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By: Ashley England

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Post #2 Pseudoscience Watchlist: Money is often involved 

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Post #2 Pseudoscience Watchlist: Money is often involved 

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Money is often involved definition:

This means that money is often the reason for persuading people to have a certain belief.

Connection: The above picture is that of a psychic. Psychics are often known to take advantage of people at alarming high prices to tell them about all the possibilities of their futures. “ fifty dollars a session I can tell you how the rest of your life is going to go”. Psychics make a living on providing you with a distorted view of the truth. Any reputable source would tell you that these people couldn’t tell you what your future is going to look like with anymore certainty than anyone you meet on the street.

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Post #3 Pseudoscience Watchlist: Often appeals to emotion

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Post #3 Pseudoscience Watchlist: Often appeals to emotion

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Often appeals to emotion definition: This means that emotions are being used to convince you to have a belief you may not have otherwise had.

Connection: The above picture is of the famed Long Island Medium Theresa Caputo, who had a hit tv show on TLC where she connected families with their loved ones who have passed. This image related to the watchlist topic of often appeals to emotion because mediums are known to connect the living with the dead. This can attract people due to the emotional attachment to loved ones that have passed. Many people have debunked “powers” of mediums and have said time and time again there is no proof of anyone being able to speak to the dead. Through the power of appealing to one’s emotions it can transform someone from a skeptic into an instant believer.

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Post #4 Pseudoscience Watchlist: Convinces in faith and belief (in spite of evidence)

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Post #4 Pseudoscience Watchlist: Convinces in faith and belief (in spite of evidence)

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Convinces in faith and belief definition: The act of using one’s faith and or personal beliefs to make them believe in something that has no proof of being factual or true.

Connection: The image above is of evolution versus the biblical story of Adam and Eve. This demonstrates the watchlist topic of convinces in faith and belief because even though scientist have found proof that the evolution theory is true, the catholic religion remains true on their stance that God put two people on earth and that is how humanity can to be. If we were to do an analysis of the critical thinking process our define claim section would read as follows, “Adam and Eve were the first people on earth and the start of humanity”. At the second step which is recognize bias we would dive in deeper to this claim and realize that there is a large bias of faith at the head of this claim. There is no demonstrable validity to the claims being made besides the gospels written in the bible. Despite there being numerous pieces of evidence that evolution was more than likely what happened the catholic religion refuses to hear any of it and stick to the old story of Adam and Eve.

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Post #5 Pseudoscience Watchlist: Deliberately creates mystery.

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Post #5 Pseudoscience Watchlist: Deliberately creates mystery.

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Deliberately creates mystery definition: This means one is open to believing in mysteries and endless possibilities because there is not a definitive or logical answer.

Connection: The above picture is of tarot cards. Tarot cards originated in the 1400s then again in the 1800s as the version we all know today. Tarot cards implement what is “happening” in someone’s present life. The beliefs are that tarot cards can provide clarity also in some cases give people much needed answers to current life problems. This related to the watchlist topic deliberately creates mystery because tarot card reading are how one perceives them. There is no certainty only one’s own experiences which means they are relying on mystery for answers. Tarot card readings do not ensure answers to a particular problem. This must involve some who is open minded and can critically think because you must be able to critically think as you are asked to enter the reading with an open mind to ensure accurate responses and guidance. If the reading is done in a group setting, group think may be initiated because one person may be agreeing with another’s thoughts or views. This is even more likely if there has been a lack of practice with their critical thinking skills because it makes them susceptible to conforming with the ideas of others.

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Confirmation bias Definition: people tend to believe information that relates conforms to their pre existing beliefs and ideas.

Connection: The above image is of a horoscope chart which determines attributes of your personality based on the date, time and location you were born in. This relates to the red flag of confirmation bias because people read about what traits they are supposed to possess and make it their entire personalities using it to confirm their behaviours and reasons for doing things. For example they’ll say “sorry I was late to your party I’m such a cancer”. They will look for confirmation within this chart trying to come up with answers to the reasons they are the way that they are. This is extremely common especially when it’s more negative or undesired trait like laziness or anger. Horoscopes have been proven to have very little accuracy but people follow them because they coincide with their already existing beliefs about themselves.

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Ancient wisdom definition: Trying to persuade someone that an idea is okay because it’s been around a very long time.

