Saturday, October 18, 2008

It's Just A Big Ol' Contemptable World Of Woo

"The word pseudoscience is a bit slippery. It suggests something 'fake' or 'fraudulent'—something that is not a science but pretends to be. We can easily name some of the classic examples: astrology, phrenology, homeopathy, parapsychology, and creationism. People who promote such pseudosciences have been called 'paradoxers,' because they propose ideas that superficially seem plausible but on closer examination are internally contradictory or counter to what is possible in the real world. The term has been applied to circle-squarers, perpetual motionists, and those who believe the Earth is flat.

...The unifying theme is 'fringe thinkers' who create their own versions of reality, contemptuous of the models of nature accepted by established mainstream science."


Donald Simanek, describing so many wack-o NewAge beliefs (and people) that are alive today it's sometimes hard to know it's 2008, except when reading stuff by the Committee For Skeptical Inquiry.

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