Misplaced Pages

#663336

95-466: Founded on 25 September 1994, the ECSO aims to co-ordinate activities of European organisations and individuals that aim at critically investigating pseudoscientific statements and claims regarding observations of paranormal phenomena, and to make the results of its investigations known to the broad public. It means to continue the series of European skeptical congresses that preceded its foundation and supports

190-473: A 2015 interview that some goals of ECSO are to facilitate communication between the member groups; organise the regular conferences, and keep track of the active leaders for the various European groups. Sometimes a leader or a whole group will "disappear", and some groups are still active but with new leaders; it is important to "establish networks". At the 2015 conference held in London, Hraskó felt that he had learned

285-469: A biennial congress and a symposium every other year. The Charter of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations states that it strives 1) To protect the public from the promulgation of claims and therapies which have not been subjected to critical testing and thus might pose a danger to them. 2) To investigate by means of controlled tests and experiments such extraordinary claims which are on

380-629: A board member. Following the example of the Merseyside Skeptics Society in 2010 (that in turn was inspired by SKEPP 's action in 2004), De Jong and Maarten Koller together with 30 members of the VtdK and Stichting Skepsis organised the Dutch version of the international 10:23 Campaign . On 5 February 2011, they staged a homeopathic overdose at Multatuli 's statue in Amsterdam, to publicly demonstrate

475-614: A body of knowledge, method, or practice is scientific. Experimental results should be reproducible and verified by other researchers. These principles are intended to ensure experiments can be reproduced measurably given the same conditions, allowing further investigation to determine whether a hypothesis or theory related to given phenomena is valid and reliable. Standards require the scientific method to be applied throughout, and bias to be controlled for or eliminated through randomization , fair sampling procedures, blinding of studies, and other methods. All gathered data, including

570-410: A book, an advertisement or the testimony of others are the basis of pseudoscience beliefs. It is assumed that illusions are not unusual, and given the right conditions, illusions are able to occur systematically even in normal emotional situations. One of the things pseudoscience believers quibble most about is that academic science usually treats them as fools. Minimizing these illusions in the real world

665-605: A branch of science, to have been a pseudo-science, composed merely of so-called facts, connected together by misapprehensions under the disguise of principles. An earlier use of the term was in 1843 by the French physiologist François Magendie , that refers to phrenology as " a pseudo-science of the present day ". During the 20th century, the word was used pejoratively to describe explanations of phenomena which were claimed to be scientific, but which were not in fact supported by reliable experimental evidence. From time to time, however,

760-479: A century of study by philosophers of science and scientists , and despite some basic agreements on the fundamentals of the scientific method. The concept of pseudoscience rests on an understanding that the scientific method has been misrepresented or misapplied with respect to a given theory, but many philosophers of science maintain that different kinds of methods are held as appropriate across different fields and different eras of human history. According to Lakatos,

855-766: A course on anesthesiology in Sheffield in 1988. Thereafter she specialised in anesthesiology at the University Medical Center Groningen from 1989 until 1994, finally completing her education as an intensivist at the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis in Amsterdam from 1994 until 1996. From 1996 until 1997, De Jong worked as an anesthesiologist and intensivist at the Sint Lucas Andreas Ziekenhuis, from 1997 until 1999 as anesthesiologist at

950-422: A different set of rules compared to rational thinking, experiential thinking regards an explanation as valid if the explanation is "personally functional, satisfying and sufficient", offering a description of the world that may be more personal than can be provided by science and reducing the amount of potential work involved in understanding complex events and outcomes. Anyone searching for psychological help that

1045-473: A forward-minded species pursuing greater avenues of happiness and satisfaction, but we are all too frequently willing to grasp at unrealistic promises of a better life. Psychology has much to discuss about pseudoscience thinking, as it is the illusory perceptions of causality and effectiveness of numerous individuals that needs to be illuminated. Research suggests that illusionary thinking happens in most people when exposed to certain circumstances such as reading

SECTION 10

#1733085548664

1140-399: A given field can be tested experimentally and standards are upheld, it is not pseudoscience, regardless of how odd, astonishing, or counterintuitive those claims are. If claims made are inconsistent with existing experimental results or established theory, but the method is sound, caution should be used, since science consists of testing hypotheses which may turn out to be false. In such a case,

1235-403: A knot in my stomach. I find it incredibly hard to deal with", said De Jong, who emphasised making "wise, rational choices" regarding health. She opines that alternative therapists merely give their clients a "medically empty treatment ritual", make them dependent, waste their time and money and miss the opportunity to properly inform them. In 2004, De Jong became a member of the VtdK, and in 2009

