
List of Topics Categorized as Pseudoscience - mindcrime
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
======
BrandoElFollito
I often tell people that I believe that the sun revolves around the earth
because, well, I see it moving around (half of the path).

When they either laugh or think I am trolling I ask them to change my mind by
refuting this observation. I also tell them that I have a first hand
observation while they have some vague, hand waving pictures of trajectories.

The discussions with some get interesting when they slowly discover the
concept of center of mass, relative movement etc.

Children are better at that because they do not have yet opinions burned into
their brains by weak schooling (schooling which prefers to drop equations than
let them discover things as they go).

I have a PhD in physics so it is easier for me (and people do not assume that
I am an excited flat earth believer or somethkng) but I am really sad that a
lot of things which people are told are just that: told. Not done through self
discovery.

------
jddj
This was a good read. I like to consider myself fairly rational, but even so a
small handful went against my intuitions.

Admittedly, the article defines itself as a list of things which have been
labelled as pseudoscience at one point or another, and obviously the lines
aren't always clear as some things make the list because of quacks'
overenthusiasm and/or twisting of what is a small localised benefit into much
more than it is.

Regardless, for fun here are a couple which went against my current
intuitions:

Fasting: while not in vogue to cure diseases per se (although some people
point to diabetes), variants of fasting seem to be in vogue at the moment.

Graphology: To me (someone with pretty lazy handwriting), I feel like
comparing mine with someone's which is significantly more neat would say
_something_ about our respective personalities.

~~~
singularity2001
Yes, Fasting should probably be removed from that list (via better studies on
fasting?)

As should

Lunar effect – the belief that the full Moon influences human behavior.

If my anecdata does not count, it sure is proven that

1\. light influences human behavior 2\. full Moon reflects light

Q.E.D.

Following the link, this is indeed the only proven effect of the moon: "The
lunar cycle seems to influence human sleep, even when one does not 'see' the
Moon and is not aware of the actual Moon phase."[Cajochen 41]

------
papermachete
I don't believe in photos from space as well. When you think about it, the
reproducibility of the scientific method seems to have been lost in modern
times in favor of "nerd/black/wheelchair science man said so" TV shows. I much
prefer the algorithmic proof of scientific claims, so that I can use my own
tools and my own brain to confirm the result such as the sailing ship
phenomenon and the geometry of the horizon. Anyone agree?

~~~
egwynn
In principle, sure! "Nullius in verba" and all that. But where I think this is
interesting and most important is for those pieces of knowledge whose scale /
cost make independent confirmation firmly outside the reach of any but the
most well-resourced of agents. I think the subject of vaccine safety
exemplifies this well. There are only a tiny number of people in the world
who, realistically, can independently kick the tires on whether vaccines do /
don't work or whether they are / aren't safe. Vaccine believers / skeptics are
basically all just left to take someone else's word for it.

------
cyberjunkie
A lot of us like this post, because we can run through it and not be offended
by any of it.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people will run through it and will be
happy ignoring the one or two on the list that they seriously subscribe to.

------
briantakita
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda)

