Example Of Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience is a claim or belief that does not conform to the scientific method. Generally, pseudoscience will have a lack of scientific evidence and will seem almost as an exaggeration. The evidence that is there to support it is not heavily supported or seems to be conforming to fit the “hypothesis”. In the article I found, James Cameron dove by himself to the deepest part of

The documentary “Merchants of Doubt” directed by Robert Keener describes the unethical practices of manipulating scientific data to market unsafe products. It explains the use of public relations and media to divert the health risk involved in smoking in order to protect the industry. The documentary exposes how companies hire a third party, presented as credible scientific expert, to mislead people about the company’s unsafe products. Those people selling lies to cover for the company’s wrongdoing are called “merchants of doubt”. They create a sense of doubt in the veracity of the scientific data and results collected by the scientist. This strategy of creating doubt and confusion causes delay in government regulation. The documentary shows

In the effort to appeal to credibility, the writer for The Onion utilizes ethos. The author talks about “real” scientist to boost the product. “What makes MagnaSoles different from other insoles is the way it harnesses the power of magnetisms to properly align the biomagnetic field around your foot,” said Dr. Arthur Bluni, the pseudoscientist who developed the product for Massillon-based Integrated Products.” When the author uses examples like this, we are just getting lied to and hopefully influenced. What is really happening is they are saying lies and talks about how these “scientist” are suggested their products. The author gives credibility to science and how their product heals them. “Special resonator nodules implanted at key spots in MagnaSoles convert the wearer’s own energy to match the Earth’s natural vibrational rate of 32.805 kilofrankels.” This develops the theory that using weird scientific words will make their product more believable. It is false and they are just trying to confuse the consumer

When studies were shown not to support the film’s argument, they were occasionally argued to be irrelevant due to interested manufacturers funding (and possibly manipulating) the data within the studies for monetary gains. An example is when Dr. Mercola that the 90 studies that find aspartame to be harmless by Ralph G. Walton and the like, 90 percent of them are funded by corporate interest and that any independent studies find the exact opposite, insinuating fowl play in the

The most effective principle of scientific thinking in the Lilienfield Psychology book is “Extraordinary Claims”. This principle can be effective for day-to-day use, as it`s not uncommon to come across an article in mainstream media which claims to hold the solutions to happiness or the instant solution to wrinkles. I often use acne treatment face washes everyday to keep me from breaking out. Walking through Target one day to get another bottle of Clean & Clear, I come across this other brand called Clearasil, which claims to clear acne in just 12 hours.

G) pseudoscience: Pseudoscience includes topics that are considered scientific but are not based on scientific fact. Pseudoscience also includes topics that are claimed to be scientific but are constrained by scientific

The example of unethical or questionable science behavior I have decided to discuss involves informed consent. An article written in the Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research describes informed consent as the process by which individuals are advised of the different facets of research, including risks, that they will be participating in that allows them to make a voluntary and informed decision as to their willingness to engage in the procedure.

The article goes on to say that “some of the misleading reporting observed…was deliberate” (Gary, 2010). It is unethical to try and sway the consumer into using your product with false or misleading information. When someone is sick he or she wants the best care that his or her insurance can provide and he or she are not getting that with this misleading information. The author of the article seems to be concerned with this idea of unethical medical research. According to the author research has proven that misleading research is used often for financial gain. The author does not site one specific person or business, but points the finger at the healthcare and drug markets in general. The author does use one specific source for his research though. He found gaps in the marketing of Pleo-Sanum. He noticed that one of the statements in the article about the product stated that “The investigators reported in the Results section that active treatment produced a significant benefit, whereas placebo did not.” A normal person reading the article would not catch on to the fact that the product had been spun to make the product seem better. Consumers are not dumb, but have no choice but believe what is laid out in front of them. Consumers expect the people who are selling the products to be honest and ethical individuals but research has

Branding – Marketing within the industry and the profiled consumer on the benefits of alternative health methods, its safety and efficacy is essential.

The Scientific Method is the standardized procedure that scientists are supposed to follow when conducting experiments, in order to try to construct a reliable, consistent, and non-arbitrary representation of our surroundings. To follow the Scientific Method is to stick very tightly to a order of experimentation. First, the scientist must observe the phenomenon of interest. Next, the scientist must propose a hypothesis, or idea in which the experiments will be based around. Then, through repeated experimentation, the hypothesis can either be proven false or become a theory. If the hypothesis is proven to be false, the scientist must reformulate his or her ideas and come up with another hypothesis, and the experimentation begins again. This

There are some demarcations to science from pseudo-science and non-science (Hansson, 2008). Science aims to unravel the way the natural world is and explain how it is and why it works in a particular manner (Hobson, 2001 & Bunge, 1982). It answers few of these questions by demonstrating the cause and the effects of various actions by presenting in descriptive and explanatory claims (Parse, 1995). Scientists prove their findings by explaining

In Medieval science lab, everything was about what people believed was not always right by science. Many historical movements such as alchemic rituals performed by old scientist, crude surgeries performed by plague doctors and many of the other cases were considered primitive, which was against what we believe because of science today. However, some of these primitive sciences, called “pseudoscience” (Molumby and Murray, 2007, p.28), have persisted the scientific method, in other words people still believe in false happenings in society even though they are scientifically wrong.

Pseudoscience could be beliefs, theories, or practices that have been or are considered scientific, but have no basis in scientific fact. This could mean they were disproved scientifically, can't be tested or there is a lack of evidence to support them. Usually, a pseudoscientist would reverse the scientific process by thinking of their desired conclusion in the beginning and then searching for evidence that supports their desired conclusion while ignoring evidence and arguments to the contrary. Using such a biased and backwards approach, it makes it possible to prove anything, including some of the most absurd nonsense imaginable. These beliefs are considered to lie outside of science because they have not received support from the scientific

Science and Pseudoscience differ in many ways. Science uses experimentation to accept or reject the hypothesis being tested while pseudoscience only looks for evidence to support the hypothesis often ignoring conflicting evidence. In science reproducible results are required before coming to a conclusion while in pseudoscience will often fail to successfully reproduce similar results. Science also argues with scientific information based of experimentation while pseudoscience lacks scientific evidence when supporting ideas. All and all the two contrast in many ways these being some of the most prominent.

Laudan (1983) claimed that the problem of demarcation can be traced back to ancient Greece and Aristotle. Aristotle asserted that from general laws one can deduce scientific theories that are consequently truthful statements. Pseudoscientific theories according to Aristotle are not deductively formulated and therefore cannot be considered scientific. However this method of demarcation is flawed: pseudosciences such as astrology can be vacuously true and most are reluctant to say astrology is scientific. We can already see from this early stage that the distinctions between science and pseudoscience are murky and the formulation of demarcation can be challenging.