1330-615: A lot about organising from the UK skeptic groups. They operate differently than the continental Europeans, which tend to be one group that runs everything. The UK groups are all independent and more grassroots, but they end up working together on big conferences and projects. The 2017 conference "hopefully will be with the Polish and Czech skeptics". Hraskó stated that the Czech skeptics disappeared for some time, and he hopes that they have re-organised and they and

1425-486: A man who pushes a child into the water with the intention of drowning it; and that of a man who sacrifices his life in an attempt to save the child." From Freud's perspective, the first man would have suffered from psychological repression , probably originating from an Oedipus complex , whereas the second man had attained sublimation . From Adler's perspective, the first and second man suffered from feelings of inferiority and had to prove himself, which drove him to commit

1520-579: A meta-bias called the bias blind spot , or the tendency to recognize the power of cognitive biases in other people but to be blind to their influence on our own beliefs". Lindeman states that social motives (i.e., "to comprehend self and the world, to have a sense of control over outcomes, to belong, to find the world benevolent and to maintain one's self-esteem") are often "more easily" fulfilled by pseudoscience than by scientific information. Furthermore, pseudoscientific explanations are generally not analyzed rationally, but instead experientially. Operating within

1615-406: A partner not just with European skeptics, but with organizations all over the world.” Catherine de Jong stated that having an organization overseeing the entire European skeptic groups is helpful to disseminate information when an alt med lecturer is planning a European tour. She gave the example of faith healer Peter Popoff being one who planned a tour of Europe. The UK skeptic Michael Marshall

1710-437: A programme could evolve, driven by its heuristic to make predictions that can be supported by evidence. Feyerabend claimed that Lakatos was selective in his examples, and the whole history of science shows there is no universal rule of scientific method, and imposing one on the scientific community impedes progress. Laudan maintained that the demarcation between science and non-science was a pseudo-problem, preferring to focus on

1805-454: A scientific field. Karl Popper stated it is insufficient to distinguish science from pseudoscience, or from metaphysics (such as the philosophical question of what existence means), by the criterion of rigorous adherence to the empirical method , which is essentially inductive, based on observation or experimentation. He proposed a method to distinguish between genuine empirical, nonempirical or even pseudoempirical methods. The latter case

1900-422: A statement may be pseudoscientific even if it is eminently 'plausible' and everybody believes in it, and it may be scientifically valuable even if it is unbelievable and nobody believes in it. A theory may even be of supreme scientific value even if no one understands it, let alone believes in it. The boundary between science and pseudoscience is disputed and difficult to determine analytically, even after more than

1995-469: A third of adult Americans consider astrology to be scientific. In Russia, in the late 20th and early 21st century, significant budgetary funds were spent on programs for the experimental study of " torsion fields ", the extraction of energy from granite, the study of " cold nuclear fusion ", and astrological and extrasensory "research" by the Ministry of Defense , the Ministry of Emergency Situations ,

SECTION 20

#1733085548664

2090-481: A waste of valuable time, money and manpower, seeing that the past 40 years of testing have never resulted in anything beyond the placebo effect. Asked what advice she would give to people who are new to scientific skepticism, she responded that they should continue "asking questions", seek out skeptic groups and people to guide you. She states that these people will best guide them to the literature that will help them grow and learn. She added "skeptic are nice people and

2185-520: Is Frank Collin , a self-proclaimed Nazi who goes by Frank Joseph in his writings. The majority of his works include the topics of Atlantis , extraterrestrial encounters, and Lemuria as well as other ancient civilizations, often with white supremacist undertones. For example, he posited that European peoples migrated to North America before Columbus , and that all Native American civilizations were initiated by descendants of white people . The Alt-Right using pseudoscience to base their ideologies on

2280-409: Is a field that lies far outside of mainstream scientific views, but wanted to allow the discussion of ideas, 'idiotic' or not, that exist in society without legitimising them. In November 2014, a naturopath who treated clients with ibogaine , which resulted in one client's death and another client's blindness, was sentenced to 141 days imprisonment. Following this case, De Jong pleaded on behalf of

2375-645: Is based in science should seek a licensed therapist whose techniques are not based in pseudoscience. Hupp and Santa Maria provide a complete explanation of what that person should look for. There is a trend to believe in pseudoscience more than scientific evidence . Some people believe the prevalence of pseudoscientific beliefs is due to widespread scientific illiteracy . Individuals lacking scientific literacy are more susceptible to wishful thinking, since they are likely to turn to immediate gratification powered by System 1, our default operating system which requires little to no effort. This system encourages one to accept

