is it science or pseudoscience?

Is it Science or Pseudoscience?

Kathy SaundersUniversity of Waikato

Aims of the session Discuss the elements of the

Nature of Science and use these as criteria to distinguish between science, pseudoscience and non-science

Examine a range of recent scientific claims and make decisions, with justifications, as to whether these are science, pseudoscience or non-science

What is science? Think about categorising the following

statements as scientific, not scientific, not scientific but seems scientific.

Knowing the “right” answer is not the point –purpose is to think about what science is and isn’t.

Is it scientific, not scientific, not scientific but seems scientific

Every human possesses a soul Water boils at 100 degrees C at 1 atmosphere (atm)

pressure Aliens from another planet built Egyptian pyramids People born under astrological sign Aries are

charismatic leaders The earth’s surface is made up of many plates. The

movement of these plates set in motion forces that result in earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain building

We hired scientists to test our product, and the results prove our product is better than that of our competition

Water molecules contain a memory of what has been dissolved or diluted in them

An inventor’s design for a car that uses water as a fuel has been bought up and suppressed by the oil companies

Reports of UFOs are suppressed by the government to prevent panic and/or maintain control over citizens

What criteria did you use to place a statement in a category?

Tentative definition for each category Rename:

Scientific – SCIENCE Not scientific - NON-SCIENCE Not scientific but seems scientific -

PSEUDOSCIENCE

Dough Nut Activity Two circles are formed, with each person

facing a partner, about ½ m apart Students spend about 2 minutes discussing

statement and justifying their selection/opinion Inner circle moves - rotate to right one person

once time is up

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopushttp://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus

Forum

Is the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus science or

pseudoscience?What are some claims you know of that you

consider to be pseudoscience?

Science can be defined as... PRODUCT: Science is a body of knowledge

including facts, theories and laws PROCESS: Science uses a variety of tools and

procedures to generate scientific knowledge WAY OF KNOWING: Science is one lens to

make sense of the world. It relies on empirical evidence and generates knowledge claims based on linking evidence through to explanations through logic and mechanisms that can account for cause and effect.

To recognise whether a statement is

science,nonscience or pseudoscience....

Criteria of “Characteristics of scientific knowledge”

Look for warning signs

Characteristics of scientific knowledge Predictable: Extends application of new ideas and

stimulates new questions Replicable: Proposes a mechanisms for observed

cause and effect that is repeatable; explanations must fit existing data

Empirical: Knowledge claims are based on evidence (all the evidence) that can be observed and tested (as opposed to authority)

Natural: A natural cause or mechanism used to explain how or why an event happens

Tentative: Self correcting when new evidence is uncovered

Warning signs is the claim aimed directly at the media?

(Scientists take to scientific forums) Are there claims that the establishment wants to

suppress the work? Is the scientific effect being described, at the very

limit of detection? Is the evidence for it only anecdotal? Are the predictions of the ‘science’ quite vague? Is the statement said to be true because it has

been believed for a very long time? Has the person presenting this information been

working in isolation? Do they propose a new law of nature in order to

explain the observation? Is there sponsorship from someone or an agenda

to push?Taken from http://webexhibits.org

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So, armed with an understanding of how science operates, we can

assess the many claims and counterclaims, many claiming scientific support and validity,

that bombard us everyday

Spotting pseudoscience is a skill every citizen

should develop.A good grasp of the Nature of Science is

essential to differentiate science from pseudoscience.

SCIENTIFIC LITERACY

Some references Websites The Guardians “Bad Science”

page: http://guardian.co.uk/life/badscience How to recognise bad science

http://webexhibits.org/bogus Sceptical Inquirer http://www.csicop.org Quackwatch http://www.quackwatch.org Critical thinking pseudoscience

http://www.csj.org/infoserv_indexes/index_tpcol_study_criticalthinking_pseudosciencefact.htm