Pseudoscience is often confused with real, valid, quantifiable science. What is pseudoscience and how can you?

Question

Pseudoscience is often confused with real, valid, quantifiable science. What is pseudoscience and how can you tell pseudoscience from real science? What is the purpose of pseudoscience and with what pseudosciences are you familiar?

Answer 1

The best way to tell them apart is that "real" sciences are able to be tested, using the scientific method, either directly or through physical evidence (like using fossils, to study dinosaurs). Pseudosciences aren't able to be tested.

An example of a pseudoscience is astrology (that the stars and planets are responsible for events that happen). Just because your "stars" are in a certain alignment that "predict" that you'll have a bad day and you do, were the stars really responsible? Or was it just a coincidence? Or was it your belief that you were going to have a bad day that caused you to have one? And how could you test the idea that certain alignments of stars would make you have a bad day? (remember if you know the alignment beforehand, it may influence your own actions, plus you have to be able to separate out the actual alignment from coincidence).

Answer 2

Hard science always follows the scientific method. Results must be repeatable.
I would also consider pseudoscience to be poorly designed experiments as well. Experiments that do not test an appropriate number of subjects, or purposely seem vague in methodolgy.
Psudoscience (in my opinion) would be Science with an agenda.
Sometimes science is also used for things not orginally inteded. (EXAMPLE: Intellegent design). People who quote extensively from older studies or retracted studies to emphasizes a point (not shared by the author) would be pseudoscientists. Again -in my opinion.

Answer 3

interior of psychology there are various diverse disciplines, a number of that are greater in accordance with organic and organic foundations, which comprise psychopharmacology. it is the learn of ways diverse drugs impression the recommendations and maximum heavily persons behaviour. there is not any way that human beings can evaluate study of that nature to no longer be medical. different disciplines which comprise social psychology could be seen to an interloper to be much less scientifically based. besides the undeniable fact that, in case you seem on the mag of Social Psyhology, you will see that many study use experimental designs to scientifically instruct or disprove a theory. the significant factor that differs psychology from different sciences, is that for some issues, it fairly is unlikley, inspite of any volume of study that we do, that we are going to discover out the 'best suited' answer. it is definitely one of significant motives why while psychology is taught isn't taught in a technology, reality based way. Psychology has a tendency to assessment in terms of study that have stumbled on issues out, and study that have been presented in assessment those. it may't be the main medical of the sciences yet is unquestionably a technology.