2470-418: Is driven by the belief that the brain is essentially a "belief engine" which scans data perceived by the senses and looks for patterns and meaning. There is also the tendency for the brain to create cognitive biases , as a result of inferences and assumptions made without logic and based on instinct – usually resulting in patterns in cognition. These tendencies of patternicity and agenticity are also driven "by

2565-419: Is mathematics a formal science that is closer to the empirical ones, or is pure mathematics closer to the philosophical study of logic and therefore not a science? – but all agree that all of the ideas that are not scientific are non-scientific. The large category of non-science includes all matters outside the natural and social sciences, such as the study of history , metaphysics , religion , art , and

2660-653: Is no credible efficacy or scientific basis of any of these forms of treatment. In his book The Demon-Haunted World , Carl Sagan discusses the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party 's concern about Western pseudoscience developments and certain ancient Chinese practices in China. He sees pseudoscience occurring in the United States as part of a worldwide trend and suggests its causes, dangers, diagnosis and treatment may be universal. A large percentage of

2755-491: Is not a new issue. The entire foundation of anti-semitism is based on pseudoscience, or scientific racism . In an article from Newsweek by Sander Gilman, Gilman describes the pseudoscience community's anti-semitic views. "Jews as they appear in this world of pseudoscience are an invented group of ill, stupid or stupidly smart people who use science to their own nefarious ends. Other groups, too, are painted similarly in 'race science', as it used to call itself: African-Americans,

2850-426: Is not simple. To this aim, designing evidence-based educational programs can be effective to help people identify and reduce their own illusions. Philosophers classify types of knowledge . In English, the word science is used to indicate specifically the natural sciences and related fields, which are called the social sciences . Different philosophers of science may disagree on the exact limits – for example,

2945-554: Is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claims ; reliance on confirmation bias rather than rigorous attempts at refutation; lack of openness to evaluation by other experts ; absence of systematic practices when developing hypotheses ; and continued adherence long after the pseudoscientific hypotheses have been experimentally discredited. It is not the same as junk science . The demarcation between science and pseudoscience has scientific , philosophical , and political implications. Philosophers debate

European Council of Skeptical Organisations - Misplaced Pages Continue

3040-582: Is often considered pejorative , particularly by its purveyors, because it suggests something is being presented as science inaccurately or even deceptively. Therefore, practitioners and advocates of pseudoscience frequently dispute the characterization. The word pseudoscience is derived from the Greek root pseudo meaning "false" and the English word science , from the Latin word scientia , meaning "knowledge". Although

3135-609: Is part of science education and developing scientific literacy. Pseudoscience can have dangerous effects. For example, pseudoscientific anti-vaccine activism and promotion of homeopathic remedies as alternative disease treatments can result in people forgoing important medical treatments with demonstrable health benefits, leading to ill-health and deaths. Furthermore, people who refuse legitimate medical treatments for contagious diseases may put others at risk. Pseudoscientific theories about racial and ethnic classifications have led to racism and genocide . The term pseudoscience

3230-737: Is subset of non-science. Science is also distinguishable from revelation, theology, or spirituality in that it offers insight into the physical world obtained by empirical research and testing. The most notable disputes concern the evolution of living organisms, the idea of common descent, the geologic history of the Earth, the formation of the Solar System , and the origin of the universe. Systems of belief that derive from divine or inspired knowledge are not considered pseudoscience if they do not claim either to be scientific or to overturn well-established science. Moreover, some specific religious claims, such as

3325-404: Is the most powerful theory science has yet produced, but Newton himself never believed that bodies attract each other at a distance. So no degree of commitment to beliefs makes them knowledge. Indeed, the hallmark of scientific behaviour is a certain scepticism even towards one's most cherished theories. Blind commitment to a theory is not an intellectual virtue: it is an intellectual crime. Thus

3420-407: Is the study of pseudoscientific theories over time. A pseudoscience is a set of ideas that presents itself as science, while it does not meet the criteria to be properly called such. Distinguishing between proper science and pseudoscience is sometimes difficult. One proposal for demarcation between the two is the falsification criterion, attributed most notably to the philosopher Karl Popper . In

3515-435: Is what determines the scientific status of a theory. Taking a historical approach, Kuhn observed that scientists did not follow Popper's rule, and might ignore falsifying data, unless overwhelming. To Kuhn, puzzle-solving within a paradigm is science. Lakatos attempted to resolve this debate, by suggesting history shows that science occurs in research programmes, competing according to how progressive they are. The leading idea of

