectiveness of chiropractic spinal manipulation has not been demonstrated according to the principles of evidence-based medicine for any other condition. Adverse events with possible neurologic involvement following spinal manipulation, particularly upper spinal manipulation, occur with a frequency of between 33% and 61%. Most events are minor, such as mild soreness, fainting, dizziness, light headedness, headache, or numbness or tingling in the upper limbs; serious complications such as subarachnoid hemorrhage, vertebral artery dissection, or myelopathy are observed infrequently.
- Innate intelligence – form of putative energy, the flow of which is considered by some chiropractors to be responsible for patient health. Chiropractic historian Joseph C. Keating, Jr., PhD. stated: "So long as we propound the 'One cause, one cure' rhetoric of Innate, we should expect to be met by ridicule from the wider health science community. Chiropractors can’t have it both ways. Our theories cannot be both dogmatically held vitalistic constructs and be scientific at the same time. The purposiveness, consciousness and rigidity of the Palmers’ Innate should be rejected."
- Vertebral subluxation – a Chiropractic term that describes variously a site of impaired flow of innate or a spinal lesion that is postulated to cause neuromusculoskeletal or visceral dysfunction. Scientific consensus does not support the existence of chiropractic's vertebral subluxation.
- Colon cleansing (colonics, colon hydrotherapy) – encompasses several alternative medical therapies intended to remove fecal waste and unidentified toxins from the colon and intestinal tract. Practitioners believe that accumulations of putrefied feces line the walls of the large intestine and that they harbor parasites or pathogenic gut flora, causing nonspecific symptoms and general ill-health. This "auto-intoxication" hypothesis is based on medical beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks, and was discredited in the early 20th century.
- Craniosacral therapy – involves the therapist placing their hands on the patient, which allows them to "tune into the craniosacral rhythm". Craniosacral therapists claim to treat mental stress, neck and back pain, migraines, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and for chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia. A systematic review conducted in 1999 "did not find valid scientific evidence that craniosacral therapy provides a benefit to patients", noting that "he available health outcome research consists of low grade of evidence derived from weak study designs" and "dverse events have been reported in head-injured patients following craniosacral therapy." Craniosacral therapy has been variously characterized as pseudoscientific or discredited.
- Crystal healing – belief that crystals have healing properties. Once common among pre-scientific and indigenous peoples, it enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the 1970s with the New Age movement.
- Earthing Therapy or Grounding - a therapy that is claimed to ease pain, provide a better nights sleep, and assist in diseases with symptoms of inflammation by being in direct physical contact with the ground or a device connected to electrical ground. Purportedly, the earth has an excess of electrons which people are missing due to insulating shoes and ground cover. Being in electrical contact with the earth provides the body with those excess electrons which then act as antioxidants.
- Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) – reported sensitivity to electric and magnetic fields or electromagnetic radiation of various frequencies at exposure levels well below established safety standards. Symptoms are inconsistent, but can include headache, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and similar non-specific indications. Provocation studies find that the discomfort of sufferers is unrelated to hidden sources of radiation, and "no scientific basis currently exists for a connection between EHS and exposure to ."
- Faith healing – act of curing disease by such means as prayer and laying on of hands. No material benefit in excess of that expected by placebo is observed.
- Health Bracelets and various healing jewelry that are purported to improve the health, heal, or improve the chi of the wearer, such as ionized bracelets, hologram bracelets, and magnetic jewelry. No claims of effectiveness made by manufacturers have ever been substantiated by independent sources.
- Homeopathy – the belief that giving a patient with symptoms of an illness extremely dilute remedies that are thought to produce those same symptoms in healthy people. These preparations are often diluted beyond the point where any treatment molecule is likely to remain. Studies of homeopathic practice have been largely negative or inconclusive. No scientific basis for homeopathic principles has been substantiated.
- Iridology – means of medical diagnosis which proponents believe can identify and diagnose health problems through close examination of the markings and patterns of the iris. Practitioners divide the iris into 80–90 zones, each of which is connected to a particular body region or organ. This connection has not been scientifically validated, and disorder detection is neither selective nor specific. Because iris texture is a phenotypical feature which develops during gestation and remains unchanged after birth (which makes the iris useful for Biometrics), Iridology is all but impossible.
- Leaky gut syndrome – in alternative medicine, a proposed condition caused by the passage of harmful substances outward through the gut wall. It has been proposed as the cause of many conditions including multiple sclerosis and autism, a claim which has been called pseudoscientific. According to the UK National Health Service, the theory is vague and unproven. Some skeptics and scientists say that the marketing of treatments for leaky gut syndrome is either misguided or an instance of deliberate health fraud.
- Lightning Process – a system claimed to be derived from osteopathy, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and life coaching. Proponents claim that the Process can have a positive effect on a long list of diseases and conditions, including myalgic encephalomyelitis, despite no scientific evidence of efficacy. The designer of the Lightning Process, Phill Parker, suggests certain illnesses such as ME/CFS arise from a dysregulation of the Central Nervous System and Autonomic Nervous System, which the Lightning Process aims to address, helping to break the "adrenaline loop" that keep the systems' stress responses high.
- Magnet therapy – practice of using magnetic fields to positively influence health. While there are legitimate medical uses for magnets and magnetic fields, the field strength used in magnetic therapy is too low to effect any biological change, and the methods used have no scientific validity.
- The above is not to be confused with current health treatments involving electromagnetism on human tissue, such as pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (see: Electromagnetic therapy (disambiguation))
- Naturopathy, or Naturopathic Medicine, is a type of alternative medicine based on a belief in vitalism, which posits that a special energy called vital energy or vital force guides bodily processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and adaptation. Naturopathy has been characterized as pseudoscience. It has particularly been criticized for its unproven, disproven, or dangerous treatments. Natural methods and chemicals are not necessarily safer or more effective than artificial or synthetic ones; any treatment capable of eliciting an effect may also have deleterious side effects.
- Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) or osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) – the core technique of osteopathic medicine. OMM is based on a philosophy devised by Andrew Taylor Still (1828–1917) who held that the body had self-regulating mechanisms that could be harnessed through manipulating the bones, tendons and muscles. It has been proposed as a treatment for a number of human ailments including Parkinson's disease, pancreatitis, and pneumonia but has only been found to be effective for lower back pain by virtue of the spinal manipulation used. It has long been regarded as rooted in "pseudoscientific dogma". In 2010 Steven Salzberg referred to the OMT-specific training given by osteopathic colleges as "training in pseudoscientific practices".
- Radionics – means of medical diagnosis and therapy which proponents believe can diagnose and remedy health problems using various frequencies in a putative energy field coupled to the practitioner's electronic device. The first such "black box" devices were designed and promoted by Albert Abrams, and were definitively proven useless by an independent investigation commissioned by Scientific American in 1924. The internal circuitry of radionics devices is often obfuscated and irrelevant, leading proponents to conjecture dowsing and ESP as operating principles. Similar devices continue to be marketed under various names, though none is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration; there is no scientific evidence for the efficacy or underlying premise of radionics devices. The radionics of Albert Abrams and his intellectual descendants should not be confused with similarly named reputable and legitimate companies, products, or medical treatments such as radiotherapy or radiofrequency ablation.
- Reflexology, or zone therapy, is an alternative medicine involving the physical act of applying pressure to the feet, hands, or ears with specific thumb, finger, and hand techniques without the use of oil or lotion. It is based on what reflexologists claim to be a system of zones and reflex areas that they say reflect an image of the body on the feet and hands, with the premise that such work effects a physical change to the body. A 2009 systematic review of randomised controlled trials concludes that the best evidence available to date does not demonstrate convincingly that reflexology is an effective treatment for any medical condition. There is no consensus among reflexologists on how reflexology is supposed to work; a unifying theme is the idea that areas on the foot correspond to areas of the body, and that by manipulating these one can improve health through one's qi. Reflexologists divide the body into ten equal vertical zones, five on the right and five on the left. Concerns have been raised by medical professionals that treating potentially serious illnesses with reflexology, which has no proven efficacy, could delay the seeking of appropriate medical treatment.
- Therapeutic touch – form of vitalism where a practitioner, who may be also a nurse, passes his or her hands over and around a patient to "realign" or "rebalance" a putative energy field. A recent Cochrane Review concluded that "here is no evidence that promotes healing of acute wounds." No biophysical basis for such an energy field has been found.
- Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) – traditional medical system originating in China and practiced as an alternative medicine throughout much of the world. It contains elements based in the cosmology of Taoism, and considers the human body more in functional and vitalistic than anatomical terms. Health and illness in TCM follow the principle of yin and yang, and are ascribed to balance or imbalance in the flow of a vital force, qi. Diagnostic methods are solely external, including pulse examination at six points, examination of a patient's tongue, and a patient interview; interpractitioner diagnostic agreement is poor. The TCM description of the function and structure of the human body is fundamentally different from modern medicine, though some of the procedures and remedies have shown promise under scientific investigation.
- Acupuncture – use of fine needles to stimulate acupuncture points and balance the flow of qi. There is no known anatomical or histological basis for the existence of acupuncture points or meridians. Some acupuncturists regard them as functional rather than structural entities, useful in guiding evaluation and care of patients. Dry needling is the therapeutic insertion of fine needles without regard to TCM knowledge. Acupuncture has been the subject of active scientific research since the late 20th century, and its effects and application remain controversial among medical researchers and clinicians. Because it is a procedure rather than a pill, the design of controlled studies is challenging, as with surgical and other procedures. Some scholarly reviews conclude that acupuncture's effects are mainly placebo, and others find likelihood of efficacy for particular conditions.
- Acupressure – manual non-invasive stimulation of acupuncture points.
- Acupuncture points or acupoints – collection of several hundred points on the body lying along meridians. According to TCM, each corresponds to a particular organ or function.
- Cupping therapy – an ancient Chinese form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin; practitioners believe this mobilizes blood flow in order to promote healing. Suction is created using heat (fire) or mechanical devices (hand or electrical pumps). Only one controlled trial of cupping has been conducted, and it did not demonstrate any effectiveness for pain relief. A book by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst claims that no evidence exists of any beneficial effects of cupping for any medical condition.
- Meridians – are the channels through which qi flows, connecting the several zang-fu organ pairs. There is no known anatomical or histological basis for the existence of acupuncture points or meridians.
- Moxibustion – application on or above the skin of smoldering mugwort, or moxa, to stimulate acupuncture points.
- Qi – vital energy whose flow must be balanced for health. Qi has never been directly observed, and is unrelated to the concept of energy used in science.
- TCM materia medica – a collection of crude medicines used in Traditional Chinese medicine. These include many plants in part or whole, such as ginseng and wolfberry, as well as more exotic ingredients such as seahorses. Preparations generally include several ingredients in combination, with selection based on physical characteristics such as taste or shape, or relationship to the organs of TCM. Most preparations have not been rigorously evaluated or give no indication of efficacy. Pharmacognosy research for potential active ingredients present in these preparations is active, though the applications do not always correspond to those of TCM.
- Zang-fu – concept of organs as functional yin and yang entities for the storage and manipulation of qi. These organs are not based in anatomy.
- Urine therapy – drinking either one's own undiluted urine or homeopathic potions of urine for treatment of a wide variety of diseases is based on pseudoscience.
- Promotion of a link between autism and vaccines, in which the vaccines are accused of causing autism-spectrum conditions, triggering them, or aggravating them, has been characterized as pseudoscience. Many epidemiological studies have found a lack of association between either the MMR vaccine and autism, or thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. Consequently, the Institute of Medicine has concluded that there is no causal link between either of these varieties of vaccines and autism.
- Vitalism – doctrine that the processes of life are not explicable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part self-determining. The book Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience stated "today, vitalism is one of the ideas that form the basis for many pseudoscientific health systems that claim that illnesses are caused by a disturbance or imbalance of the body's vital force." "Vitalists claim to be scientific, but in fact they reject the scientific method with its basic postulates of cause and effect and of provability. They often regard subjective experience to be more valid than objective material reality."
Finance
- Technical analysis is a security analysis methodology for forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. Behavioral economics and quantitative analysis use many of the same tools of technical analysis, which, being an aspect of active management, stands in contradiction to much of modern portfolio theory. The efficacy of both technical and fundamental analysis is disputed by the efficient-market hypothesis which states that stock market prices are essentially unpredictable. It is still considered by many academics to be pseudoscience. Academics such as Eugene Fama say the evidence for technical analysis is sparse and is inconsistent with the weak form of the efficient-market hypothesis.
Social sciences
Classical social evolution, before Darwin's work on the Origin of Species, some models incorporated the Enlightenment ideas of social progress and thus, according to philosopher of science Michael Ruse, were pseudoscientific by current standards and may have been viewed as such during the 18th century as well as into the start of the 19th century (though the word pseudoscience may not have been used in reference to these early proposals). This pseudoscientific and often political incorporation of social progress with evolutionary thought continued for some one hundred years following the publication the Origin of Species.
