Pseudoscience : the conspiracy against science

Description

"In a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opinions are more widely disseminated than scientific findings, and self-proclaimed experts get their expertise from Google, how can the average person distinguish real science from fake? This book examines pseudoscience from a variety of perspectives, through case studies, analysis, and personal accounts that show how to recognize pseudoscience, why it is so widely accepted, and how to advocate for real science."--Back cover.  Read more... Intro -- Contents -- Foreword: Navigating a Post-Truth World: Ten Enduring Lessons from the Study of Pseudoscience -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Pseudoscience: What It Costs and Efforts to Fight It -- I. The Basics of Pseudoscience -- 1. Pseudoscience and the Pursuit of Truth -- Doubting Science -- The Demarcation Fallacy -- Boundary Work -- The Pseudoscientific Threat -- References -- 2. The Psychology of (Pseudo)Science: Cognitive, Social, and Cultural Factors -- The Psychology of Science -- What Is Scientific Thinking? -- Individual Factors: Cognition and Metacognition -- Social Factors -- Cultural Factors -- Summary and Conclusions -- Author's Note -- References -- 3. The Illusion of Causality: A Cognitive Bias Underlying Pseudoscience -- The Adaptive Bias in Pattern Detection -- Correct Estimation of Causality -- Biased Estimation of Causality -- Factors That Produce the Causal Illusion -- An Example from Pseudo-medicine -- Simple Conditioning Models and Causal Illusions -- The Bright Side of Causal Illusions -- Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 4. Hard Science, Soft Science, and Pseudoscience: Implications of Research on the Hierarchy of the Sciences -- Comte's Hierarchy of the Sciences -- Empirical Indicators of Hierarchical Placement -- Genuine versus Pseudoscience -- Pseudoscientific Beliefs within the Hierarchy -- Discussion -- References -- II. What Pseudoscience Costs Society -- 5. Food-o-science Pseudoscience: The Weapons and Tactics in the War on Crop Biotechnology -- Dinner, an Easy Target for Charlatans -- The Danger of Soft Sortascience -- Human Misery Spawns Agriculture -- Directed Human Intervention in Genetic Improvement -- The Food-o-scientist Toolbox -- Specific Examples of Food-o-science -- Conclusion -- References. 6. An Inside Look at Naturopathic Medicine: A Whistleblower's Deconstruction of Its Core Principles -- Introduction -- A Brief History of Naturopathic Theory -- Naturopathic Medicine Today and Its Six Principles -- First, Do No Harm -- The Healing Power of Nature -- Identify and Treat the Root Cause of Disease -- Doctor as Teacher -- Treat the Whole Person -- Prevention -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 7. Risky Play and Growing Up: How to Understand the Overprotection of the Next Generation -- Introduction -- Play's Complexity-More Than Having Fun -- Benefits of Risky Play -- Evolutionary Function of Play and Risky Play -- Attempts to Regulate Play's Riskiness -- The Science of Risk Perception -- Normal Fear and Pathological Anxiety -- The Function of Fear: Avoidance and Safety Behaviors -- Phobias -- The Problem with Believing Worry Is Helpful: Parents Worry -- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Exaggerated Worry -- The Knock-On Implications for Older Members of Society: The Infantilization of Our Young Adults and the Peculiar Case of Trigger Warnings -- Students Are Not More Vulnerable Than the General Population -- Universities Need Academic and Intellectual Freedom -- How to Treat Exaggerated Negative Emotional Reactions -- Not Learning to Cope Is to Not Mature Adequately -- How Too Much Safety and Protection Can Be Harmful -- Conclusions -- References -- 8. The Anti-Vaccine Movement: A Litany of Fallacy and Errors -- Naturalistic Fallacy: A View That What Is Natural Is Inherently Good and What Is Unnatural Inherently Bad -- Nirvana Fallacy (Perfect Solution Fallacy): The View That If a Solution Is Not Perfect, It Is Worthless -- Shifting the Burden of Proof (See Onus Probandi): "I Need Not Prove My Claim, You Must Prove It Is False". Anecdotal Fallacy: Using a Personal Experience or Examples to Extrapolate Without a Statistically Significant Number of Cases That Could Provide Scientifically Compelling Evidence -- False Authority (Single Authority): Using an Expert of Dubious Credentials -- Moving the Goalposts (Raising the Bar): After Evidence Is Presented in Response to a Specific Claim, Some Other (Often Greater) Evidence Is Demanded -- Genetic Fallacy: Where a Conclusion Is Based Solely on Something or Someone's Origin, With No Regard to Current Meaning or Context -- Appeal to Motive: Where a Premise Is Dismissed by Calling into Question the Motives of Its Proposer -- Cherry Picking: Pointing to Individual Cases or Data That Seem to Confirm