3610-512: Is your evidence?" For philosophers Silvio Funtowicz and Jerome R. Ravetz "pseudo-science may be defined as one where the uncertainty of its inputs must be suppressed, lest they render its outputs totally indeterminate". The definition, in the book Uncertainty and Quality in Science for Policy , alludes to the loss of craft skills in handling quantitative information, and to the bad practice of achieving precision in prediction (inference) only at

3705-576: The Skeptical Inquirer had many subscribers in Europe), and the Israel Skeptics Society are associate members of the ECSO. European Skeptics Congresses (ESCs), in which skeptical organisations from many different European countries participate, have been held ever since 1989. The conferences are often held in the month of September, and may last from two up to four days. The ECSO was formed at

3800-487: The Academic Medical Center . From 2000 onwards, De Jong worked as a freelance anesthesiologist in several hospitals and clinics, and as an anesthesiologist and physician at the drug rehabilitation clinic Miroya from 2002 until 2012. Since 2007 until present, De Jong is employed as an anesthesiologist in a dental surgery for children in Amsterdam. During her study of anesthesiology, two incidents made her aware of

3895-624: The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa , and listening to music twice a day to prevent contamination, De Jong called that "criminal" and said: "Homeopaths should keep themselves and their delusions far away from these patients". On 3 October, the Meester Kackadorisprijs, the VtdK's annual ironic award , was given to chair Pauline Meurs of ZonMw for her report that recommended to conduct more research into alternative medicine, which De Jong called

European Council of Skeptical Organisations - Misplaced Pages Continue

3990-610: The Immigration Act of 1924 in the United States, which sought to prevent immigration from Asia and parts of Europe. In a 1981 report Singer and Benassi wrote that pseudoscientific beliefs have their origin from at least four sources. A 1990 study by Eve and Dunn supported the findings of Singer and Benassi and found pseudoscientific belief being promoted by high school life science and biology teachers. The psychology of pseudoscience attempts to explore and analyze pseudoscientific thinking by means of thorough clarification on making

4085-703: The Ministry of Internal Affairs , and the State Duma (see Military Unit 10003 ). In 2006, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Spassky published an article in Rossiyskaya Gazeta , where among the priority areas for the development of the Russian energy sector , the task of extracting energy from a vacuum was in the first place. The Clean Water project

4180-634: The University of Wrocław . The ECSO met at the end of the conference and new leadership was elected. Claire Klingenberg took over as president from Gábor Hraskó . In an interview with Eran Segev for the Skeptic Zone podcast, Klingenberg said that the conference “went great … quite productive and stimulating.” When Segev congratulated her on her new role as president of ECSO, he asked her what her top priority for ESCO was. Her answer was, “make ECSO important … it has to be more relevant, more influential … and seen as

4275-486: The history of science and the history of pseudoscience it can be especially difficult to separate the two, because some sciences developed from pseudosciences. An example of this transformation is the science of chemistry , which traces its origins to the pseudoscientific or pre-scientific study of alchemy . The vast diversity in pseudosciences further complicates the history of science. Some modern pseudosciences, such as astrology and acupuncture , originated before

4370-444: The humanities . Dividing the category again, unscientific claims are a subset of the large category of non-scientific claims. This category specifically includes all matters that are directly opposed to good science. Un-science includes both "bad science" (such as an error made in a good-faith attempt at learning something about the natural world) and pseudoscience. Thus pseudoscience is a subset of un-science, and un-science, in turn,

4465-676: The precession of equinoxes in astronomy. Third, alternative theories of personality and behavior have grown progressively to encompass explanations of phenomena which astrology statically attributes to heavenly forces. Fourth, astrologers have remained uninterested in furthering the theory to deal with outstanding problems or in critically evaluating the theory in relation to other theories. Thagard intended this criterion to be extended to areas other than astrology. He believed it would delineate as pseudoscientific such practices as witchcraft and pyramidology , while leaving physics , chemistry , astronomy , geoscience , biology , and archaeology in

4560-399: The "In Praise of Reason Award" "in recognition of [their] distinguished contribution to the use of critical inquiry, scientific evidence, and reason in evaluating claims to knowledge". Pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs , or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method . Pseudoscience