Racial theories
- Scientific racism – claim that scientific evidence shows the inferiority or superiority of certain races, or alternatively the claim of "classifying" individuals of different phenotypes into discrete races or ethnicities.
- Aryanism, the claim that there is a distinct "Aryan race" which is superior to other putative races, was an important tenet of Nazism, and "the basis of the German government policy of exterminating Jews, Gypsies, and other 'non-Aryans.'"
- Melanin theory – belief founded in the distortion of known physical properties of melanin, a natural polymer, that posits the inherent superiority of dark-skinned people and the essential inhumanity and an inferiority of light-skinned people.
Paranormal and ufology
Paranormal subjects have been subject to critiques from a wide range of sources including the following claims of paranormal significance:
- Animal mutilations – cases of animals, primarily domestic livestock, with seemingly inexplicable wounds. These wounds have been said to be caused by extraterrestrials, cults, covert government organizations, or cryptids such as el chupacabra, when in fact they were caused by natural predation.
- Channeling – communication of information to or through a person allegedly from a spirit or other paranormal entity.
- Crop circles – geometric designs of crushed or knocked-over crops created in a field. Aside from skilled farmers or pranksters working through the night, explanations for their formation include UFOs and anomalous, tornado-like air currents. The study of crop circles has become known as "cerealogy".
- Cryptozoology – search for creatures that are considered not to exist by most biologists. Well known examples of creatures of interest to cryptozoologists include Bigfoot, Yeren, Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster. According to leading skeptical authors Michael Shermer and Pat Linse, "Cryptozoology ranges from pseudoscientific to useful and interesting, depending on how it is practiced."
- Dowsing refers to practices said to enable one to detect hidden water, metals, gemstones or other objects.
- Electronic voice phenomenon – purported communication by spirits through tape recorders and other electronic devices.
- Extra-sensory perception – paranormal ability (independent of the five main senses or deduction from previous experience) to acquire information by means such as telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, psychic abilities, and remote viewing.
- Ghost hunting – use of scientific methods and instrumentation in an unconventional manner to investigate supposedly haunted locations.
- Levitation – act of rising up from the ground without any physical aids, usually by the power of thought.
- Palmistry – the belief that the future can be foretold through palm reading. Predictions are based on the shape, line, and mounts of the hands. Palmists use cold reading in order to appear psychic.
- Pseudoarchaeology – investigation of the ancient past using alleged paranormal or other means which have not been validated by mainstream science.
- Psychic surgery – type of medical fraud, popular in Brazil and the Philippines. Practitioners use sleight of hand to make it appear as though they are reaching into a patients body and extracting "tumours". Psychic surgery is usually explicit deception; i.e., the "practitioners" are aware that they are practicing fraud or "quackery".
- Psychokinesis – paranormal ability of the mind to influence matter or energy at a distance.
- Rumpology – neologism referring to a pseudoscience akin to physiognomy, performed by examining crevices, dimples, warts, moles and folds of a person's buttocks in much the same way a chirologist would read the palm of the hand.
- Séances – ritualized attempts to communicate with the dead.
- The Tunguska event was an actual large explosion, possibly caused by a meteoroid or comet, in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia in June 1908. Night skies as far away as London were markedly brighter for several evenings. Unsupported theories regarding the event include the impact of a miniature black hole or large body of antimatter, ball lightning, a test by Nikola Tesla of the apparatus at Wardenclyffe Tower, and a UFO crash. Another theory is that the explosion was caused by a piece of Biela's Comet from 1883.
- Ufology – the study of unidentified flying objects (UFO) that frequently includes the belief that UFOs are evidence for extraterrestrial visitors.
History
Main article: Pseudohistory- Fomenko's chronology – argues that the conventional chronology is fundamentally flawed, that events attributed to antiquity such as the histories of Rome, Greece and Egypt actually occurred during the Middle Ages.
- Holocaust Denial – The Leuchter report attempted to demonstrate on a forensic level that mass homicidal gassings at Nazi extermination camps did not take place.
Religious and spiritual beliefs
Spiritual and religious practices and beliefs, according to astronomer Carl Sagan, are normally not classified as pseudoscience. However, religion can sometimes nurture pseudoscience, and "at the extremes it is difficult to distinguish pseudoscience from rigid, doctrinaire religion", and some religions might be confused with pseudoscience, such as Traditional Meditation. The following religious/spiritual items have been related to or classified as pseudoscience in some way:
- Biblical scientific foreknowledge (Judaism and Christianity) – asserts that the Bible makes accurate statements about the world that science verifies thousands of years later.
- Koranic scientific (Islam) – Koranic Science (or Qur'anic science or Hadeeth science) asserts that foundational Islamic religious texts made accurate statements about the world that science verified hundreds of years later. This belief is a common theme in Bucailleism.
- Christian Science is generally considered a Christian new religious movement. However, some have called it "pseudoscience" because its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, used "science" in its name, and because of its former stance against medical science. Also, "Eddy used the term Metaphysical science to distinguish her system both from materialistic science and from occult science." The church now accepts the use of medical science. Vaccinations were banned, but in 1901, Eddy, at the age of 80, advised her followers to submit to them.
Creation science
Creation science or scientific creationism, the belief that the origin of everything in the universe is the result of a first cause, brought about by a creator deity, and that this thesis is supported by geological, biological, and other scientific evidence.
- Creationist cosmologies – cosmologies which, among other things, allow for a universe that is only thousands of years old.
- Baraminology – taxonomic system that classifies animals into groups called "created kinds" or "baramins" according to the account of creation in the book of Genesis and other parts of the Bible.
- Creation biology – subset of creation science that tries to explain biology without macroevolution.
- Flood geology – creationist form of geology that advocates most of the geologic features on Earth are explainable by a global flood.
- Searches for Noah's Ark – attempts to find the burial site of Noah's Ark, that according to the Genesis flood narrative is located somewhere in the alleged "Mountains of Ararat". There have been numerous expeditions with several false claims of success; the practice is widely regarded as pseudoscience, more specifically pseudoarchaeology.
- Modern geocentrism – citing uniform gamma-ray bursts distribution, and other arguments of this type, as evidence that we (being in the Milky Way galaxy) are at the center of the cosmos. Proponents got their initial belief from the Bible, then they cherry-pick scientific evidence to justify their position and claim that geocentrism is supported by science.
- Intelligent design – maintains that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." These features include:
- Irreducible complexity – claim that some biological systems are too complex to have evolved from simpler systems. It is used by proponents of intelligent design to argue that evolution by natural selection alone is incomplete or flawed, and that some additional mechanism (an "Intelligent Designer") is required to explain the origins of life.
- Specified complexity – claim that when something is simultaneously complex and specified, one can infer that it was produced by an intelligent cause (i.e., that it was designed) rather than being the result of natural processes.
Scientology
- Dianetics, a therapeutic technique promoted by Scientology, purports to treat a hypothetical reactive mind. Part of this treatment included the use of a device known as an E-meter. L. Ron Hubbard was later legally forced to admit it "does nothing".
- Scientology's Purification Rundown and Narconon programs purport to clean the human body of toxins and drugs respectively. Their methodology consists of very long saunas over many days, extremely large (possibly toxic) doses of vitamins including niacin, and Scientology 'training routines', sometimes including attempts at telekenesis. The programmes have been described as "medically unsafe", "quackery" and "medical fraud", while academic and medical experts have dismissed Narconon's educational programme as containing "factual errors in basic concepts such as physical and mental effects, addiction and even spelling". In turn, Narconon has claimed that mainstream medicine is "biased" against it, and that "people who endorse so-called controlled drug use cannot be trusted to review a program advocating totally drug-free living." Narconon has said that criticism of its programmes is "bigoted", and that its critics are "in favor of drug abuse ... they are either using drugs or selling drugs".
- Touch assist, Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard said that when one is in pain, "the energy from a shock will make a standing wave in the body," going on to explain that the purpose of a "touch assist" is to "unlock the standing waves that are small electronic ridges of nervous energy that is not flowing as it should." This contradicts medical science's current conception of the nervous system, which holds that nerves transmit pain, and do not store it.
Other
- Feng shui – ancient Chinese system of mysticism and aesthetics based on astronomy, geography, and the putative flow of qi. It is widely considered a pseudoscience, and has been criticised by many organisations devoted to investigating paranormal claims. Evidence for its effectiveness is based on anecdote, and there is a lack of a plausible method of action; this leads to conflicting advice from different practitioners of feng shui. Feng shui practitioners use this as evidence of variations or different schools; critical analysts have described it thus: "Feng shui has always been based upon mere guesswork." Modern criticism differentiates between feng shui as a traditional proto-religion and the modern practice: "A naturalistic belief, it was originally used to find an auspicious dwelling place for a shrine or a tomb. However, over the centuries it... has become distorted and degraded into a gross superstition."
- Quantum mysticism – builds on a superficial similarity between certain New Age concepts and such seemingly counter-intuitive quantum mechanical concepts as the uncertainty principle, entanglement, and wave–particle duality, while generally ignoring the limitations imposed by quantum decoherence. One of the most abused ideas is Bell's theorem, which proves the nonexistence of local hidden variables in quantum mechanics. Despite this, Bell himself rejected mystical interpretations of the theory.
Consumer products
- Cosmetics and cleaning products frequently make pseudoscientific claims about their products. Claims are made about both the benefits or toxicity of certain products or ingredients. Practices include Angel dusting, the addition of minuscule amounts of active ingredients to products which are insufficient to cause any measurable benefit. Examples of products include:
- Anti-aging creams – predominantly moisturiser based cosmeceutical skin care products marketed with the promise of making the consumer look younger.
- Laundry balls – spherical or toroidal objects marketed as soap substitutes for washing machines.
Idiosyncratic ideas
The following concepts have only a very small number of proponents, yet have become notable:
- Lawsonomy – proposed philosophy and system of claims about physics made by baseball player and aviator Alfred William Lawson.
- Morphic resonance - The idea put forth by Rupert Sheldrake that "natural systems, such as termite colonies, or pigeons, or orchid plants, or insulin molecules, inherit a collective memory from all previous things of their kind". It is also claimed to be responsible for "mysterious telepathy-type interconnections between organisms".
- Penta Water – claimed acoustically-induced structural reorganization of liquid water into long-lived small clusters of five molecules each. Neither these clusters nor their asserted benefits to humans have been shown to exist.
- Polywater – hypothetical polymerized form of water proposed in the 1960s with a higher boiling point, lower freezing point, and much higher viscosity than ordinary water. It was later found not to exist, with the anomalous measurements being explained by biological contamination.
- Time Cube - a website created by Gene Ray, in 1997, where he sets out his personal model of reality, which he calls Time Cube. He suggests that all of modern physics is wrong, and his Time Cube model proposes that each day is really four separate days occurring simultaneously.
- Timewave zero – numerological formula that was invented by psychonaut Terence McKenna with the help of the hallucinogenic drug dimethyltryptamine. After discovering 2012 doomsday predictions, he redesigned his formula to have a "zero-point" at the same date as the Mayan longcount calendar.
- Torsion field – hypothetical physical field responsible for ESP, homeopathy, levitation, and other paranormal phenomena.
- Welteislehre – notion by the Austrian Hanns Hörbiger that ice was the basic substance of all cosmic processes.
Parody pseudoscience
The following are notable parodies of other pseudosciences and pseudoscientific concepts, or scientific jokes posing as serious theories.
- Dihydrogen monoxide hoax – the web site (dhmo.org) purports to be the work of concerned citizens, to examine "the controversy surrounding dihydrogen monoxide," including evidence of its environmental, health, and other threats. Dihydrogen Monoxide (H2O) is also known as water.
- The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline – science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that is a spoof scientific paper first published in the December 1953 Astounding Science Fiction that describes the chemical compound thiotimoline, which is notable for the fact that when it is mixed with water, the chemical actually begins to break down before it contacts the water. This is explained by the fact that in the thiotimoline molecule, there is at least one carbon atom such that, while two of the carbon's four chemical bonds lie in normal space and time, one of the bonds projects into the future and another into the past. It is a parody of using technobabble to falsify that something has a scientific basis.
- Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, also called "Pastafarianism" – parody religion which was originally intended as a satirical protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools. Its creator Bobby Henderson called for his description of creation to be allotted equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution. He explained that since the intelligent design movement uses ambiguous references to an unspecified "Intelligent Designer", any conceivable entity may fulfill that role, even a Flying Spaghetti Monster.
- Intelligent falling – parody of intelligent design which attacks gravitation in the same way intelligent design attacks the teaching of evolution.
See also
4Footnotes
- ^ Pollak 2002.
