By: Dominic Basile, Noah Kelleher

Pseudoscience Watchlist Included in Assignment 1

• Results can’t be reproduced or verified

• Deliberately creates mystery

• Often appeals to emotion

• Money is often involved

  
  

  Red Flags Included in Assignment 1

• Appeal to Authority

• Confirmation Bias

• Ideological Support

• Proof by Verbosity

• Red Herring

  
  

  Reasons for Belief Included in Assignment 1

• Agenticity

• Emotional Connection

• Unexplained

  
  

  Pseudoscience Watchlist Included in Assignment 2

• Use of scientific-sounding language that is meaningless

• Does not progress

• Convinces by faith and belief (in spite of evidence)

  
  

  Red Flags Included in Assignment 2

• All Natural

• Ancient Wisdom

• Confusion of Correlation with Causation

• Mystical Energy

• Suppression by Authorities

  
  

  Reasons for Belief Included in Assignment 2

• Ideology

• Patternicity

• Perception and Observation

• Simplicity

Does not progress

https://hep.physics.utoronto.ca/~orr/wwwroot/JPH441/Pseudoscience.pdf

Definition:

"Does Not Progress" describes the stagnation of theories or practices that do not change in response to new information in the context of pseudoscience. Despite advances in science, these antiquated concepts frequently endure because they are resistant to modification or adaptation.

Connection:

Pseudosciences that do not develop typically will disregard or will bend the scientific method. They are not capable of testing ideas or changing ideas so they are stuck in place. With debunking of a pseudoscientific claim often draws attention that it is not developing with new evidence or discovery's coming, the pseudoscientific claim would not adapt.

Convinces by faith and belief (in spite of evidence)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844017321795

Definition:

When a claim or practice relies on faith and belief to be persuasive, even when evidence against it exists, it is a good marker of pseudoscience.

Connection:

Beliefs based on faith often clash with the scientific method. Science relies on testing ideas against real evidence to build knowledge. On the other hand, pseudoscience makes claims that either ignore evidence or twist it to fit certain beliefs.

Use of scientific-sounding language that is meaningless

https://scienceornot.net/2012/05/25/technobabble-and-tenuous-terminology-the-use-of-pseudo-scientific-language/

Definition:

The employment of meaningless scientific language refers to the use of complex or technical terminology which, although looks scientific or technical in nature, has no clear or precise meaning.

Connection:

This technique is often used to distort the facts or provide the impression that something is scientifically sound when it is not. It frequently employs authoritative sounding words. To identify such language by using critical thinking you can look into and determine whether the scientific sounding terminology was merely meant to confuse you or if it actually has any meaning.

Mystical Energy

Definition: Mystical energy is a term often associated with supernatural, spiritual, or metaphysical forces believed to influence the world in ways beyond scientific explanation.

Connection:

- Mystical energy is often presented with no apparent validity or empirical evidence.


- Skepticism is one of the principles of critical thinking that requires assertions about mystical energy to pass the criterion of observable, reproducible, and measurable information.

- If evidence is not assessed appropriately, people can develop a distorted view of truth whereby they believe in mystical beings based on personal experience rather than objective evidence.

All Natural

https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2022/oct/nutrition-label-red-flags-5-things-to-watch-out-for/

Definition:

All natural is a common term used in marketing to imply that a product or claim is safe or effective. However the term all natural is misleading, and doesn't have a defined scientific meaning.

Connection:

When a product says it's completely natural it should really be backed up by tests that show it actually does what it claims. As a result people will take these claims at face value without thinking about whether there's any real science behind them.

Confusion of Correlation with Causation

Definition: Confusion of correlation with causation is a reasoning fallacy. It occurs when two events or variables are related (they occur together or are associated) and people wrongly conclude that one is the cause of the other.

Connection: The Scientific Method uses real evidence and careful observation to separate cause from correlation.

Critical thinking is analyzing claims and reasons in depth. It prevents us from making conclusions based on similarities.

Suppression by Authorities

Definition: Suppression by authority is when governments, police, or other authorities take measures to restrict, control, or silence groups, individuals, or information. It can take place in different contexts, including political, media, law enforcement, and economic suppression.

Connection: When information is controlled by governments, they are able to suppress debunking of disinformation or even propagate disinformation themselves. This is particularly perilous when it results in distorted view of truth and group-think, where individuals accept official versions of things unquestioningly.

Ancient Wisdom

Definition: Ancient Wisdom is wisdom, knowledge, philosophies, and principles that have been handed down through the centuries, typically from ancient cultures, religious scriptures, philosophical wisdom, and cultural heritage.

Connection: Although ancient wisdom enabled us to learn, it occasionally had boundaries on critical thinking. We can still observe these boundaries today in the way individuals think regarding ideas, particularly with groupthink, lack of practice, and distorted truth.

Ideology

https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/reasons-for-belief/v-1

Definition:

Ideology is like a set of beliefs and ideas that shape how we see the world, make choices, and behave. These ideologies can be hard to change, even if there's proof they're wrong.

Connection:

Ideologies can really mold your beliefs especially if you're committed to them, it may sway you to accept unproven or even fake claims just cause they line up with what you already believe groupthink plays a big part in everyone wants to get along and agree.

Patternicity

Definition: Patternicity is when people see patterns or meaningful relationships in unrelated or random data even when there is no real pattern. Patternicity is a cognitive bias that makes us see order or structure where, in reality, there may be none.

Connection: Patternicity can have significant implications in areas like Scientific Method, Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Debunking. Recognizing and understanding patternicity helps us avoid logical errors and cognitive biases that can cloud objective analysis. Here’s how patternicity connects to the various concepts

Emotional Connection

Definition: Emotional bond refers to the feeling of closeness and being able to relate to each other when people share experiences, values, or feelings. This creates empathy and bonding between them. It can occur in various contexts, such as personal relationships, friendships, family connections, or even professional environments where trust and comprehension are important.

Connection: An emotional connection can influence how we approach critical thinking, scientific methods, and how we evaluate evidence or make decisions. While emotional connections can be powerful in building relationships, they can also introduce bias or distort objective analysis.

Perception and Observation

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09515089.2024.2421808#abstract

Definition:

perception and observe is broken up into two definitions, perception is how we understand things like sight, sound, and smell. Observation is just noticing what's going on around us and paying attention to details. They help us form beliefs and understand things but our experiences and moods can change how we see things.

Connection:

When people don't think critically they can misunderstand which can lead to wrong beliefs about the world. Critical thinking takes practice you need to consider if your beliefs are true and think carefully about how you see things. Both perception and observation are key to forming our beliefs about what's true but both can also be distorted.