We explain what pseudosciences are and what their characteristics are. Also, types and examples of pseudoscience.
What is pseudoscience?
Pseudoscience or pseudoscience is called all forms of statement, belief or practice that appear to be scientific without being so that is, without following the objective verification steps stipulated in the Scientific Method. Therefore, the postulates of pseudoscience cannot be reliably verified, nor do they have official scientific status, nor are they endorsed or legitimized by any institution in the area.
Science is characterized by the acquisition of knowledge through observation and experimentation of reality, empirically. Pseudosciences, on the other hand, They are based more on a system of beliefs, judgments and popular half-truths which always remain in an uncertain region, often unfalsifiable, unverifiable and even mystical.
The boundaries between science and pseudoscience have political and philosophical implications, and are vital in matters of health, law, environmental policy or science education. However, many pseudoscientific beliefs are entrenched and widely distributed among people of all educational and cultural backgrounds .
Hence, in the fields of knowledge, the term “pseudoscientific” is used with a pejorative meaning, to say something that is closer to occultism and popular mythology than to properly logical, rational and scientific knowledge.
Characteristics of pseudoscience
A pseudoscience usually has some of the following characteristics:
- It's occult. It takes refuge in the shadows of scientific knowledge, generally as part of a story of global conspiracy, arcane knowledge or secret traditions, so its followers feel that they are possessors of a supreme and exclusive truth.
- It has no official legitimation. Pseudoscientific doctrines do not appear in official scientific publications, nor do they have backing, support and interest from the institutions that hold and promote scientific knowledge. On the contrary, they are frequent in popular, superstition and occult publications.
- Copy the scientific terminology. Apparently, a pseudoscience uses scientific terms and language similar to that of an official discipline, but without the support and specialized knowledge that lies behind the sciences. It is a kind of “disguise” that does not support a specialized review and that often inadvertently exposes the author's ignorance regarding the specific topic, since they use scientific terms in a way that is imprecise or contrary to their meaning.
- It is dogmatic. It proposes a series of beliefs that must be accepted or rejected, but that do not allow refutation and verification, as the exact sciences do.
- It does not pursue general laws. Unlike the sciences, they generally raise particular cases that contradict the general apparatus of the human sciences.
- Does not accept review. He usually attacks his detractors with arguments ad hominem (the person), such as accusing them of blindness, of being part of the “system” or of persecuting the “enlightened.”
- It is immutable. They adhere to their body of beliefs without reframing, reevaluating or developing them further, even in the face of the tests of official scientific discourse.
- It's inconsistent. Their approaches are not integrated with other fields of knowledge (external incoherence), nor do they respond coherently to their own postulates (internal incoherence).
Examples of pseudoscience
Some of the disciplines currently considered pseudosciences are the following:
- Astrology. The belief that the position of the stars at the time of a child's birth has a marked influence on his or her character, destiny, and relationships with others.
- Magnetotherapy. A practice that assumes diseases as imbalances in the magnetic and electrical field of the human body, and that aims to cure them through the application of magnets and metals on the skin.
- Cryptozoology. The study of living beings (animals) unknown to contemporary zoology, based on testimonies and vestiges (footprints, remains, etc.), when not supposed photographs, as happened with the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, etc.
- Feng Shui. Coming from the east of the world, this discipline explains the energy currents of people through the orientation and arrangement of the elements of their home, to achieve therapeutic harmony.
- Phrenology. Widely practiced in the 19th century, this doctrine sought to determine the facilities, impulses and personality defects of people based on the shape and characteristics of their skull.
- Parapsychology. The study of extrasensory phenomena between living human beings, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis, and even contact with the dead or with entities from “other planes.”
- Ufology. The doctrine that supports the presence of extraterrestrial life on Earth and that attempts to prove its manifestations and its contacts with the human species, as well as its responsibility in the construction of great historical milestones (such as the pyramids of Egypt).
Types of pseudoscience
There is no “official” classification of pseudosciences, but we could broadly classify them according to the logic of their doctrine:
- Conspiracies. Those that aspire to reveal to the public a “truth” that has been denied to them by powerful and secret groups or consortia of global interests.
- Historicists. Those that try to demonstrate their postulates through reinterpretations of true historical events in light of their doctrine.
- Metaphysics. Those that try to give an alternative explanation (usually magical, mystical or parascientific) to real and proven phenomena, or even more so to those that have not yet been deciphered by science.
