{"id":34,"date":"2017-10-18T21:25:45","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T21:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/?p=34"},"modified":"2017-10-19T00:09:39","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T00:09:39","slug":"why-i-do-not-like-the-term-pseudoscience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/2017\/10\/18\/why-i-do-not-like-the-term-pseudoscience\/","title":{"rendered":"The importance of language and why I don’t like the term Pseudoscience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pseudoscience.\u00a0 <\/strong>What is it?
\n\u200b
\nAccording to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Pseudoscience is\u00a0“a system of theories, assumptions, and methods erroneously regarded as scientific” <\/strong>[1]<\/a>
\nExamples of things that are pseudoscience are often debated because, as Scientific American states, no one says they are a pseudo-scientist [2]<\/a>.\u00a0 For those interested in lists, a (very debatable) list can be found in a\u00a0Wikipedia article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But I dislike the term “pseudoscience.”\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because it puts a limit on the scientific process.\u00a0 In its most basic sense, it puts a limit on what can\/should be researched.\u00a0 And this limit is VERY debatable.\u00a0 Now, does this mean that I believe in every conspiracy theory?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 Yet, if I simply classify a science idea as “fake” science and not be willing to even read studies or am not willing to be proved wrong, then I should not be in science.\u00a0 Calling something “pseudoscience” does nothing except confuse the public.\u00a0\u00a0If an idea truly is spreading false information, then we should focus on educating why this view is false.\u00a0 Not resort to calling it pseudoscience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what are the side effects of calling something pseudoscience?\u00a0 I am going to classify them into two different groups:\u00a0\u00a0Damage to the public\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Damage to Science.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It damages the public because it is confusing.\u00a0 In the limited knowledge that the general public has about scientific processes, it is easy for them to misunderstand.\u00a0 Much like the term “theory” is misunderstood by the public to mean something completely different.\u00a0 When a scientist uses the term pseudoscience, he might mean “the methods are flawed,” “it is very biased,” the conclusions do not match the data at all,” etc.\u00a0 However, it is interpreted by the public as “that scientist does not understand basic ideas,” “How can they not see the obvious?” “they are not a real scientist.”\u00a0 This is detrimental because we then see the public using this word incorrectly:\u00a0 “I disagree with you, ergo you are using pseudoscience.”\u00a0 This ultimately\u00a0boils down to a scientific communication problem and using language that your audience will understand
\n\u200b
\nOn the flip side, the term pseudoscience can be detrimental to the scientific process because one can feel “pressured” to conduct research in a certain way.\u00a0 We see many examples from the past in which scientists were criticized for there ideas.\u00a0 Some turned out to be true and some false but unless each idea is given an equal chance to gain merit, we are not conducting true science.\u00a0 Science is about idea sharing, peer testing, and ultimately, coming to conclusions.\u00a0 But if all possible ideas are not considered, how can we claim we have the right conclusion?<\/p>\n

Note that this does not mean that we should throw resources to ideas that ultimately have no merit.\u00a0 But it does mean that every idea should have a chance to enter the scientific process.\u00a0Therefore, should we stop using the term pseudoscience?\u00a0 I think it has its place.\u00a0 \u00a0However, I do believe that it is detrimental to science to use prematurely.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pseudoscience.\u00a0 What is it? \u200b According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Pseudoscience is\u00a0“a system of theories, assumptions, and methods erroneously regarded as scientific” [1] Examples of things that are pseudoscience are often debated because, as Scientific American states, no one says they are a pseudo-scientist [2].\u00a0 For those interested in lists, a (very debatable) list can be … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The importance of language and why I don’t like the term Pseudoscience”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8673,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8673"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/anthonywarmack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}