4655-521: The 10 commonly believed examples of paranormal phenomena listed in the poll were "pseudoscientific beliefs". The items were "extrasensory perception (ESP), that houses can be haunted , ghosts , telepathy , clairvoyance , astrology, that people can mentally communicate with the dead , witches , reincarnation , and channelling ". Such beliefs in pseudoscience represent a lack of knowledge of how science works. The scientific community may attempt to communicate information about science out of concern for

4750-635: The 15th European Skeptics Congress in Stockholm , De Jong lectured about pseudoscientific drug rehab treatments. She stated that it is untrue that the "medical establishment" refuses to research alternatives such as ibogaine: experiments in the 1950s and 1960s have already shown that they did not work. The next day, the Congress voted her in as a board member of the ECSO. When in September 2014 homeopaths from Groningen recommended swallowing "granules" to victims of

4845-451: The 6th ESC on 25 September 1994 in Ostend , Belgium . Since its foundation, the ECSO co-ordinates in the organisation of new ESCs that take place (on average) every other year, and is hosted by a different member organisation each time. Skeptical organisations that are non-ECSO members may also send their delegations. Past ESCs have been: Gábor Hraskó , who was then President of ECSO, stated in

SECTION 50

#1733085548664

4940-543: The 6th World Skeptics Congress (Berlin, 18–20 May 2012), co-sponsored by the ECSO, GWUP and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), the ECSO presented the "Outstanding Skeptics Award" to Wim Betz (SKEPP) and Luigi Garlaschelli ( CICAP ) "in recognition of [their] dedication and outstanding contributions in promoting science and investigating extraordinary claims". Simultaneously, the CSI presented Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst with

5035-573: The Irish, the Chinese and, well, any and all groups that you want to prove inferior to yourself". Neo-Nazis and white supremacist often try to support their claims with studies that "prove" that their claims are more than just harmful stereotypes. For example Bret Stephens published a column in The New York Times where he claimed that Ashkenazi Jews had the highest IQ among any ethnic group. However,

5130-637: The Polish skeptics will formalize the plans for the 2017 conference. This was achieved with the Polish Skeptics’ Club in cooperation with the Czech Skeptics’ Club Sisyfos organising the 17th biannual European Skeptics Congress 2017 in Wrocław, Poland. They were denied access to their initial venue on religious grounds, then they changed venue to the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics at

5225-604: The Sun), precisely as material bodies were attracted." Following from this, stars closer to the Sun would appear to have moved a small distance away from the Sun, and away from each other. This prediction was particularly striking to Popper because it involved considerable risk. The brightness of the Sun prevented this effect from being observed under normal circumstances, so photographs had to be taken during an eclipse and compared to photographs taken at night. Popper states, "If observation shows that

5320-459: The United States population lacks scientific literacy, not adequately understanding scientific principles and method . In the Journal of College Science Teaching , Art Hobson writes, "Pseudoscientific beliefs are surprisingly widespread in our culture even among public school science teachers and newspaper editors, and are closely related to scientific illiteracy." However, a 10,000-student study in

5415-724: The VtdK and in consultation with the Trimbos-instituut and Informatie Voorziening Verslavingszorg for more rigorous oversight on private drug rehab clinics and naturopaths that treat drug addicts. While drug rehabilitation is developing into a speciality that was recognised by the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) in December 2012, De Jong warned that there is no alternative treatment that has been shown to effectively help addicts, while in some cases patients are deliberately taken advantage of. On 24 August 2013, during

5510-453: The conclusions they believe , and reject the ones they do not. Further analysis of complex pseudoscientific phenomena require System 2, which follows rules, compares objects along multiple dimensions and weighs options. These two systems have several other differences which are further discussed in the dual-process theory . The scientific and secular systems of morality and meaning are generally unsatisfying to most people. Humans are, by nature,

5605-507: The crime or, in the second case, drove him to rescue the child. Popper was not able to find any counterexamples of human behavior in which the behavior could not be explained in the terms of Adler's or Freud's theory. Popper argued it was that the observation always fitted or confirmed the theory which, rather than being its strength, was actually its weakness. In contrast, Popper gave the example of Einstein's gravitational theory , which predicted "light must be attracted by heavy bodies (such as

5700-618: The criterion of falsifiability to distinguish science from non-science . Statements , hypotheses , or theories have falsifiability or refutability if there is the inherent possibility that they can be proven false , that is, if it is possible to conceive of an observation or an argument that negates them. Popper used astrology and psychoanalysis as examples of pseudoscience and Einstein's theory of relativity as an example of science. He subdivided non-science into philosophical, mathematical, mythological, religious and metaphysical formulations on one hand, and pseudoscientific formulations on