- Carezani, Ricardo. "No Neutrinos". Society for the Advancement of Autodynamics. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
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(help) - Philipkoski, Kristen (13 July 1999). "Shedding Light in the Dark". Wired News. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
Mainstream physicists have considered autodynamics a crackpot theory for decades
{{cite news}}
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(help) - Woit, Peter. Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law for Unity in Physical Law. p. 213. ISBN 0-465-09276-4.
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(help) - 't Hooft, Gerard (2008). "Editorial note". Foundations of Physics. 38 (1): 1–2. Bibcode:2008FoPh...38....1T. doi:10.1007/s10701-007-9187-8.
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(help) - Preiss, Byron (1985). The Planets. Bantam Books. p. 27. ISBN 0-553-05109-1.
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(help) - O'Neill 2008
- Rosenbaum 2009
- Hummels, Cameron (27 April 2009). "April 27th: Will the World End in 2012?" (Podcast). 365daysofastronomy.org. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
- Fraknoi, Andrew (October 2009). "Ancient Astronauts and Erich Von Daniken". Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic's Resource List. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
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(help) - ^ entry in Shermer, Michael, ed. (2002). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (PDF). ABC–CLIO, Inc. ISBN 1-57607-653-9. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- Trefil, James (March 2007). "Who Were the Ancient Engineers of Egypt?". Skeptical Inquirer. 17.1. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
The pyramids, as impressive as they are, give no evidence at all for the presence of advanced technology at work in ancient Egypt.
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(help) - Kilgannon, Corey (8 January 2010). "Origin of the Species, From an Alien View". New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
Mr. Sitchin has been called silly before – by scientists, historians and archaeologists who dismiss his theories as pseudoscience and fault their underpinnings: his translations of ancient texts and his understanding of physics.
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(help) - Carroll, Robert T (1994–2009). "The Skeptic's Dictionary". Zecharia Sitchin and The Earth Chronicles. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
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(help) - ^ Fraknoi, Andrew (October 2009). "The Dogon Tribe and Sirius B". Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic's Resource List. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
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(help) - "The Universe At Your Fingertips Activity: Activities With Astrology". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
These activities help students to understand the difference between science and pseudoscience by investigating some of astrology's claims.
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(help) - ^ "Statement of the position of the Iowa Academy of Science on Pseudoscience" (PDF). Iowa Academy of Science. July 1986.
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(help) - ^ statement from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Broken Link!
- Pollak 2002, "Belief in pseudoscience is relatively widespread... More than 25 percent of the public believes in astrology, that is, that the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives.
- Fraknoi, Andrew (1 January 2003). "Dealing with Astrology, UFOs, and Faces on Other Worlds: A Guide to Addressing Astronomical Pseudoscience in the Classroom". Astronomy Education Review. 2 (2): 150. doi:10.3847/AER2003022.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Fraknoi, Andrew (October 2009). "The "Great Moon Hoax": Did Astronauts Land on the Moon?". Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic's Resource List. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Knier, Gil; Bray, Becky (30 March 2001). "The Moon Landing Hoax". NASA. Archived from the original on 22 November 2007.
Did we actually send humans to the Moon in the 1960s? Of course we did!
{{cite web}}
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(help) - The Great Moon Hoax, NASA
- Schilling, Govert (2009). The Hunt For Planet X: New Worlds and the Fate of Pluto. Copernicus Books. p. 111. ISBN 0-387-77804-7.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Morrison, David (2008). "Armageddon from Planet Nibiru in 2012? Not so fast" (blog). discovery.com. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
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(help) - Plait, Phil (2003). "The Planet X Saga: Science" (blog). badastronomy.com. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Brown, Mike (2008). "I do not ♥ pseudo-science" (blog). Mike Brown's planets. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Myles Standish (16 July 1992). "Planet X – No dynamical evidence in the optical observations". Astronomical Journal volume= 105 (5): 200–2006. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
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(help) - Nettleton, Paul (1 September 2005). "Peer Review: Who Built the Moon? by Christopher Knight & Alan Butler". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - Angell, Ian O. (1978). "Megalithic mathematics, ancient almanacs or neolithic nonsense". Bull. Inst. Math. Appl. 14 (10): 253–258.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Goode, Jamie (1 March 2006). The science of wine: from vine to glass. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24800-7.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Chalker-Scott, Linda (2004). "The Myth of Biodynamic Agriculture" (PDF). Master Gardener Magazine.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Smith, D. (2006). "On Fertile Ground? Objections to Biodynamics". The World of Fine Wine (archived at Skeptical Inquirer) ( (12): 108–113. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Kirchmann, Holger (1994). "Biological dynamic farming – an occult form of alternative agriculture?". J. Agric. Environ. Ethics. 7 (2): 173–187. doi:10.1007/BF02349036.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - NCSE Tackles Climate Change Denial, National Center for Science Education, January 13th, 2012
- Shermer, Michael. What Is Pseudoscience?, Scientific American, September 15, 2011
- Morrison, David. The Parameters of Pseudoscience, Skeptical Inquirer, Volume 37.2, March/April 2013. Book review of The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe, by Michael D. Gordin.
- Brown, Michael. Adversaries, zombies and NIPCC climate pseudoscience, ‘’Phys.org’’, Sep 26, 2013
- Plait, Phil.Debunking the Denial: "16 Years of No Global Warming", ‘’Slate.com’’, Jan. 14, 2013
- Kennedy, D (30 March 2001). "An Unfortunate U-turn on Carbon". Science. 291 (5513): 5513. doi:10.1126/science.1060922.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) Subscription needed - Brown, R. G. E., Jr. (23 October 1996). "Environmental science under siege: Fringe science and the 104th Congress, U. S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Report, Democratic Caucus of the Committee on Science. Washington, D. C.: U. S. House of Representatives.
{{cite news}}
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(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Lahsen, Myanna (Winter 2005). "Technocracy, Democracy, and the U.S. Climate Politics: The Need for Demarcations". Science, Technology, & Human Values. 30: 137–169. doi:10.1177/0162243904270710.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - "Lysenkoism". Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Sterling, Bruce (June 2004). "Suicide by Pseudoscience". 12 (6). Wired Magazine. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
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(help) - Walker, Bruce (30 November 2009). "The Ghost of Lysenko". American Thinker.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Russell, Jeffrey B. "The Myth of the Flat Earth". American Scientific Affiliation. Retrieved 14 March 2007.
- Sagan, Carl. Does truth matter? (PDF). pp. 8–9.
activities of superstition and ignorance have been growing, and antiscience and pseudoscience cases have become frequent. Therefore, effective measures must be applied as soon as possible to strengthen public education in science.
{{cite book}}
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Guizzo, Erico (January 2009). "Loser: Hot or Not?". IEEE Spectrum. 46: 36. doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2009.4734311.
Why it's a loser: Most experts don't believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don't present convincing evidence.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Ross, Philip E. (January 2009). "Winners & Losers VI". IEEE Spectrum. 46: 31. doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2009.4734309.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Morrison, Chris (21 October 2008). "Blacklight Power bolsters its impossible claims of a new renewable energy source". New York Times.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "Scientific American".
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Gardner, M (May–June 1998). "Zero Point Energy and Harold Puthoff". Skeptical Inquirer: 13.
On the misuse of some physics ideas and cosmology.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - ^ ""Beyond Science", on season 8, episode 2". Scientific American Frontiers. Chedd-Angier Production Company. 1997–1998. PBS. Archived from the original on 1 January 2006.
- Ball, Philip (14 September 2007). "Burning water and other myths". Nature News. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Olsen, Brad. Future Esoteric: The Unseen Realms. CCC Publishing. p. 326.
- Randi, James (16 July 2004). "An Important Appeal". James Randi Educational Foundation. Archived from the original (newsletter) on 8 March 2005. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
This is a total quack procedure that has actually killed children.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Maloney, Shannon-Bridget. "Be Wary of Attachment Therapy". Retrieved 17 November 2007.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Berlin, Lisa J.; Ziv, Yair; Amaya-Jackson, Lisa; Greenberg, Mark T. (eds.). "Preface". Enhancing Early Attachments. Theory, Research, Intervention and Policy. Duke series in child development and public policy. Guilford Press. p. xvii. ISBN 1-59385-470-6.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - ^ Chaffin, M; Hanson, R; Saunders, BE; Nichols, T; Barnett, D; Zeanah, C; Berliner, L; Egeland, B; Newman, E (2006). "Report of the APSAC task force on attachment therapy, reactive attachment disorder, and attachment problems". Child Maltreat. 11 (1): 76–89. doi:10.1177/1077559505283699. PMID 16382093.
{{cite journal}}
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suggested) (help) - CESNUR — APA Brief in the Molko Case. [t]he methodology of Drs. Singer and Benson has been repudiated by the scientific community [... the hypotheses advanced by Singer comprised] little more than uninformed speculation, based on skewed data [...] [t]he coercive persuasion theory ... is not a meaningful scientific concept. [...] The theories of Drs. Singer and Benson are not new to the scientific community. After searching scrutiny, the scientific community has repudiated the assumptions, methodologies, and conclusions of Drs. Singer and Benson. The validity of the claim that, absent physical force or threats, "systematic manipulation of the social influences" can coercively deprive individuals of free will lacks any empirical foundation and has never been confirmed by other research. The specific methods by which Drs. Singer and Benson have arrived at their conclusions have also been rejected by all serious scholars in the field.
- American Psychological Association Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) (11 May 1987). "Memorandum". CESNUR: APA Memo of 1987 with Enclosures. CESNUR Center for Studies on New Religion. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
BSERP thanks the Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control for its service but is unable to accept the report of the Task Force. In general, the report lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur.
- APA memo and two enclosures
- Haldeman, Douglas C. (December 1999). "The Pseudo-science of Sexual Orientation Conversion Therapy" (PDF). ANGLES: the Policy Journal of the Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies. 4 (1). Retrieved 7 November 2010.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - "Position Statement on Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation (Reparative or Conversion Therapies)" (PDF). American Psychiatric Association. May 2000. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - "Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel" (PDF). Just the Facts Coalition. 1999. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Glassgold, JM (1 August 2009). "Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation" (PDF). American Psychological Association. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - "Barry Beyerstein Q&A". Ask the Scientists. Scientific American Frontiers. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
they simply interpret the way we form these various features on the page in much the same way ancient oracles interpreted the entrails of oxen or smoke in the air. I.e., it's a kind of magical divination or fortune telling where 'like begets like.'
{{cite web}}
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(help) - "The use of graphology as a tool for employee hiring and evaluation". British Columbia Civil Liberties Union. 1988. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
On the other hand, in properly controlled, blind studies, where the handwriting samples contain no content that could provide non-graphological information upon which to base a prediction (e.g., a piece copied from a magazine), graphologists do no better than chance at predicting the personality traits
{{cite news}}
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(help) - National Academy of Science (1999). Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences, 2nd edition. National Academy Press. p. 48.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Thomas, John A. (2002). "Graphology Fact Sheet". North Texas Skeptics. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
In summary, then, it seems that graphology as currently practiced is a typical pseudoscience and has no place in character assessment or employment practice. There is no good scientific evidence to justify its use, and the graphologists do not seem about to come up with any.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - "Hypnosis". American Cancer Society. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
- ^ Westen et al. 2006 "Psychology: Australian and New Zealand edition" John Wiley.
- Cathcart, Brian; Wilkie, Tom (18 December 1994). "Hypnotism does not exist, say experts". The Independent. London. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
- NICE Guidance for IBS
- Nash, Michael R. "The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis". Scientific American: July 2001
- Lynn, Steven Jay; Lock, Timothy; Loftus, Elizabeth; Lilienfeld, Scott O. (2003). "The remembrance of things past: problematic memory recovery techniques in psychotherapy". In Lohr, Jeffrey M.; Lynn, Steven Jay; Lohr, Jeffrey M. (eds.). Science and Pseudoscience in Psychotherapy. New York: Guilford Press. pp. 219–220. ISBN 1-57230-828-1.
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suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) "hypnotically induced past life experiences are rule-governed, goal-directed fantasies that are context generated and sensitive to the demands of the hypnotic regression situation." - "What is Hypnotherapy and How Does it Differ From Hypnosis?". Hypnos.info. 22 July 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- Robertson, Donald (2009). The Discovery of Hypnosis: The Complete Writings of James Braid, the Father of Hypnotherapy. UKCHH Ltd. p. 15. ISBN 9780956057006.
