The Scientific Method and Pseudoscience Detection

Foundations of Scientific Knowledge

Science as a Collective Effort

Science is inherently a collective effort, not an individual pursuit. Progress is only possible through the collaboration and control of the scientific community. It is essential to publish results and experimental data so that other scientists can replicate the work and test the findings. This process prevents fraud and ensures validity. Furthermore, the scientific community has an obligation to ensure effective access to scientific knowledge.

Steps of the Scientific Method

The scientific method can be summarized in the following steps:

1. Identify and clarify the problem, formulating it as a specific question.
2. Formulate a hypothesis and design an experiment to confirm the prediction.
3. Check if the prediction is met by collecting and interpreting the observations.
4. If the prediction is met, continue examining other cases and possible consequences inferred from these experiments.
5. If a prediction is not fulfilled, the hypothesis must be rejected, and a new one formulated.

Modern Scientific Research and Professionalization

No single individual can master the total content of scientific knowledge today, as scientists have become highly specialized and professionalized. The publication of methods and results in scientific journals and conferences is an essential tool for error correction, achieved through the peer review of methods and results by other scientists.

Funding provided by states and non-profit interorganizational bodies has facilitated scientific professionalization. Scientific results are descriptive in nature (describing the reality of our environment) and not prescriptive (not regulations). This means that scientific knowledge, in its descriptive form, does not inherently entail ethical consequences.

Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience is defined as something presented as scientific without being based on objective evidence. It often seeks to gain the trust of recipients without rigorous justification.

Characteristics of Pseudoscience:

• It lacks clear conditions for the refutation of its theories.
• It ignores well-established scientific knowledge and often contradicts universal principles, such as the proportionality between the intensity of causes and effects.
• It exhibits features of magical thinking, such as association by contact or similarity.
• Its practitioners often seek sympathy by complaining that they are persecuted by the scientific establishment.
• Its success is often inversely proportional to the methodological rigor applied.
• It uses obscure language, which hinders the examination of its claims.
• It tends to extract authority from its founders rather than developing objectively through investigation.
• Its proponents often take refuge in the supposed mysteries of quantum mechanics to justify claims.