5795-566: The dangers of alternative medicine : the first case was a 48-year-old woman with breast cancer , who had put her faith in a treatment by a naturopath , but whose condition had become hopeless by the time she was hospitalised. The second case was that of a 13-year-old boy, who initially merely suffered from sinusitis , but which had grown to encephalitis , because his anthroposophical parents refused to have antibiotics administered to him. "When people cause unnecessary harm to themselves or their children because of their decisions, then it gives me

SECTION 60

#1733085548664

5890-504: The distinction of what is considered scientific vs. pseudoscientific. The human proclivity for seeking confirmation rather than refutation ( confirmation bias ), the tendency to hold comforting beliefs, and the tendency to overgeneralize have been proposed as reasons for pseudoscientific thinking. According to Beyerstein, humans are prone to associations based on resemblances only, and often prone to misattribution in cause-effect thinking. Michael Shermer 's theory of belief-dependent realism

5985-421: The expenses of ignoring uncertainty in the input which was used to formulate the prediction. This use of the term is common among practitioners of post-normal science . Understood in this way, pseudoscience can be fought using good practices to assess uncertainty in quantitative information, such as NUSAP and – in the case of mathematical modelling – sensitivity auditing . The history of pseudoscience

6080-410: The experimental or environmental conditions, are expected to be documented for scrutiny and made available for peer review , allowing further experiments or studies to be conducted to confirm or falsify results. Statistical quantification of significance , confidence , and error are also important tools for the scientific method. During the mid-20th century, the philosopher Karl Popper emphasized

6175-458: The following terms: a statement constitutes knowledge if sufficiently many people believe it sufficiently strongly. But the history of thought shows us that many people were totally committed to absurd beliefs. If the strengths of beliefs were a hallmark of knowledge, we should have to rank some tales about demons, angels, devils, and of heaven and hell as knowledge. Scientists, on the other hand, are very sceptical even of their best theories. Newton's

6270-417: The force of Kuhn's historical criticism of Popper – all important theories have been surrounded by an 'ocean of anomalies', which on a falsificationist view would require the rejection of the theory outright...Lakatos sought to reconcile the rationalism of Popperian falsificationism with what seemed to be its own refutation by history". Many philosophers have tried to solve the problem of demarcation in

6365-643: The fringe of or contradict current scientific knowledge. In particular this applies to phenomena commonly identified as "paranormal" or "pseudoscientific". However no claims, explanations or theories will be rejected in advance of objective evaluation. 3) To promote public policy based on good practice in science and medicine. The Charter was signed by Amardeo Sarma ( GWUP ), Michael Howgate (UK Skeptics), Miguel Angel Sabadell (ARP), Paul Kurtz ( CSICOP ), Tim Trachet ( SKEPP ), Arlette Fougnies ( Comité Para ) and Cornelis de Jager ( Stichting Skepsis ). Cornelis de Jager served as first president until 2001, when he

6460-522: The inefficacy of homeopathic products. Health editor Gerrie Riemersma of the Leeuwarder Courant criticised the 10:23 overdose action, because "a very small amount of a functional solution will [only] work when it is repeated". In a response the article, De Jong claimed that there is no functional solution at all in those dilutions, and it would be honest consumer information if manufacturers would put content indications on all homeopathic products, in

6555-410: The invisible dragon, so one can never prove that the initial claim is wrong. Sagan concludes; "Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all?". He states that "your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true", once again explaining that even if such a claim were true, it would be outside

6650-809: The major features of pseudoscience. Larry Laudan has suggested pseudoscience has no scientific meaning and is mostly used to describe human emotions: "If we would stand up and be counted on the side of reason, we ought to drop terms like 'pseudo-science' and 'unscientific' from our vocabulary; they are just hollow phrases which do only emotive work for us". Likewise, Richard McNally states, "The term 'pseudoscience' has become little more than an inflammatory buzzword for quickly dismissing one's opponents in media sound-bites" and "When therapeutic entrepreneurs make claims on behalf of their interventions, we should not waste our time trying to determine whether their interventions qualify as pseudoscientific. Rather, we should ask them: How do you know that your intervention works? What

6745-717: The more general distinction between reliable and unreliable knowledge. Catherine de Jong Catharina Jantina (Catherine) de Jong (born 1956 ) is a Dutch anesthesiologist , drug rehab physician , intensivist , since 2009 board member of the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK), between 2011–2015 as chair, and board member of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO). In 1975, De Jong began studying law , but did not complete it. From 1977 until 1987, she studied medicine in Groningen , subsequently taking