- "Evidence from randomized controlled trials indicates that hypnosis, relaxation, and meditation techniques can reduce anxiety, particularly that related to stressful situations, such as receiving chemotherapy". http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071579/
- ^ Polichak, James W. "Memes as Pseudoscience". In Shermer, Michael (ed.). Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. p. 664f. ISBN 9781576076538.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Tosey, P; Mathison, J (2006). "Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming" (PDF). Centre for Management Learning & Development, School of Management, University of Surrey.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Dilts, R.; Grinder, J.; Delozier, J.; Bandler, R. (1980). Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Volume I: The Study of the Structure of Subjective Experience. Cupertino, CA: Meta Publications. p. 2. ISBN 0-916990-07-9.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - ^ Corballis, MC (1999). "Are we in our right minds?". In Sala, S (ed.). Mind Myths: Exploring Popular Assumptions About the Mind and Brain. Wiley, John & Sons. pp. 25–41. ISBN 0-471-98303-9.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Drenth, P J D (1999). "Prometheus chained: Social and ethical constraints on psychology". European Psychologist. 4 (4): 233–239. doi:10.1027//1016-9040.4.4.233.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - ^ Witkowski, Tomasz (2010). "Thirty-Five Years of Research on Neuro-Linguistic Programming. NLP Research Data Base. State of the Art or Pseudoscientific Decoration?". Polish Psychological Bulletin. 41 (2): 58–66. doi:10.2478/v10059-010-0008-0.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - ^ Stollznow, K (2010). "Not-so Linguistic Programming". Skeptic. 15 (4): 7.
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(help) - ^ Lum, C (2001). Scientific Thinking in Speech and Language Therapy. Psychology Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-8058-4029-X.
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(help) - von Bergen, C.W.; Gary, Barlow Soper; Rosenthal, T.; Wilkinson, Lamar V. (1997). "Selected alternative training techniques in HRD". Human Resource Development Quarterly. 8 (4): 281–294. doi:10.1002/hrdq.3920080403.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Druckman, Daniel (November 2004). "Be All That You Can Be: Enhancing Human Performance". Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 34 (11): 2234–2260(27). doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb01975.x.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Sharpley, C.F. (1987). "Research Findings on Neuro-linguistic Programming: Non supportive Data or an Untestable Theory". Journal of Counseling Psychology. 34 (1): 103–107, 105. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.34.1.103.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - ^ Devilly, GJ (2005). "Power therapies and possible threats to the science of psychology and psychiatry" (PDF). Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 39 (6): 437–45. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1614.2005.01601.x. PMID 15943644.
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(help) - ^ "ASP: Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic's Resource List".
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(help) Cite error: The named reference "autogenerated1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - Lilienfeld, S; Mohr, J; Morier, D (2001). "The Teaching of Courses in the Science and Pseudoscience of Psychology: Useful Resources". Teaching of Psychology. 28 (3): 182–191. doi:10.1207/S15328023TOP2803_03.
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(help) - Dunn. D., Halonen. J,Smith. R., (2008). Teaching critical thinking in psychology : a handbook of best practices. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4051-7402-2. OCLC 214064173.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Norcross; Koocher, Gerald P.; Garofalo, Ariele; et al. (2006). "Discredited Psychological Treatments and Tests: A Delphi Poll". Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 37 (5): 515. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.37.5.515.
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(help) - Norcross,, John C.; Hogan, Thomas P.; Koocher, Gerald P. (2008). Clinician's Guide to Evidence-based Practices. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-19-533532-3.
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(help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - Glasner, Edwards. S.; Rawson., R. (June 2010). "Evidence-based practices in addiction treatment: review and recommendations for public policy". Health Policy. 97 (2–3): 93–104. doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.05.013. PMC 2951979. PMID 20557970.
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(help) - Schmidt, Helmut (1969). "Clairvoyance Tests with a Machine'". Journal of Parapsychology. 33.
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(help) - Schmidt, Helmut (1970). "PK Experiments with Animals as Subjects". Journal of Parapsychology. 34.
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(help) - Schmidt, Helmut (1973). "PK Tests with a High Speed Random Number Generator'". Journal of Parapsychology. 37.
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(help) - Wooffitt, Robin; Holt, Nicola. Looking In and Speaking Out: Introspection, Consciousness, Communication. Andrews UK Limited. p. 32.
- Magendie, F. (1844). "IV". An Elementary Treatise on Human Physiology. Translated by John Revere (5th ed.). New York: Harper. p. 150.
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(help) - Fodor, J. A. (1983). The Modularity of Mind. MIT Press. pp. 14, 23, 131.
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(help) - ^ "ICSU Insight". International Council for Science. 2005. Archived from the original on 21 July 2006.
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(help) - Iacono, W.G. (2001). "Forensic 'lie detection': Procedures without scientific basis". Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice. 1 (1): 75–86. doi:10.1300/J158v01n01_05.
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(help) - Saxe, Leonard; Dougherty, Denise; Cross, Theodore (1983). "Scientific Validity of Polygraph Testing: A Research Review and Evaluation". Washington, D. C.: U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment. Retrieved 29 February 2008.
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(help) - Adelson, R. (July 2004). "Monitor on Psychology – The polygraph in doubt". 35 (7). American Psychological Association: 71. Retrieved 29 February 2008.
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(help) - Bassett, James. "Polygraph Testing". Retrieved 9 May 2012.
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(help) - Vergano, Dan (9 September 2002). "Telling the truth about lie detectors". USA Today. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
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(help) - Primal therapy homepage
- Moore, Timothy (2001). "Primal Therapy". Gale Group.
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(help) - Merkin, Daphne (5 September 2004). "Psychoanalysis: Is It Science or Is It Toast?". New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
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(help) - Cioffi, Frank (1985). "Psychoanalysis, Pseudo-Science and Testability". In Currie, Gregory; Musgrave, Alan (eds.). Popper and the Human Sciences. Nijhoff International Philosophy Series. SpringerVerlag. pp. 13–44. ISBN 978-90-247-2998-2.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Popper, K. R. (1990). "Science: Conjectures and Refutations". In Grim, P (ed.). Philosophy of Science and the Occult. Albany. pp. 104–110.
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(help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Cioffi, Frank (1985). "Psychoanalysis, Pseudo-Science and Testability". In Currie, Gregory; Musgrave, Alan (eds.). Popper and the human sciences. Springer. ISBN 978-90-247-2998-2.
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(help) - Graves, Joseph; Johnson, Amanda (1995). "The Pseudoscience of Psychometry and The Bell Curve". The Journal of Negro Education. 64 (3). Howard University: 277–294. doi:10.2307/2967209.
- Shermer, Michael, ed. (2002). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 643. "Volumes have been written on problems with intelligence tests, and I will not repeat them here. Suffice it to say that one problem with such tests is what they purport to measure. Rather than measuring some qualitatively distinct structure or process as defenders of such tests would have us believe, intelligence tests literally measure only the correctness of a variety of learned behaviors—answers to questions on the test—in a contrived context..."
- Cordon, Luis A. (2005). Popular Psychology: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing. p. 264. "The Mismeasure of Man...the late Stephen Gould's true masterpiece is this history of the use of psychometric pseudoscience to promote racism and sexism."
- Blum, Jeffrey M. (1978). Pseudoscience and Mental Ability: The Origins and Fallacies of the IQ Controversy. New York: Monthly Review Press. "Modern forms of "psychometric illusion," such as intelligence tests, I.Q tests and creativity tests, are discussed in terms of cultural bias and built-in fallacies. The origins and perpetuation of pseudoscience (particularly by the ruling elite) is described and suggestions are made for revising the concept of mental ability."
- Mensh, Elaine; Mensh, Harry (1991). The IQ Mythology: Class, Race, Gender, and Inequality. Southern Illinois University Press. "As the product of a pseudoscience that claims to measure "intelligence," "ability," "competency," etc. -- which are hypothetical traits or constructs and so not subject to measurement -- IQ tests have remained fundamentally the same since they were created...Yet the problems these critics are deeply concerned with -- as this new look at mental tests will show -- cannot be ameliorated within the framework of psychometrics, but only intensified by this inherently biased pseudoscience."
- Gould, Stephen Jay (1981). The Mismeasure of Man. New York: W W Norton and Co.
- Michell, Joel (2000). "Normal Science, Pathological Science and Psychometrics". Theory Psychology. 10 (5): 639–667. doi:10.1177/0959354300105004.
- "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Business (Subliminal Advertising)". The Urban Legends Reference Pages. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
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instead. - ^ "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding. Science Fiction and Pseudoscience". National Science Foundation.
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Frean, Alexandra (30 January 2009). "Universities drop degree courses in alternative medicine". The Times. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
Universities are increasingly turning their backs on homoeopathy and complementary medicine amid opposition from the scientific community to 'pseudo-science' degrees.
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(help) - von Rohra, E.; Pampallonab, S.; van Wegberga, B.; Hürnyc, Ch.; Bernhardd, J.; Heussere, P.; Cernyf, Th. (2000). "Experiences in the realisation of a research project on anthroposophical medicine in patients with advanced cancer" (PDF). Schweiz Med Wochenschr. 130 (34): 1173–84. PMID 11013920.
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(help) - Kiene, Helmut (2001). Complementary Methodology in Clinical Research – Cognition-based Medicine. Heidelberg, New York: Springer Publishers. ISBN 3-540-41022-8.
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anonymous. "Miscellaneous Holistic Remedies". Holistic Online. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
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Anonymous (2004). "The Position of Anthroposophic Medicine". Internationale Vereinigung Anthroposophischer Ärztegesellschaften (International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations). Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
Some medicines are similar to herbal medicinal products, some are prepared according to the guidelines of homeopathic pharmacopoeias.
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(help) - Flöistrup, Helen; Swartz, Jackie; Bergström, Anna; Alm, Johan S.; Scheynius, Annika; van Hage, Marianne; Waser, Marco; Braunfahrlander, C; Schrambijkerk, D (January 2006). "Allergic disease and sensitization in Steiner school children". The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 117 (1): 59–66. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2005.09.039. PMID 16387585. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
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{{cite journal}}
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(help) - ^ Carroll, Robert. "anthroposophic medicine". Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
- Hansson, Sven Ove (1991). "Is Anthroposophy Science?". Conceptus. XXV (64): 37–49.
The claims that anthroposophy is a science are not justified.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Ernst, Edzard (2006). "Mistletoe as a treatment for cancer". BMJ. 333 (7582): 1282–3. doi:10.1136/bmj.39055.493958.80. PMC 1761165. PMID 17185706.
Anthroposophic drugs are based on ancient alchemistic and homeopathic notions, far removed from the concepts of pharmacology.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Ernst, Edzard, "Anthroposophical Medicine: A systematic review of randomised clinical trials." Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift, ISSN 0043-5325, 2004, vol. 116, no4, pp. 128–130
- "Report of the Special Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medical Practitioners, In Opposition to the Licensure of Naturopaths" (PDF). Massachusetts Medical Society. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
Many of the means by which naturopaths diagnose these toxins and allergies are outright quackery: electrodiagnostic devices (banned by the FDA as worthless), hair analysis, applied kinesiology, iridology, and more.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ "Applied Kinesiology". American Cancer Society. 23 May 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
Available scientific evidence does not support the claim that applied kinesiology can diagnose or treat cancer or other illness.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Applied Kinesiology". Natural Standard. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
applied kinesiology has not been shown to be effective for the diagnosis or treatment of any disease.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Applied Kinesiology Status Statement". International College of Applied Kinesiology. 16 June 1992. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ Such as the existence of the geologic column; see Morton, Glenn. "The Geologic Column and its Implications for the Flood". TalkOrigins Archive.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Niggemann, B.; Gruber, C. (August 2004). "Unproven diagnostic procedures in IgE-mediated allergic diseases". Allergy. 59 (8): 806–808. doi:10.1111/j.1398-9995.2004.00495.x. PMID 15230811.
- Gerez, IF; Shek, LP; Chng, HH; Lee, BW (January 2010). "Diagnostic tests for food allergy" (PDF). Singapore Medical Journal. 51 (1): 4–9. PMID 20200768.
- Waserman, Susan; Watson, Wade (January 2011). "Food allergy" (PDF). Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology. 7 (Suppl 1): S7. doi:10.1186/1710-1492-7-S1-S7. PMC 3245440. PMID 22166142.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - Wüthrich, B (2005). "Unproven techniques in allergy diagnosis" (PDF). Journal of Investigational Allergology & Clinical Immunology. 15 (2): 86–90. PMID 16047707.
- Beyer, K; Teuber, SS (June 2005). "Food allergy diagnostics: scientific and unproven procedures". Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 5 (3): 261–6. doi:10.1097/01.all.0000168792.27948.f9. PMID 15864086.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Sicherer, S. H.; Wood, R. A. (December 2011). "Allergy Testing in Childhood: Using Allergen-Specific IgE Tests". Pediatrics. 129 (1): 193–197. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-2382. PMID 22201146.
- ^ Bernstein, IL; Li, JT; Bernstein, DI; Hamilton, R; Spector, SL; Tan, R; Sicherer, S; Golden, DB; Khan, DA; et al. (March 2008). "Allergy diagnostic testing: an updated practice parameter" (PDF). Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. 100 (3, Supplement 3): S1–148. doi:10.1016/S1081-1206(10)60305-5. PMID 18431959.