a Particular Position, While Ignoring a Significant Portion of Related Cases or Data That May Contradict That Position -- Bad Science or Math -- Middle Ground: Saying That the Middle Point between Two Extremes Must Be the Truth -- Escape to the Future: Claiming That an Idea Will Soon Prevail Because the Emerging Evidence Is Just Around the Corner. "Science Was Wrong Before": Science Has Been Wrong in the Past, Therefore Science Cannot Be Trusted Now -- Finally, No Discussion of the Anti-Vaccine Movement Would Be Complete Without a Discussion of Conspiracy Theories and Deception -- Deception -- Conclusion -- Note -- References -- III. Scientific (or Pseudoscientific) Soundness -- 9. Understanding Pseudoscience Vulnerability through Epistemological Development, Critical Thinking, and Science Literacy -- Introduction -- Science Literacy -- Critical Thinking -- Epistemological Development -- Media Distortions of Science: The Spread of Pseudoscience -- The Mindfulness Movement -- The State of the Research -- Media Claims by High-Profile Mindfulness Figures -- Getting Beyond the Hype -- Where the Field Needs to Go. Addressing Pseudoscience Vulnerability -- References -- 10. Scientific Failure as a Public Good: Illustrating the Process of Science and Its Contrast with Pseudoscience -- Introduction -- The Structure of Scientific Failures -- The OPERA Experiment and Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos -- BICEP2 and Primordial Gravitational Waves -- Hydrino Physics and the Structure of Pseudoscience -- Conclusions -- Appendix A: The OPERA Experiment -- Appendix B: The BICEP2 Experiment -- Appendix C: "Hydrino" Physics -- Note -- References -- 11. Evidence-Based Practice as a Driver of Pseudoscience in Prevention Research -- Introduction -- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Registry -- A Systems Approach to Understanding Pseudoscience in Drug Prevention Research -- Discussion -- Notes -- References -- 12. Scientific Soundness and the Problem of Predatory Journals -- Introduction -- Setting the Scene -- Predatory Journals are Enabling the Publishing and Distribution of Much Pseudoscience -- Motivations for Authoring Pseudoscience and Submitting It to Scholarly Publications -- The Imprimatur of Science -- Payments from Authors and the Breakdown of Demarcation -- Pseudoscience at the Journal Level -- Information Resources Are Polluted by Research Published in Predatory Journals -- The Rise of Boundary Work -- Looking Ahead: Scholarly Publishing and the Dissemination of Pseudoscience -- References -- 13. Pseudoscience, Coming to a Peer-Reviewed Journal Near You -- References -- IV. Pseudoscience in the Mainstream -- 14. "Integrative" Medicine: Integrating Quackery with Science-Based Medicine -- Pseudoscience Insinuates Itself in Medical Academia and Medicine -- What Is "Integrative Medicine"? -- The Problem with Integrative Medicine -- The Blind Spot of Evidence-Based Medicine -- Integrative Medicine: Harms versus Questionable Benefits. "Integrating" Quackery: The Future of Medicine? -- References -- 15. Hypnosis: Science, Pseudoscience, and Nonsense -- Popular Media and Hypnosis -- Is Hypnosis a Trance State? -- Hypnotic Phenomena -- Hypnosis and Psychotherapy -- Conclusions -- References -- 16. Abuses and Misuses of Intelligence Tests: Facts and Misconceptions -- Can Intelligence Be Defined as a Singular Construct? -- The Definition of Intelligence -- Intelligence as a Quotient -- Is Intelligence a Fixed Construct? -- Broad Theories of Intelligence -- Pseudoscience -- Conclusions -- References -- 17. Reflections on Pseudoscience and Parapsychology: From Here to There and (Slightly) Back Again -- Introduction -- Early Years -- Epiphany -- Type I Skeptics -- Type II Skeptics -- Science, Nonscience, and Pseudoscience -- The Scientific Status of Parapsychology -- Conclusion -- Note -- References -- V. Science Activism: How People Think about Pseudoscience -- 18. Using Case Studies to Combat a Pseudoscience Culture -- First Things First: What Is Science? -- Who Are Scientists and Where Do We Find Them? -- The Canons of Science -- Commandments for the Scientist in the Lab and Field -- Commandments for the Scientist Interacting with Society -- How Scientists Can Go Wrong-"Methinks It Is Like a Weasel" -- Case Studies-A Rehearsal for Life -- Using Case Studies to Teach about Science -- Pseudoscience and How Do We Deal with It? -- What's the Harm of Pseudoscience? -- Can We Train People (Students) to Detect Pseudoscience? -- What Is a Teacher to Do? -- Is It Hopeless? -- Final Thoughts -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 19. "HIV Does Not Cause AIDS": A Journey into AIDS Denialism -- Discovering Denialism -- Just the Fake Facts -- Meet Joe Newton -- Entering the Dark Side -- A Network of Denialism -- It Gets Worse -- AIDS Denialism in the Courts -- Where We Stand -- References.