6840-430: The nature of science and the general criteria for drawing the line between scientific theories and pseudoscientific beliefs, but there is widespread agreement "that creationism , astrology , homeopathy , Kirlian photography , dowsing , ufology , ancient astronaut theory , Holocaust denialism , Velikovskian catastrophism , and climate change denialism are pseudosciences." There are implications for health care ,

6935-720: The norms of scientific research, but it demonstrably fails to meet these norms. The Ministry of AYUSH in the Government of India is purposed with developing education, research and propagation of indigenous alternative medicine systems in India. The ministry has faced significant criticism for funding systems that lack biological plausibility and are either untested or conclusively proven as ineffective. Quality of research has been poor, and drugs have been launched without any rigorous pharmacological studies and meaningful clinical trials on Ayurveda or other alternative healthcare systems. There

7030-462: The other. Another example which shows the distinct need for a claim to be falsifiable was stated in Carl Sagan 's publication The Demon-Haunted World when he discusses an invisible dragon that he has in his garage. The point is made that there is no physical test to refute the claim of the presence of this dragon. Whatever test one thinks can be devised, there is a reason why it does not apply to

7125-535: The power of intercessory prayer to heal the sick , although they may be based on untestable beliefs, can be tested by the scientific method. Some statements and common beliefs of popular science may not meet the criteria of science. "Pop" science may blur the divide between science and pseudoscience among the general public, and may also involve science fiction . Indeed, pop science is disseminated to, and can also easily emanate from, persons not accountable to scientific methodology and expert peer review. If claims of

7220-535: The predicted effect is definitely absent, then the theory is simply refuted." Popper summed up his criterion for the scientific status of a theory as depending on its falsifiability, refutability, or testability . Paul R. Thagard used astrology as a case study to distinguish science from pseudoscience and proposed principles and criteria to delineate them. First, astrology has not progressed in that it has not been updated nor added any explanatory power since Ptolemy . Second, it has ignored outstanding problems such as

7315-467: The public's susceptibility to unproven claims. The NSF stated that pseudoscientific beliefs in the U.S. became more widespread during the 1990s, peaked about 2001, and then decreased slightly since with pseudoscientific beliefs remaining common. According to the NSF report, there is a lack of knowledge of pseudoscientific issues in society and pseudoscientific practices are commonly followed. Surveys indicate about

7410-479: The realm of scientific inquiry . During 1942, Robert K. Merton identified a set of five "norms" which characterize real science. If any of the norms were violated, Merton considered the enterprise to be non-science. His norms were: In 1978, Paul Thagard proposed that pseudoscience is primarily distinguishable from science when it is less progressive than alternative theories over a long period of time, and its proponents fail to acknowledge or address problems with

7505-443: The realm of science. In the philosophy and history of science, Imre Lakatos stresses the social and political importance of the demarcation problem, the normative methodological problem of distinguishing between science and pseudoscience. His distinctive historical analysis of scientific methodology based on research programmes suggests: "scientists regard the successful theoretical prediction of stunning novel facts – such as

7600-599: The return of Halley's comet or the gravitational bending of light rays – as what demarcates good scientific theories from pseudo-scientific and degenerate theories, and in spite of all scientific theories being forever confronted by 'an ocean of counterexamples'". Lakatos offers a "novel fallibilist analysis of the development of Newton's celestial dynamics, [his] favourite historical example of his methodology" and argues in light of this historical turn, that his account answers for certain inadequacies in those of Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn. "Nonetheless, Lakatos did recognize

7695-420: The same journal concluded there was no strong correlation between science knowledge and belief in pseudoscience. During 2006, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) issued an executive summary of a paper on science and engineering which briefly discussed the prevalence of pseudoscience in modern times. It said, "belief in pseudoscience is widespread" and, referencing a Gallup Poll , stated that belief in

7790-492: The same manner that is compulsory for actual medicines. On 10 October 2011, she succeeded Cees Renckens as the chair of the VtdK. In that position, she spoke out against the use of alternative medicine such as acupuncture and homeopathy , because these have never been sufficiently proven to be medically efficacious; at most, there is a placebo effect . An article in NRC Handelsblad that recommended detoxification ,

7885-423: The scientific era. Others developed as part of an ideology, such as Lysenkoism , or as a response to perceived threats to an ideology. Examples of this ideological process are creation science and intelligent design , which were developed in response to the scientific theory of evolution . A topic, practice, or body of knowledge might reasonably be termed pseudoscientific when it is presented as consistent with