{{cite journal}}
: Explicit use of et al. in:|first=
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suggested) (help) - ^ Teuber, Suzanne S.; Porch-Curren, Cristina (June 2003). "Unproved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to food allergy and intolerance". Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 3 (3): 217–221. doi:10.1097/00130832-200306000-00011. PMID 12840706.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Ortolani C, C; Bruijnzeel-Koomen C; Bengtsson U; et al. (January 1999). "Controversial aspects of adverse reactions to food. European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Reactions to Food Subcommittee". Allergy. 54 (1): 27–45. doi:10.1034/j.1398-9995.1999.00913.x. PMID 10195356.
{{cite journal}}
: Explicit use of et al. in:|author4=
(help) - Boyce, JA; Assa'ad A; Burks AW; et al. (December 2010). "Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of food allergy in the United States: report of the NIAID-sponsored expert panel" (PDF). The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 126 (6 Suppl.): S1–S58. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2010.10.007. PMID 21134576.
{{cite journal}}
: Explicit use of et al. in:|author4=
(help) - Sackeyfio, A.; Senthinathan, A.; Kandaswamy, P.; Barry, P. W.; Shaw, B.; Baker, M. (February 2011). "Diagnosis and assessment of food allergy in children and young people: summary of NICE guidance". British Medical Journal. 342: d747. doi:10.1136/bmj.d747. PMID 21345912.
- ^ "Unorthodox techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of allergy, asthma and immune disorders". Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy. November 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- Motala, C; Hawarden, D (July 2009). "Guideline: Diagnostic testing in allergy" (PDF). South African Medical Journal. 99 (7): 531–535.
- Morris, A. (March 2006). "Complementary and Alternative Allergy Tests". Current Allergy & Clinical Immunology. 19 (1): 26–28.
- Peter Barrett (2004), Science and Theology Since Copernicus: The Search for Understanding, p. 18, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 0-567-08969-X.
- ^ "Report 12 of the Council on Scientific Affairs (A-97)". American Medical Association. 1997.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ "Ayurvedic medicine". Quackwatch. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Sharp, Lesley A. (December 2003). "Review of Fluent bodies: Ayourvedic Remedies for Postcolonial Imbalance". Medical Anthropology Quarterly. 17 (4): 511–512. doi:10.1525/maq.2003.17.4.512. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ Carroll, Robert Todd (2003). The Skeptic's Dictionary. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 45–4?. ISBN 0-471-27242-6.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Quackenbush, Thomas R. (2000). Better Eyesight The complete magazines of William H. Bates. North Atlantic Books. p. 643. ISBN 1-55643-351-4.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Worrall, Russell S.; Nevyas, Jacob; Barrett, Stephen (12 September 2007). "Eye-Related Quackery". Retrieved 17 November 2007.
The claims Bates made in advertising his book were so dubious that in 1929 the Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint against him for advertising "falsely or misleadingly"
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Pollack, P. (1956). "Chapter 3: Fallacies of the Bates System". The Truth about Eye Exercises. Philadelphia: Chilton Co.
{{cite book}}
: External link in
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suggested) (help) - Skarnulis, Leanna (5 February 2007). "Natural Vision Correction: Does It Work?". WebMD.
No evidence was found that visual training had any effect on the progression of nearsightedness, or that it improved visual function for patients with farsightedness or astigmatism, or that it improved vision lost to diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Gardner, Martin (1957). "Chapter 19: Throw Away Your Glasses". Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. Courier Dover. pp. 230–241. ISBN 0-486-20394-8.
Actually, Bates' theory of accommodation (so necessary to explain the value of his exercises) is so patently absurd that even most of his present-day followers have discarded it.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Bradley, Robyn E. (23 September 2003). "Advocates See Only Benefits From Eye Exercises" (PDF). The Boston Globe (MA).
{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Marg, E. (1952). ""Flashes" of clear vision and negative accommodation with reference to the Bates Method of visual training" (PDF). Am J Opt Arch Am Ac Opt. 29 (4): 167–84. doi:10.1097/00006324-195204000-00001.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Randi, James (11 November 2006). "Swift: the weekly newsletter of the JREF". Retrieved 17 November 2007.
This is pure old quackery, it's wishful thinking, and it's profitable.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Biological Rhythms: Implications for the Worker". OTA-BA-463 Box 2-A pg. 30. Office of Technology Assessment. September 1991. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
"No evidence exists to support the concept of biorhythms; in fact, scientific data refute their existence.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Carroll, Robert Todd. "Biorhythms". Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
The theory of biorhythms is a pseudoscientific theory that claims our daily lives are significantly affected by rhythmic cycles overlooked by scientists who study biological rhythms.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Hines, Terence (1998). "Comprehensive Review of Biorhythm Theory" (pdf (summary)). Psychological Reports. 83 (1): 19–64. doi:10.2466/PR0.83.5.19-64. PMID 9775660. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
The conclusion is that biorhythm theory is not valid.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ Smith, SE (1993). "Body Memories: And Other Pseudo-Scientific Notions of "Survivor Psychology"". Issues in Child Abuse Accusations. 5 (4).
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Lilienfeld, Scott O.; Lynn, SJ; Lohr, JM, eds. (2002). Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology. The Guilford Press. ISBN 1-57230-828-1.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Brain Gym – FAQ". The Official Brain Gym Web Site. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
BRAIN GYM works by facilitating optimal achievement of mental potential through specific movement experiences. All acts of speech, hearing, vision, and coordination are learned through a complex repertoire of movements. BRAIN GYM promotes efficient communication among the many nerve cells and functional centers located throughout the brain and sensory motor system.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - "About Brain Gym".
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Neuroscience and Education: Issues and Opportunities" (PDF). the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
The pseudo-scientific terms that are used to explain how this works, let alone the concepts they express, are unrecognisable within the domain of neuroscience.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Goswami, Usha (May 2006). "Neuroscience and education: from research to practice?". Nature. 7 (5): 406–413. doi:10.1038/nrn1907. PMID 16607400. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
Cognitive neuroscience is making rapid strides in areas highly relevant to education. However, there is a gulf between current science and direct classroom applications. Most scientists would argue that filling the gulf is premature. Nevertheless, at present, teachers are at the receiving end of numerous 'brain-based learning' packages. Some of these contain alarming amounts of misinformation, yet such packages are being used in many schools.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help)(subscription required) - "Sense About Science – Brain Gym". Sense About Science. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
These exercises are being taught with pseudoscientific explanations that undermine science teaching and mislead children about how their bodies work. ... There have been a few peer reviewed scientific studies into the methods of Brain Gym, but none of them found a significant improvement in general academic skills.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Hyatt, Keith J. (April 2007). "Brain Gym – Building Stronger Brains or Wishful Thinking?". Remedial and Special Education. 28 (2). SAGE Publications: 117–124. doi:10.1177/07419325070280020201. ISSN 0741-9325. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
a review of the theoretical foundations of Brain Gym and the associated peer-reviewed research studies failed to support the contentions of the promoters of Brain Gym. Educators are encouraged to become informed consumers of research and to avoid implementing programming for which there is neither a credible theoretical nor a sound research basis.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help)(subscription required) - Gray, Sadie (5 April 2008). "News in brief". London: The Times. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
Paul Dennison, a Californian educator who created the programme, admitted that many claims in his teacher's guide were based on his 'hunches' and were not proper science.
{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "An Introduction to Chiropractic". National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. November 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Standards for Doctor of Chiropractic programs and requirements for institutional status" (PDF). The Council on Chiropractic Education. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Nelson, CF; Lawrence, DJ; Triano, JJ; Bronfort, Gert; Perle, Stephen M; Metz, R Douglas; Hegetschweiler, Kurt; Labrot, Thomas (July 2005). "Chiropractic as spine care: a model for the profession". Chiropractic & Osteopathy. 13 (1): 9. doi:10.1186/1746-1340-13-9. PMC 1185558. PMID 16000175.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - Grod, JP; Sikorski, D; Keating, JC (October 2001). "Unsubstantiated claims in patient brochures from the largest state, provincial, and national chiropractic associations and research agencies". Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 24 (8): 514–9. doi:10.1067/mmt.2001.118205. PMID 11677551.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Keating, JC Jr; Cleveland, CS III; Menke, M (2005). "Chiropractic history: a primer" (PDF). Association for the History of Chiropractic. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Keating, JC Jr (1997). "Chiropractic: science and antiscience and pseudoscience side by side". Skept Inq. 21 (4): 37–43.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Johnson, T. (December 1999). "Angry scientists fight university's attempt to affiliate with chiropractic college". Canadian Medical Association Journal. 160: 99–100.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "First public chiropractic school causes stir". MSNBC. 17 January 2005. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Ernst, E; Canter, PH (April 2006). "A systematic review of systematic reviews of spinal manipulation". J R Soc Med. 99 (4): 192–6. doi:10.1258/jrsm.99.4.192. PMC 1420782. PMID 16574972.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Bronfort, G; Haas, M; Evans, R; Kawchuk, G; Dagenais, S (2008). "Evidence-informed management of chronic low back pain with spinal manipulation and mobilization". The Spine Journal. 8 (1): 213–25. doi:10.1016/j.spinee.2007.10.023. PMID 18164469.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Assendelft, WJ; Morton, SC; Yu, EI; Suttorp, MJ; Shekelle, PG (2004). Assendelft, Willem JJ (ed.). "Spinal manipulative therapy for low back pain". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (1): CD000447. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000447.pub2. PMID 14973958.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Ernst, E (May 2008). "Chiropractic: a critical evaluation". Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 35 (5): 544–62. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.07.004. PMID 18280103.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Thiel, HW; Bolton, JE; Docherty, S; Portlock, JC (October 2007). "Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey". Spine. 32 (21): 2375–8, discussion 2379. doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181557bb1. PMID 17906581.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Ernst E (July 2007). "Adverse effects of spinal manipulation: a systematic review". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 100 (7): 330–8. doi:10.1258/jrsm.100.7.330. PMC 1905885. PMID 17606755.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Vohra, S; Johnston, BC; Cramer, K; Humphreys, K (January 2007). "Adverse events associated with pediatric spinal manipulation: a systematic review". Pediatrics. 119 (1): e275–83. doi:10.1542/peds.2006-1392. PMID 17178922.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Barrett, Stephen (31 July 2008). "Chiropractic's Dirty Secret: Neck Manipulation and Strokes". Quackwatch. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Gouveia, LO; Castanho, P; Ferreira, JJ (May 2009). "Safety of chiropractic interventions: a systematic review". Spine. 34 (11): E405–13. doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181a16d63. PMID 19444054.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Keating, Joseph C. (March 2002). "The Meanings of Innate". Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association. 46 (1): 4–10. PMC 2505097.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Chiropractic: A Profession Seeking Identity". CSICOP. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Barrett, S (9 March 2008). "Gastrointestinal Quackery: Colonics, Laxatives, and More". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ "ACS: Colon Therapy". Retrieved 7 December 2008.
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(help) - "The Craniosacral Therapy Association of the UK".
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Craniosacral Therapy". The Upledger Institute. 2001. Retrieved 27 March 2004.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Ferrett, Mij (1998). "What Is Craniosacral Therapy?". Retrieved 27 March 2004.
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(help) - "General information on Cranial Osteopathy". The Sutherland Society. Retrieved 24 January 2006.
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: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Green, C; Martin, CW; Bassett, K; Kazanjian, A (1999). "A systematic review of craniosacral therapy: biological plausibility, assessment reliability and clinical effectiveness". Complement Ther Med. 7 (4): 201–7. doi:10.1016/S0965-2299(99)80002-8. PMID 10709302.
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(help) An earlier version of the paper is available without a subscription: Green, C; Martin, CW; Bassett, K; Kazanjian, A (1999). "A systematic review and critical appraisal of the scientific evidence on craniosacral therapy" (PDF). BCOHTA 99:1J. British Columbia Office of Health Technology Assessment. Retrieved 8 October 2007.{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
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(help) - Norcross, John C.; Koocher, Gerald P.; Garofalo, Ariele (2006). "Discredited psychological treatments and tests: A Delphi poll". Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 37 (5): 515–522. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.37.5.515. ISSN 1939-1323.
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(help) - Wheeler, Thomas J. (21 February 2006). "A Scientific Look at Alternative Medicine" (PDF). Retrieved 12 January 2012.
