How to distinguish science from pseudoscience

The characteristics of science and pseudoscience are compared as follows (table):

Science: Scientific discoveries are mainly published in scientific journals, reviewed by peers, and adhere to strict standards of honesty and accuracy.

Pseudoscience: Literature is aimed at the general public, and there is no evaluation, standard, verification before publication, accuracy and accuracy standard.

Science: Repeatable results are needed, and experiments must be accurately described, so that experiments can be accurately copied or improved on the original basis.

Pseudoscience: The results cannot be repeated or verified. If there is research, it is always described in a vague way, and people can't infer what research or research methods they have engaged in.

Science: detailed search and research failed, because incorrect theories often lead to correct predictions unexpectedly, but correct theories never lead to wrong predictions.

Pseudoscience: The ways to deal with failure are: ignoring, making excuses, concealing, covering up with lies, minimizing the consequences, justifying, rationalizing, forgetting, and avoiding at all costs.

Science: With the passage of time, we have learned more about the research object.

Pseudoscience: No discovery or study of physical phenomena or processes. No progress, no understanding of anything substantial.

Science: Persuade people by resorting to physical evidence, arguing based on logical and/or mathematical reasoning, and inferring the best situation allowed by data. When the new material evidence contradicts the old viewpoint, the old viewpoint is abandoned.

Pseudoscience: Persuading people through loyalty and faith. Pseudoscience has a strong quasi-religious component: it tries to change people's beliefs, not convince them. No matter what the facts are, people must believe them, not because of the facts.

Science: Do not advocate or promote unapproved businesses or products.

Pseudoscience: Generally, some or all of the living expenses are earned by selling problematic products (books, lectures, health food) and/or pseudoscience services (astrology, personality measurement, mental information, life prediction).

The above comparison table can be greatly expanded, because science and pseudoscience completely run counter to natural observation methods. Science relies on and insists on self-interrogation, experiment and analytical thinking, so it is difficult to deceive itself or avoid facing the facts. Pseudoscience, on the other hand, retains an ancient, natural, irrational and objective mode of thinking, which is thousands of years older than science. This thinking process has produced superstitions and other illusions and misunderstandings about human beings and nature: from witches to racism; From the flat earth to the house-shaped universe, in which God lives in the attic, Satan lives in the cellar and human beings live on the ground; From praying for rain to torturing mental patients to exorcise evil spirits from them. Pseudoscience encourages people to be whimsical. Putting forward a specious "theory" makes people think that all beliefs are equally correct. From the beginning, science says, let's forget what we believe is true, and then find out what things are through investigation. These roads don't cross, and each road leads to the opposite direction.

At this point, some confusion is caused by what we call "crossover". The word "science" is not a medal hanging on people's chests, but an activity that people engage in. Once people stop doing science, they are no longer scientists. A considerable number of (worrying) pseudoscience is caused by this situation: some scientists who are well-trained in a certain field have plunged into areas they don't understand. A physicist claims to have discovered a new law of biology, or a biologist claims to have discovered a new law of physics, which is almost certainly pseudoscience. Those who falsify data, suppress data that conflicts with their previous knowledge, or refuse to show their data to other scientists for fear of being independently investigated are pseudoscience. Science is like a mountain composed of academic integrity, fairness and rationality. The top of the mountain is steep and slippery, and it takes a lot of effort to get close. If you don't work hard, you will slide down and fall into pseudoscience. Some pseudoscience is caused by people with a little professional scientific or technical training. These people are not professional scientists and don't understand the nature of science, but they call themselves "scientists".

People may wonder if there are no examples of "crossing" in other directions. For example, a person who has always been considered by scientists to be engaged in pseudoscience is finally admitted to be engaged in authentic science, and his views are finally accepted by scientists. From the above summary, this situation is extremely rare, if not never. Actually, I've already asked my knowledgeable colleagues about this matter. Neither they nor I have heard of such a case. A complete scientific method has been familiar and used by scientists for hundreds of years. It is true that a scientist was considered wrong by his peers, and later, after obtaining new information, he found that he was right. Scientists, like ordinary people, may intuitively think that a phenomenon is possible, but there is not enough evidence to convince their colleagues that they are correct. These people will not become pseudo-scientists, unless there are piles of physical evidence to refute their views, they still insist that they are right. It is inevitable to hold wrong views or make mistakes. We are all human beings, and mistakes are inevitable, but real scientists will be alert to the possibility of making mistakes and correct them in time. Pseudoscientists are not like this. In fact, the short definition of pseudoscience is "a means to excuse, defend and keep mistakes".

For educated and rational people, pseudoscience is completely nonsense and absurd, so it won't do any harm. This is a joke. Don't be afraid.

Unfortunately, this is not a wise attitude. Pseudoscience can be extremely dangerous, and its hazards include:

Infiltrate the political system and revise astrology in the name of national purity.

Infiltrate the education system and crowd out science and reason.

In the field of health, thousands of people are at risk of unnecessary death and disease.

Infiltrate religion, encourage religious fanaticism, tolerate contrary remarks and launch jihad.

Infiltrate the media and prevent voters from obtaining real information on major public issues.