7980-886: The scientific methodology and conclusions reached by the article Stephens cited has been called into question repeatedly since its publication. It has been found that at least one of that study's authors has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist. The journal Nature has published a number of editorials in the last few years warning researchers about extremists looking to abuse their work, particularly population geneticists and those working with ancient DNA . One article in Nature , titled "Racism in Science: The Taint That Lingers" notes that early-twentieth-century eugenic pseudoscience has been used to influence public policy, such as

8075-522: The term has been in use since at least the late 18th century (e.g., in 1796 by James Pettit Andrews in reference to alchemy ), the concept of pseudoscience as distinct from real or proper science seems to have become more widespread during the mid-19th century. Among the earliest uses of "pseudo-science" was in an 1844 article in the Northern Journal of Medicine , issue 387: That opposite kind of innovation which pronounces what has been recognized as

8170-466: The theory. In 1983, Mario Bunge suggested the categories of "belief fields" and "research fields" to help distinguish between pseudoscience and science, where the former is primarily personal and subjective and the latter involves a certain systematic method. The 2018 book about scientific skepticism by Steven Novella , et al. The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe lists hostility to criticism as one of

8265-405: The typical descriptive unit of great scientific achievements is not an isolated hypothesis but "a powerful problem-solving machinery, which, with the help of sophisticated mathematical techniques, digests anomalies and even turns them into positive evidence". To Popper, pseudoscience uses induction to generate theories, and only performs experiments to seek to verify them. To Popper, falsifiability

8360-519: The usage of the word occurred in a more formal, technical manner in response to a perceived threat to individual and institutional security in a social and cultural setting. Pseudoscience is differentiated from science because – although it usually claims to be science – pseudoscience does not adhere to scientific standards, such as the scientific method , falsifiability of claims , and Mertonian norms . A number of basic principles are accepted by scientists as standards for determining whether

8455-425: The use of expert testimony , and weighing environmental policies . Recent empirical research has shown that individuals who indulge in pseudoscientific beliefs generally show lower evidential criteria, meaning they often require significantly less evidence before coming to conclusions. This can be coined as a 'jump-to-conclusions' bias that can increase the spread of pseudoscientific beliefs. Addressing pseudoscience

8550-423: The work may be better described as ideas that are "not yet generally accepted". Protoscience is a term sometimes used to describe a hypothesis that has not yet been tested adequately by the scientific method, but which is otherwise consistent with existing science or which, where inconsistent, offers reasonable account of the inconsistency. It may also describe the transition from a body of practical knowledge into

8645-509: Was able to contact the ECSO, who in turn were able to notify all the leaders of the other groups. They were able to share information and plan how to handle the events. András Gabor Pinter reported from the 2019 conference in Belgium that they heard presentations about investigating psychics, the anti-vaccination movement, GMOs, and nuclear power. "Energy policies should be driven by science and as skeptics that’s what we advocate, after all." During

8740-401: Was adopted as a United Russia party project; in the version submitted to the government, the program budget for 2010–2017 exceeded $ 14 billion. There have been many connections between pseudoscientific writers and researchers and their anti-semitic, racist and neo-Nazi backgrounds. They often use pseudoscience to reinforce their beliefs. One of the most predominant pseudoscientific writers

8835-580: Was branded an "uncritical advertorial" by De Jong, "unworthy" of the newspaper. In a November 2011 letter, De Jong accused rector Martin Kropff of Wageningen University of 'providing a platform for pseudoscience' by approving a lecture series, which allowed several alternative therapists to speak on biophysical medicine. The Board of Directors of Wageningen University replied that attendees (students and employees) would be able to discern sense and nonsense for themselves. The Board acknowledged that biophysical medicine

8930-490: Was exemplified by astrology, which appeals to observation and experimentation. While it had empirical evidence based on observation, on horoscopes and biographies , it crucially failed to use acceptable scientific standards. Popper proposed falsifiability as an important criterion in distinguishing science from pseudoscience. To demonstrate this point, Popper gave two cases of human behavior and typical explanations from Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler 's theories: "that of

9025-449: Was replaced by Amardeo Sarma (2001–2013), who in turn was succeeded by Gábor Hraskó (2013–2017). Since 2017 the president has been Claire Klingenberg. As of June 2024, the ECSO board is composed as follows: The ECSO brings together the following skeptic groups: Furthermore, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI, formerly CSICOP), whose founder and long-time chairman Paul Kurtz was actively involved its formation (especially because

#663336