Connection: The above image is of the ancient practice of herbal medicine which has been around for hundreds of years. This connects to the red flag of ancient wisdom because no one disputes the healing powers of herbal medicine because it has been around for so long despite the massive amounts of evidence stating that there is no scientific proof that herbal medicine works. Through the use of the scientific method it has been proven through testing and experimentation that herbal medicine does little to improve on illness. People go along with it because of the age of the practice. The common thought that “we’ve been doing it this way for hundred of years so it must work”. Whereas now we have real medicine and science to help the sick. There have been several anecdotes stating that herbal medicine is a placebo and that it works because people want it too.

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Appeal to Authority definition: This means that you should believe what someone is telling you just because if there status or the reputation they carry.

Connection: The above image is of a police officer which is a large authority figure in every community. Appeal to authority is that act of believing what someone says should based on the reputation or place they have in society. The image relates to that red flag because we are told to listen to police no matter what because they are the protectors of our communities. However there has been an alarmingly increasing rate of police brutality and instances where police officers are making wrong decisions. They are human and make mistakes but many blindly believe anything they have to say simply because of the uniform they wear.

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All natural definition: Uses the fact that a product may be all natural to convince you it’s the best thing for you simply because it is all natural. This may also be leading your attention away from some of the more harmful ingredients found in the product.

Connection: Many brands add “all natural colour and flavour” to their packaging. When thrown this information we believe it simply because it has been given a “stamp of approval”. Once you throughly dissect the many ingredients in your “all natural” snack or drink you will often find that it could not be further from the case. Mc Donald’s is a great example because they advertise 100% Canadian beef which is the company they use however, the products do contain 100% beef like you may have thought. This connects to the red flag of all natural because we are believing information due to the high volume of the all natural advertising. Often times people aren’t evaluating the evidence or source that the information is coming from. Many people believe products are all natural due to the portray of their packaging but when completing your evaluation you can come to perceive all natural labels differently.

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Proof by verbosity definition: This is when so much information and numbers are being thrown at you that you just automatically believe whatever it is your being told because of the overwhelming amount of evidence.

Connection: The above image is of Donald Trump. I’m this current presidential debate Trump has been spewing out so much information and facts that many believe every word he is saying despite the fact most of the information he’s saying is inaccurate. This is proof by verbosity because he is just throwing so much information and policies and procedures at you that you believe he must know what he’s talking about when that couldn’t be further from the case.

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Post #11 Reasons For Beliefs: Patternicity.

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Post #11 Reasons For Beliefs: Patternicity.

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Patternicity definition: This means to seek, look and believe something is there when in reality it’s not. Also, to find meaningless patterns

Connection: The picture above is of patterns found in the clouds. This relates to Patternicity because often times our minds are conditioned to see something that otherwise isn’t there. We will gaze off and find patterns or figures in the clouds. We do this because we simply believe the pattern or shape exists. We have these tendencies because it helps our brains understand, recognize and appreciate patterns.

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Post #12 Reasons For Beliefs: Emotional connection.

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Post #12 Reasons For Beliefs: Emotional connection.

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Emotional connection definition: Is to have a string desire or attached emotion to and item, person, place, thing or object resulting in several emotions when removed, given or spearhead from the connection piece.

Connection: The picture above is of an old baby blanket. This relates to emotional connection because many babies, teenagers and adults have an intense and strong emotional connection to baby blankets for many reasons. Some feel that a baby blanket represents everything a person has gone through in their life. We feel emotional connections due to the desires we are hardwired to have. There is an emotional, physiological and personal belief within the idea that this blanket holds memories and feelings. The summary conclusion is that we have personal beliefs and desires rooted in these items or artifacts that make us believe we are safe and have all these feelings within this one simple object.

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Ideology definition: Is very similar to confirmation bias in the sense that your beliefs are based on a set of rules you follow usually based on society and personal beliefs

Connection: the above image depicts the two major political parties. They each have drastically different beliefs. This relates to ideology because they use their political beliefs to rule the way they live their lives and what they choose to believe in. The big topic with conservatives is guns and how they think they should be allowed to be carried at all times and have less strict gun laws. Whereas the liberals want the complete opposite and want guns to be ban nation wide. Each party has extremely different beliefs because there desired political party shaped them to think and believe in certain things.