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(help) - Bledsoe, Bryan E. (1 October 2004). "The Elephant in the Room: Does OMT Have Proved Benefit?". JAOA: Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. 104 (10): 405–406. PMID 15537794. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Hartman, Steve E (8 June 2006). "Cranial osteopathy: its fate seems clear". Chiropractic & Osteopathy. 14: 10. doi:10.1186/1746-1340-14-10. ISSN 1746-1340. PMC 1564028. PMID 16762070.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - "Cranial Manipulative Therapy". Retrieved 12 January 2012.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Atwood, Kimball C (26 March 2004). "Naturopathy, Pseudoscience, and Medicine: Myths and Fallacies vs Truth". Medscape General Medicine. 6 (1): 33. ISSN 1531-0132.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Campion, EW (January 1993). "Why unconventional medicine?". The New England Journal of Medicine. 328 (4): 282–3. doi:10.1056/NEJM199301283280413. PMID 8418412.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Carroll, Robert Todd. "crystal power". The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Chevalier, Gaetan; Sinatra, Stephan; Oschman, James; Sokal, Karol; Sokal, Pawel (2012). "Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth's Surface Electrons". Journal of Environmental Public Health. 2012 (291541): 1–8. doi:10.1155/2012/291541. PMC 3265077. PMID 22291721.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - Oschman, James (9 November 2007). "Can Electrons Act as Antioxidants? A Review and Commentary". The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 13 (9): 955–967. doi:10.1089/acm.2007.7048.
- Röösli, M; Moser, M; Baldinini, Y; Meier, M; Braun-Fahrländer, C (February 2004). "Symptoms of ill health ascribed to electromagnetic field exposure – a questionnaire survey". International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. 207 (2): 141–50. doi:10.1078/1438-4639-00269. PMID 15031956.
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(help) - Rubin, G James; Das Munshi, Jayati; Wessely, Simon (2005). "Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity: A Systematic Review of Provocation Studies". Psychosomatic Medicine. 67 (2): 224–232. doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000155664.13300.64. PMID 15784787.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Goldacre, Ben. "Electrosensitives: the new cash cow of the woo industry". Retrieved 17 November 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Electromagnetic fields and public health". Retrieved 17 November 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - National Science Foundation (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 978-0-16-066579-0.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) "Belief in pseudoscience is relatively widespread... Polls also show that one quarter to more than half of the public believes in ... faith healing." - Frazier, Kendrick (January 2005). "In the Land of Galileo, Fifth World Skeptics Congress Solves Mysteries, Champions Scientific Outlook". Skeptical Inquirer. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
The majority of rigorous trials show no effect beyond placebo. (Edzard Ernst)
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Copper and Magnetic Bracelets Do Not Work for Rheumatoid Arthritis; randi.org
- Quackwear: Big Pseudoscience Wants to Sell You Wearable Metal to Improve Your Health; Alternet; January 10, 2015.
- Kayne, SB; Caldwell, IM (2006). Homeopathic pharmacy: theory and practice (2nd. ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 52. ISBN 9780443101601.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Goldacre, Ben (17 November 2007). "Benefits and Risks of Homoeopathy". The Lancet. 370 (9600): 1672–1673. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61706-1. PMID 18022024.
Five large meta-analyses of homoeopathy trials have been done. All have had the same result: after excluding methodologically inadequate trials and accounting for publication bias, homoeopathy produced no statistically significant benefit over placebo.
{{cite journal}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Homoeopathy's benefit questioned". BBC News. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
Professor Egger said: "We acknowledge to prove a negative is impossible. "But good large studies of homeopathy do not show a difference between the placebo and the homoeopathic remedy, whereas in the case of conventional medicines you still see an effect."
{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Homeopathy: systematic review of systematic reviews". Bandolier. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
None of these systematic reviews provided any convincing evidence that homeopathy was effective for any condition. The lesson was often that the best designed trials had the most negative result
{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Questions and Answers About Homeopathy". National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. April 2003. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
In sum, systematic reviews have not found homeopathy to be a definitively proven treatment for any medical condition.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ Beyerstein, BL (1997). "Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - CSICOP, cited in National Science Foundation Subcommittee on Science & Engineering Indicators (2000). "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding: Science Fiction and Pseudoscience". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "NCAHF Position Paper on Homeopathy". National Council Against Health Fraud. 1994. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Tyler, Chris (September 2006). "Sense About Homeopathy" (PDF). Sense About Science. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
The scientific evidence shows that homeopathy acts only as a placebo and there is no scientific explanation of how it could work any other way.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Questions and Answers About Homeopathy". National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. April 2003. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
a number of its key concepts do not follow the laws of science (particularly chemistry and physics)
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "What is Homeopathy". American Cancer Society. 5 January 2000. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
Most scientists say homeopathic remedies are basically water and can act only as placebos.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Scientists attack homeopathy move". BBC News. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
In a statement, the Royal College of Pathologists said they were "deeply alarmed" that the regulation of medicine had "moved away from science and clear information for the public"
{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Iridology". Natural Standard. 7 July 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
"Research suggests that iridology is not an effective method to diagnose or help treat any specific medical condition.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Ernst, E (January 2000). "Iridology: not useful and potentially harmful". Archives of ophthalmology. 118 (1): 120–1. doi:10.1001/archopht.118.1.120. PMID 10636425.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - "H-175.998 Evaluation of Iridology" (PDF). American Medical Association. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
Our AMA believes that iridology, the study of the iris of the human eye, has not yet been established as having any merit as a diagnostic technique.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Kalichman, Seth C. (16 January 2009). Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy. Springer. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-387-79476-1.
- ^ "Leaky gut syndrome". NHS Choices. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- Cormier, Zoe (8 March 2008). "'Talk Therapy' Takes On Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Coming Soon To Canada". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ Felstein, Roma (9 January 2007). "Could ME be caused by too much adrenaline?". The Daily Mail. London.
- Park, Robert L. (2000). "The Virtual Astronaut". Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. p. 61. ISBN 0-19-513515-6.
Not only are magnetic fields of no value in healing, you might characterize these as "homeopathic" magnetic fields.
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Among all who had heard of , 14 percent said it was very scientific and another 54 percent said it was sort of scientific. Only 25 percent of those surveyed answered correctly, that is, that it is not at all scientific.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Sarris, J., and Wardle, J. 2010. Clinical naturopathy: an evidence-based guide to practice. Elsevier Australia. Chatswood, NSW.
- Atwood KC (26 March 2004). "Naturopathy, pseudoscience, and medicine: myths and fallacies vs truth". Medscape Gen Med. 6 (1): 33. PMC 1140750. PMID 15208545.
- ^ Barrett S (23 December 2003). "A close look at naturopathy". www.quackwatch.org. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- McKnight, P (7 March 2009). "Naturopathy's main article of faith cannot be validated: Reliance on vital forces leaves its practises based on beliefs without scientific backing". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
- National Science Board (April 2002). "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding – Science Fiction and Pseudoscience". Arlington, Virginia: National Science Foundation Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.
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Wahlberg A (2007). "A quackery with a difference – new medical pluralism and the problem of 'dangerous practitioners' in the United Kingdom". Social Science & Medicine. 65 (11): 2307–2316. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.07.024. PMID 17719708.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - "Iridology is nonsense"., a web page with further references
- Carroll, Robert. "Natural". The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
- "NCAHF Position Paper on Over the Counter Herbal Remedies (1995)". National Council Against Health Fraud. 1995. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
- Yang, M; Yuping, Y; Yin, X; Wang, BY; Wu, T; Liu, GJ; Dong, BR (2013). Dong, Bi Rong (ed.). "Chest physiotherapy for pneumonia in adults". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2 (2): CD006338. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006338.pub3. PMID 23450568.
- Posadzki, P.; Lee, M. S.; Ernst, E. (2013). "Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment for Pediatric Conditions: A Systematic Review". Pediatrics. 132 (1): 140–52. doi:10.1542/peds.2012-3959. PMID 23776117.
- Hondras, Maria A; Linde, Klaus; Jones, Arthur P (2005). Hondras, Maria A (ed.). "Manual therapy for asthma". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2): CD001002. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001002.pub2. PMID 15846609.
- Guglielmo, WJ (1998). "Are D.O.s losing their unique identity?". Medical economics. 75 (8): 200–2, 207–10, 213–4. PMID 10179479.
- Salzberg, Steven (27 October 2010). "Osteopaths Versus Doctors". Forbes. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- Pilkington, Mark (15 April 2004). "A vibe for radionics". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
Scientific American concluded: 'At best, is all an illusion. At worst, it is a colossal fraud.'
{{cite news}}
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(help) - "10 lesser-known alternative therapies". British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
Radionics is a technique of healing using extrasensory perception (ESP) and an instrument.
{{cite news}}
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(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Isaak, Mark (ed.). "Index to Creationist Claims: Geology". TalkOrigins Archive.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - "What is Radionics". The Radionic Association. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
This subtle field cannot be accessed using our conventional senses. Radionic practitioners use a specialised dowsing technique to both identify the sources of weakness in the field and to select specific treatments to overcome them.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Electromagnetic Therapy". American Cancer Society. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
There is no relationship between the conventional medical uses of electromagnetic energy and the alternative devices or methods that use externally applied electrical forces. Available scientific evidence does not support claims that these alternative electrical devices are effective in diagnosing or treating cancer or any other disease.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Helwig, David (December 2004). "Radionics". In Longe, Jacqueline L. (ed.). The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine. Gale Cengage. ISBN 978-0-7876-7424-3. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Kunz, Kevin; Kunz, Barbara (1993). The Complete Guide to Foot Reflexology. Reflexology Research Project.
{{cite book}}
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requires|url=
(help) - Ernst E (2009). "Is reflexology an effective intervention? A systematic review of randomised controlled trials". Med J Aust. 191 (5): 263–6. PMID 19740047.
- Norman, Laura; Thomas Cowan (1989). The Reflexology Handbook, A Complete Guide. Piatkus. pp. 22, 23. ISBN 0-86188-912-6.
- "Natural Standard". Harvard Medical School. 7 July 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
- "Reflexology". National Council Against Health Fraud. 1996. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Wallace, Sampson; Vaughn, Lewis (24 March 1998). ""Therapeutic Touch" Fails a Rare Scientific Test". CSICOP News. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
Despite this lack of evidence, TT is now supported by major nursing organizations such as the National League of Nurses and the American Nurses Association.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - O'Mathuna, DP; Ashford, RL (2003/2006). O'Mathúna, Dónal P (ed.). "Therapeutic touch for healing acute wounds". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2003 (4): CD002766. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD002766. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
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(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Courcey, Kevin. "Further Notes on Therapeutic Touch". Quackwatch. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
What's missing from all of this, of course, is any statement by Krieger and her disciples about how the existence of their energy field can be demonstrated by scientifically accepted methods.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Energy Medicine: An Overview". National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
neither the external energy fields nor their therapeutic effects have been demonstrated convincingly by any biophysical means.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Unschuld, Paul Ulrich (1985). Medicine in China: A History of Ideas. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06216-7.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - ^ "Traditional Chinese Medicine: Principles of Diagnosis and Treatment". Complementary/Integrative Medicine Therapies. The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - "The Roots of Qi". CSICOP. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ NIH Consensus Development Program (1997). "Acupuncture --Consensus Development Conference Statement". National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
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{{cite news}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ "NCAHF Position Paper on Acupuncture (1990)". National Council Against Health Fraud. 16 September 1990. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Maciocia, Giovanni (1989). The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 0-443-03980-1.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Barrett, Stephen (28 March 2008). "Why TCM Diagnosis Is Worthless". Acupuncture Watch. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ "Traditional Medicine and Pseudoscience in China: A Report of the Second CSICOP Delegation (Part 1)". CSICOP. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Mann, Felix (1996). Reinventing Acupuncture: A New Concept of Ancient Medicine. London: Butterworth Heinemann,. p. 14.
...acupuncture points are no more real than the black spots that a drunkard sees in front of his eyes.
{{cite book}}
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(help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - Kaptchuk (1983). unknown. pp. 34–35.
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instead. - ^ Ernst, E; Pittler, MH; Wider, B; Boddy, K. (2007). "Acupuncture: its evidence-base is changing". Am J Chin Med. 35 (1): 21–5. doi:10.1142/S0192415X07004588. PMID 17265547.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - White, AR; Filshie, J; Cummings, TM; International Acupuncture Research Forum (2001). "Clinical trials of acupuncture: consensus recommendations for optimal treatment, sham controls and blinding". Complement Ther Med. 9 (4): 237–245. doi:10.1054/ctim.2001.0489. PMID 12184353.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Johnson, MI (2006). "The clinical effectiveness of acupuncture for pain relief – you can be certain of uncertainty". Acupunct Med. 24 (2): 71–9. doi:10.1136/aim.24.2.71. PMID 16783282.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Committee on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the American Public (2005). "Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States". National Academies Press. p. 126.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Madsen, MV; Gøtzsche, PC; Hróbjartsson, A (2009). "Acupuncture treatment for pain: systematic review of randomised clinical trials with acupuncture, placebo acupuncture, and no acupuncture groups". BMJ. 338 (27 January): a3115. doi:10.1136/bmj.a3115. PMC 2769056. PMID 19174438.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Ernst, E (February 2006). "Acupuncture – a critical analysis". Journal of Internal Medicine. 259 (2): 125–37. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2796.2005.01584.x. PMID 16420542.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Furlan, AD; van Tulder, MW; Cherkin, DC; Tsukayama, H; Lao, L; Koes, BW; Berman, BM (2005). Furlan, Andrea D (ed.). "Acupuncture and dry-needling for low back pain". Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online) (1): CD001351. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001351.pub2. PMID 15674876.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Lee, ML; Done, ML (2004). Lee, Anna (ed.). "Stimulation of the wrist acupuncture point P6 for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting". Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online) (3): CD003281. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003281.pub2. PMID 15266478.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - "Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials Section 3" (PDF). World Health Organization. 2003.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ NIH Consensus statement: "Despite considerable efforts to understand the anatomy and physiology of the "acupuncture points", the definition and characterization of these points remains controversial. Even more elusive is the basis of some of the key traditional Eastern medical concepts such as the circulation of Qi, the meridian system, and the five phases theory, which are difficult to reconcile with contemporary biomedical information but continue to play an important role in the evaluation of patients and the formulation of treatment in acupuncture." Acupuncture. National Institutes of Health: Consensus Development Conference Statement, 3–5 November 1997. Available online at consensus.nih.gov/1997/1997Acupuncture107html.htm. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
- "British Cupping Society". Retrieved 2008.
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(help) - Singh, Simon; Ernst, Edzard (2008). Trick or Treatment. Transworld Publishers. p. 368. ISBN 9780552157629.
- "Definition of Chinese meridian theory". National Cancer Institute. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- Shermer, Michael (July 2005). "Full of Holes: the curious case of acupuncture". Scientific American. 293 (2): 30. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0805-30. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Stenger, Victor J. (June 1998). "Reality Check: the energy fields of life". Skeptical Briefs. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2007. "Despite complete scientific rejection, the concept of a special biological fields within living things remains deeply engraved in human thinking. It is now working its way into modern health care systems, as non-scientific alternative therapies become increasingly popular. From acupuncture to homeopathy and therapeutic touch, the claim is made that healing can be brought about by the proper adjustment of a person's or animal's "bioenergetic fields.""
- "Traditional Medicine and Pseudoscience in China: A Report of the Second CSICOP Delegation (Part 2)". CSICOP. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- "Traditional Chinese Medicine: Overview of Herbal Medicines". Complementary/Integrative Medicine Therapies. The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
- Yuehua, N; Chen, J; Wu, T; Jiafu, W; Liu, G; Chen, Jin (2004). Chen, Jin (ed.). "Chinese medicinal herbs for sore throat (Review)". doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004877.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Praities, Nigel (7 August 2008). "GPs warned over Chinese medicine". Pulse. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- Normile, Dennis (2003). "ASIAN MEDICINE: the New Face of Traditional Chinese Medicine". Science. 299 (5604): 188–190. doi:10.1126/science.299.5604.188. PMID 12522228.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Gardner, Martin (2001). Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?: Debunking Pseudoscience. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 92–101. ISBN 0-393-32238-6.
- Garofalo, Pat (12 July 2013). "Jenny McCarthy's Pseudoscience Has No Place on 'The View'". US News. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
- Doja A, Roberts W (November 2006). "Immunizations and autism: a review of the literature". Can J Neurol Sci. 33 (4): 341–6. doi:10.1017/s031716710000528x. PMID 17168158.
- Immunization Safety Review Committee, Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine (2004). Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. ISBN 0-309-09237-X.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Williams, William A. (2000). Encyclopedia of pseudoscience. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 0-8160-3351-X.
- Kirkpatrick and Dahlquist. Technical Analysis: The Complete Resource for Financial Market Technicians. Financial Times Press, 2006, page 3. ISBN 0-13-153113-1
- http://seekingalpha.com/article/114523-beating-the-quants-at-their-own-game
- http://www.capco.com/sites/all/files/journal-32_article-10.pdf
- http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1118080
- Paul V. Azzopardi (2010). Behavioural Technical Analysis: An introduction to behavioural finance and its role in technical analysis. Harriman House. ISBN 1905641419.
- Andrew W. Lo; Jasmina Hasanhodzic (2010). The Evolution of Technical Analysis: Financial Prediction from Babylonian Tablets to Bloomberg Terminals. Bloomberg Press. p. 150. ISBN 1576603490. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- Paulos, J.A. (2003). A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market. Basic Books.
- Fama, Eugene (May 1970). "Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work," The Journal of Finance, v. 25 (2), pp. 383-417.
- Ruse, Michael (2013). "Evolution". In Pigliucci, Massimo; Boudry, Maarten (eds.). Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem. University of Chicago Press. pp. 239–243. ISBN 022605182X.
For the first one hundred and fifty years evolution was -- and was seen to be -- a pseudoscience.
- Pigliucci, Massimo (April 2011). "Evolution as pseudoscience?".
Ruse's somewhat surprising yet intriguing claim is that "before Charles Darwin, evolution was an epiphenomenon of the ideology of progress, a pseudoscience and seen as such..."
- Gould, Stephen Jay (1981). The Mismeasure of Man. New York, NY: W W Norton and Co. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-393-01489-4.
Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Kurtz, Paul (September 2004). "Can the Sciences Help Us to Make Wise Ethical Judgments?". Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
There have been abundant illustrations of pseudoscientific theories-monocausal theories of human behavior that were hailed as "scientific"-that have been applied with disastrous results. Examples: ... Many racists today point to IQ to justify a menial role for blacks in society and their opposition to affirmative action.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Regal, Brian. 2009. Pseudoscience: a critical encyclopedia Greenwood Press. pp. 27-29
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Aryan. "This notion, which had been repudiated by anthropologists by the second quarter of the 20th century, was seized upon by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and made the basis of the German government policy of exterminating Jews, Gypsies, and other 'non-Aryans.'".
- De Montellano, B. R. (1993). "Afrocentricity, Melanin, and Pseudoscience". Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 36: 33–58. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330360604.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Ortiz de Montellano, Bernard R. (17 December 2006). "Afrocentric Pseudoscience: The Miseducation of African Americans". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 775 (1 Phagocytes). New York Academy of Sciences: 561–572. Bibcode:1996NYASA.775..561O. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1996.tb23174.x.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - ^ Pollak 2000.
- Mann, Johathan (30 August 2002). "They call it cerealogy". CNN.com. Insight. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - Prothero, Donald R.; Buell, Carl Dennis (2007). Evolution. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-231-13962-5.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Shermer, Michael; Linse, Pat (2002). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. ISBN 1-57607-653-9.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - "Parapsychological Association website, Glossary of Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology". Retrieved 24 January 2006.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Alcock, James E. "Electronic Voice Phenomena:Voices of the Dead?". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 8 March 2007.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Carroll, Robert Todd (2003). The Skeptic's Dictionary. Wiley Publishing Company. ISBN 0-471-27242-6.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Shermer, Michael (May 2005). "Turn Me On, Dead Man". Scientific American. Retrieved 28 February 2007.
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(help) - Hines, Terrence (1988). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the Evidence. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-419-2.
Thagard (1978) op cit 223 ff
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(help) - "Parapsychological Association website, Glossary of Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology". Retrieved 24 December 2006.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - extrasensory perception. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - National Science Foundation (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 978-0-16-066579-0.
Belief in pseudoscience is relatively widespread... At least half of the public believes in the existence of extrasensory perception (ESP).
{{cite book}}
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(help) - According to skeptical investigator Joe Nickell, the typical ghost hunter is practicing pseudoscience.Ettkin, Brian (27 October 2008). "Skeptic: Ghost hunters practice 'pseudoscience'". Albany Times-Union. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
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(help) - "Levitation". Skeptic's Dictionary.
{{cite web}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Vernon, David (1989). "Palmistry". In Laycock, Donald; Vernon, David; Groves, Colin; brown, Simon (eds.). Skeptical – a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. Canberra: Imagecraft. p. 44. ISBN 0-7316-5794-2.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Randi, James (1989). The Faith Healers. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-535-0.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Vernon, David (1989). Laycock, Donald; Vernon, David; Groves, Colin; Brown, Simon (eds.). Skeptical – a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. Canberra: Imagecraft. p. 47. ISBN 0-7316-5794-2.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - "Psychic surgery". CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 40 (3): 184–8. 1990. doi:10.3322/canjclin.40.3.184. PMID 2110023. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Carroll, Robert Todd. "Psychic Surgery". The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - "Psychic surgeon charged". The Filipino Reporter. 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - Vyse, Stuart A. (1997). Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition. Oxford University Press US. p. 129. ISBN 0-19-513634-9.
ost scientists, both psychologists and physicists, agree that it has yet to be convincingly demonstrated.
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(help) - Carroll, Robert Todd. "Rumplogy for Dummies". The Skeptic's Dictionary.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Stableford, Brian M (2006). Science fact and science fiction: an encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97460-7.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - "Russian Alien Spaceship Claims Raise Eyebrows, Skepticism", Robert Roy Britt, SPACE.com
- The Universe. LIFE Science Library. LIFE. 1970.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - National Science Foundation (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 9780756723699.
Belief in pseudoscience is relatively widespread... A sizable minority of the public believes in UFOs and that aliens have landed on Earth.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - ^ Sagan, Carl (1996). "Does Truth Matter? Science, Pseudoscience, and Civilization" (PDF). Skeptical Inquirer.
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(help) - ^ Till, Farrell (1990). "What About Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible?" (self published). The Skeptical Review: 2–5.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Parkins, Michael D.; Szekrenyes, = J. (March 2001). "Pharmacological Practices of Ancient Egypt" (PDF). Proceedings of the 10th Annual History of Medicine. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
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(help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - Religious outsiders and the making of Americans Robert Laurence Moore; Oxford University Press 1986, page 223
- Gottschalk, S., The Emergence of Christian Science in American Religious Life, University of California Press, 1973, p. 224.
- Williams, J. D. (2007). "Creationist Teaching in School Science: A UK Perspective". Evolution: Education and Outreach. 1 (1): 87–88. doi:10.1007/s12052-007-0006-7.
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(help) - National Academy of Science (1999), Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences, 2nd edition, National Academy Press, archived from the original on 9 July 2007
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suggested) (help) - Young, Davis A. (1995). The biblical Flood: a case study of the Church's response to extrabiblical evidence. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans. p. 340. ISBN 0-8028-0719-4. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
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(help) - Isaak, Mark (2007). "Creationist claim CD750". p. 173.
Much geological evidence is incompatible with catastrophic plate tectonics.
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(help) - Fagan, Brian M.; Beck, Charlotte (1996). The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195076184. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- Cline, Eric H. (2009). Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199741077. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- Feder, Kenneth L. (2010). Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 031337919X. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- Rickard, Bob; Michell, John (2000). "Arkeology". Unexplained Phenomena: A Rough Guide Special. London: Rough Guides. pp. 179–183. ISBN 1858285895.
- "The TWiT Netcast Network with Leo Laporte" (vlog). 2010.
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(help) - "21st Century Geocentrism".
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(help) - "unknown".
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Phil Plait (14 September 2010). "Geocentrism? Seriously?".
- "Questions About Intelligent Design: What is the theory of intelligent design?". Discovery Institute, Center for Science and Culture.
The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Jones, John (2005). "Ruling, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Conclusion" .
In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents.
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(help) - "We therefore find that Professor Behe’s claim for irreducible complexity has been refuted in peer-reviewed research papers and has been rejected by the scientific community at large." Ruling, Judge John E. Jones III, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
- Shulman, Seth (2006). Undermining science: suppression and distortion in the Bush Administration. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-520-24702-7.
True in this latest creationist variant, advocates of so-called intelligent design ... use more slick, pseudoscientific language. They talk about things like 'irreducible complexity' ... For most members of the mainstream scientific community, ID is not a scientific theory, but a creationist pseudoscience.
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(help) Mu, David (Fall 2005). "Trojan Horse or Legitimate Science: Deconstructing the Debate over Intelligent Design" (PDF). Harvard Science Review. 19 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2007.{{cite journal}}
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Perakh, M (Summer 2005). "Why Intelligent Design Isn't Intelligent – Review of: Unintelligent Design". Cell Biol Educ. 4 (2): 121–2. doi:10.1187/cbe.05-02-0071. PMC 1103713.{{cite journal}}
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Decker., Mark D. "Frequently Asked Questions About the Texas Science Textbook Adoption Controversy". College of Biological Sciences, General Biology Program, University of Minnesota.The Discovery Institute and ID proponents have a number of goals that they hope to achieve using disingenuous and mendacious methods of marketing, publicity, and political persuasion. They do not practice real science because that takes too long, but mainly because this method requires that one have actual evidence and logical reasons for one's conclusions, and the ID proponents just don't have those. If they had such resources, they would use them, and not the disreputable methods they actually use.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Evans, Christopher Riche (1974). "6". Cults of Unreason. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-13324-7.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Miller, Russell. Bare-faced messiah: The true story of L. Ron Hubbard. Key Porter. ISBN 0-8050-0654-0.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Banys, Dr. Peter (9 June 2004). "unknown". San Francisco Chronicle.
{{cite news}}
: Cite uses generic title (help); Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "Dianetics". Skeptic's Dictionary.
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(help) - Pfeiffer, John (April 1953). Some Comments on Popular-Science Books. Science (New Series). Vol. 117. pp. 399–403.
Dianetics, that unholy alliance of psychoanalysis and cybernetics, rates a special chapter.
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(help) referencing Gardner, Martin. Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science.{{cite book}}
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(help) - Farley, Robert (30 March 2003). "Detox center seeks acceptance". St Petersburg Times.
When Narconon opened its Chilocco facility in 1991, the Oklahoma Board of Mental Health issued a blistering assessment in denying its application for certification. "There is no credible evidence establishing the effectiveness of the Narconon program to its patients," the board concluded. It attacked the program as medically unsafe; dismissed the sauna program as unproven; and criticized Narconon for inappropriately taking some patients off prescribed psychiatric medication.
- Robert W. Welkos; Joel Sappell (27 June 1990). "Church Seeks Influence in Schools, Business, Science". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
A fourth article did not mention Hubbard by name, but reported favorably on Narconon, his drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, which is run by Scientologists.
- Kyle Smith (20 April 2007). "DON'T BE TRICKED BY $CI-FI TOM-FOOLERY". New York Post.
Those who want a tan from his celebrity glow will urge a fair hearing for his quackery. Obscure City Councilman Hiram Monserrate suddenly finds himself talked about after issuing a proclamation of huzzahs for L. Ron Hubbard. Three: The Ground Zero maladies are so baffling that workers will try anything. Anyone who feels better will credit any placebo at hand – whether Cruise or the Easter Bunny. In 1991, Time called Scientology's anti-drug program "Narconon" a "vehicle for drawing addicts into the cult" – which the magazine said "invented hundreds of goods and services for which members are urged to give up 'donations' " – such as $1,250 for advice on "moving swiftly up the Bridge" of enlightenment. That's New Age techno-gobbledygook for advice on buying swiftly up the Bridge of Brooklyn. Scientology fronts such as the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project – its Web site immediately recognizable as the work of Hubbardites by its logo, which looks like the cover of a Robert Heinlein paperback from 1971 – hint that their gimmicks might possibly interest anyone dreaming of weight loss, higher I.Q. or freedom from addiction. And you might be extra-specially interested if you've faced heart disease, cancer, Agent Orange or Chernobyl. As Mayor Bloomberg put it, Scientology "is not science." Nope. It's science fiction.
- "30 arrested in Paris crackdown on Scientologists". Agence France-Presse. 14 January 1992.
About 30 Scientologists were arrested – and 19 of them later indicted – between May and October 1990 on charges of fraud, conspiracy to defraud and the illegal practice of medicine following the 1988 suicide of a church member in Lyon, eastern France. ... The sect has often found itself in trouble with officialdom the world over, accused of defrauding and brainwashing followers and, in France, of quackery at its illegal anti-drug clinics called "Narconon."
- Abgrall, Jean-Marie (2001). Healing Or Stealing?: Medical Charlatans in the New Age. p. 193. ISBN 1-892941-51-1. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
Narconon, a subsidiary of Scientology, and the association "Yes to Life, No to Drugs" have also made a specialty of the fight against drugs and treating drug addicts. ... Drug addicts are just one of the Scientologists' targets for recruitment. The offer of care and healing through techniques derived from dianetics is only a come-on. The detoxification of the patient by means of "dianetics purification" is more a matter of manipulation, through the general weakening that it causes; it is a way of brainwashing the subject. Frequently convicted for illegal practice of medicine, violence, fraud and slander, the Scientologists have more and more trouble getting people to accept their techniques as effective health measures, as they like to claim. They recommend their purification processes to eliminate X-rays and nuclear radiation, and to treat goiter and warts, hypertension and psoriasis, hemorrhoids and myopia. . . why would anyone find that hard to swallow? Scientology has built a library of several hundreds of volumes of writings exalting the effects of purification, and its disciples spew propaganda based on irresponsible medical writings by doctors who are more interested in the support provided by Scientology than in their patients' well-being. On the other hand, responsible scientific reviews have long since "eliminated" dianetics and purification from the lists of therapies – relegating them to the great bazaar of medical fraud. ... Medical charlatans do not base their claims on scientific proof but, quite to the contrary, on peremptory assertions – the kind of assertions that they challenge when they come out of the mouths of those who defend "real" medicine.
-
Asimov, Nanette (2 October 2004). "Church's drug program flunks S.F. test / Panel of experts finds Scientology's Narconon lectures outdated, inaccurate". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
The program, Narconon Drug Prevention & Education, "often exemplifies the outdated, non-evidence-based and sometimes factually inaccurate approach, which has not served students well for decades," concluded Steve Heilig, director of health and education for the San Francisco Medical Society. In his letter to Trish Bascom, director of health programs for the San Francisco Unified School District, Heilig said five independent experts in the field of drug abuse had helped him evaluate Narconon's curriculum. ... "One of our reviewers opined that 'this (curriculum) reads like a high school science paper pieced together from the Internet, and not very well at that,' " Heilig wrote Bascom. "Another wrote that 'my comments will be brief, as this proposal hardly merits detailed analysis.' Another stated, 'As a parent, I would not want my child to participate in this kind of 'education.' " Heilig's team evaluated Narconon against a recent study by Rodney Skager, a professor emeritus at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, describing what good anti-drug programs should offer students. "We concurred that ... the Narconon materials focus on some topics of lesser importance to the exclusion of best knowledge and practices," Heilig wrote, and that the curriculum contained "factual errors in basic concepts such as physical and mental effects, addiction and even spelling."
-
Asimov, Nanette (27 March 2005). "Doctors back schools dropping flawed antidrug program". San Francisco Chronicle.
The California Medical Association has declared unanimous support for school districts that have dropped Narconon and other "factually inaccurate approaches" to antidrug instruction from their classrooms, and will urge the American Medical Association to do the same. Nearly 500 California doctors also endorsed "scientifically based drug education in California schools"
- "Families question Scientology-linked drug rehab after recent deaths". NBC Rock Center. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- "Town Welcomes, Then Questions a Drug Project". New York Times. The New York Times Company. 17 July 1989. p. A13.
- Narconon Exposed: Is Narconon Valid? - Hubbard's Junk Science
- ^ Dukes, Edwin Joshua (1971). The Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics,. Edinburgh: T & T Clark. p. 834.
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(help) - Vierra, Monty (March 1997). "Harried by "Hellions" in Taiwan". Sceptical Briefs.
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(help) - Park, Robert L (2000). p. 39. ISBN 9780198604433.
long to be told that modern science validates the teachings of some ancient scripture or New Age guru. The purveyors of pseudoscience have been quick to exploit their ambivalence.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Stenger, Victor J. (January 1997). "Quantum Quackery". Skeptical Inquirer. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
Capra's book was an inspiration for the New Age, and "quantum" became a buzzword used to buttress the trendy, pseudoscientific spirituality that characterizes this movement.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - Gell-Mann, Murray (1995). The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and Complex. Macmillan. p. 168. ISBN 0-8050-7253-5.
Then the conclusion has been drawn that quantum mechanics permits faster-than-light communication, and even tha claimed "paranormal" phenomena like precognition are thereby made respectable! How can this have happened?
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Kuttner, Fred; Rosenblum, Bruce (November 2006). "Teaching physics mysteries versus pseudoscience". Physics Today. 59 (11). American Institute of Physics: 14. Bibcode:2006PhT....59k..14K. doi:10.1063/1.2435631. Archived from the original on 15 November 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
We should not underestimate how persuasively physics can be invoked to buttress mystical notions. We physicists bear some responsibility for the way our discipline is exploited.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - Bell, J. S. (1988). Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics. Cambridge University Press. p. 170. ISBN 0-521-52338-9.
So I think it is not right to tell the public that a central role for conscious mind is integrated into modern atomic physics. Or that 'information' is the real stuff of physical theory. It seems to me irresponsible to suggest that technical features of contemporary theory were anticipated by the saints of ancient religions ... by introspection.
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(help) - "cosmetics – Bad Science" (blog).
- McLaughlin, Martyn (20 December 2007). "Pseudo science can't cover up the ugly truth". The Scotsman. Edinburgh.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - Martin Gardner (1957). Fads And Fallacies In The Name Of Science. Dover Publications. pp. 69–79. ISBN 978-0-486-20394-2.
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(help) - Shermer, Michael. "Rupert's Resonance". Scientific American. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- Goldacre, Ben (27 January 2005). "Testing the water". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media, Ltd. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - Water Cluster Quackery. The junk science of structure-altered waters, Stephen Lower
- Rousseau, Denis L. (January 1992). "Case Studies in Pathological Science". American Scientist. 80 (1): 54–63. Bibcode:1992AmSci..80...54R.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - The Time Cube: Absolute Proof?
- Dvorak, John C. (22 December 2003). "Don't Call Them Crackpots". PC magazine.
- "Truth is cubic?", by Kate Duffy,The Phoenix, Swarthmore College, September 19, 2002. Archived by the Internet Archive, archive copy retrieved July 25, 2010.
- Dynamics of Hyperspace
- The Timewave: The Zero Date
- Kruglyakov, Edward P. "Pseudoscience. How Does It Threaten Science and the Public? Report at a RAN Presidium meeting of 27 May 2003". Zdraviy Smysl. Saint Petersburg Branch of the Russian Humanist Society.
- Science gone wrong
- Gnad, Megan (14 September 2007). "MP tries to ban water". New Zealand Herald.
- Analog science fiction & fact. Vol. 126. 1 January 2006. p. 86.
Even sending messages backwards-in-time has mind-bending consequences and has become a standard theme in science fiction (examples: Isaac Asimov's "thiotimoline" pseudo- science-fact articles in Astounding(...)
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Jonathan C. Smith (2009). Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit. Wiley Desktop Editions Series (illustrated ed.). John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-1-4051-8123-5.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - "The dangers of creationism in education". Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
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- Vergano, Dan (27 March 2006). ""Spaghetti Monster" is noodling around with faith". USA Today Science & Space article. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
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(help) - Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory, The Onion
References
- O'Neill, Ian (2008). "2012: No Geomagnetic Reversal". Universe Today. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Pollak, Melissa (13 January 2000). "Chapter 8: Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding". In Bradburn, Norman M.; Lehming, Rolf; Carlson, Lynda; Frase, Mary J. (eds.). Science and Engineering Indicators. Arlington, VA: National Science foundation.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Pollak, Melissa (2002). "Chapter 7: Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding". In Bradburn, Norman M.; Lehming, Rolf; Carlson, Lynda; Frase, Mary J. (eds.). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. ISBN 978-0-16-066579-0.
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(help) - Rosenbaum, Ron (22 May 2009). "2012: Tsunami of Stupidity: Why the latest apocalyptic cult is a silly scam". Slate.com. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
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Further reading
- Park, Robert (2000). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. Oxford University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0195147100.
- Singer, Barry; Abell, George O. (1983). Science and the paranormal: probing the existence of the supernatural. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-17820-6.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Collins, Paul (2002). Banvard's folly: thirteen tales of people who didn't change the world. New York: Picador USA. ISBN 0-312-30033-6.
- Gardner, Martin (1957). Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (2nd, revised & expanded ed.). Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-20394-8. Retrieved 14 November 2010 Originally published 1952 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, under the title In the Name of Science
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(help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) - Gardner, Martin (1981). Science – good, bad and bogus. Buffalo, N.Y: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-144-4.
- Randi, James (1982). Flim-flam!: psychics, ESP, unicorns, and other delusions. Buffalo, N.Y: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-198-3.
- Sagan, Carl (1997). The demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-40946-9.
- Vaughn, Lewis; Schick, Theodore (1999). How to think about weird things: critical thinking for a new age. Mountain View, Calif: Mayfield Pub. ISBN 0-7674-0013-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Shermer, Michael (2002). Why people believe weird things: pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time. New York: A.W.H. Freeman/Owl Book. ISBN 0-8050-7089-3.
External links
- 'Reading room' of Skeptic Society website. Various articles on pseudoscience and related topics can be found here at any given time.
- Essays by Michael Shermer at Scientific American. Shermer is a regular contributor to Scientific American, writing a column dealing with issues relating to skepticism and pseudoscience.
- Baloney Detection Kit on YouTube (10 questions we should ask when encountering a pseudoscience claim)