One cannot but agree that the spread and popularization of pseudoscience is one of the most serious problems of modern culture. The main difficulty in fighting it lies in the ability of its main followers to combine science and messianism in their "works", which for an unprepared person creates the illusion of a new word in science.
The origin of pseudoscience
Before determining the main signs and varieties of this phenomenon, it is necessary to understand the question: how did the appearance of pseudoscience become possible? It can hardly be considered as such, for example, the alchemy of the 14th century or Babylonian astrology. Firstly, their development was not associated with the denial of existing knowledge about the properties of chemicals in the first case and the laws of planetary motion in the second. Secondly, in the framework of these disciplines, a real accumulation of scientific knowledge took place, although the goals set - the search for a philosopher's stone and the establishment of the influence of stars on the fate of man - do not cause much confidence. Nowadays, we boldly attribute both alchemy and astrology to pseudoscience, since with the formation of chemistry and astronomy these "sciences" can only convince people that with the help of a certain substance any metal can be turned into gold and seek signs of fate in solar eclipses .
Thus, the history of pseudoscience begins in the New Age period (it begins approximately from the middle of the XVII century). The religious picture of the world characteristic of the Middle Ages is successively replaced by a rationalistic one, where proof is supposed instead of faith. However, the volume of accumulation of scientific knowledge turned out to be so rapid, and the discoveries of scientists, especially in the field of natural sciences, sometimes contradicted the prevailing ideas. This entailed the construction of numerous exotic theories. Over time, the stream of discoveries has not dried up. The theory of relativity and quantum mechanics have shown that even such an unconditionally scientific discipline as classical physics created by Isaac Newton does not work under certain conditions.
In addition, philosophy made a considerable contribution to the possibility of developing pseudoscientific disciplines. In an effort to comprehend the world, many thinkers put forward the idea that Being is an illusion. From this came the conclusion that scientific knowledge of the world is an illusion. Having escaped beyond the bounds of scientific reasoning, these ideas in the mass consciousness began to provoke thoughts that the world can be arranged differently than what is supposed by the scientific environment.
Thus, pseudoscience became a reaction to unexpected and sometimes contradictory data obtained by scientists. Since they themselves could sometimes not explain the facts discovered, pseudo-scientific speculation became common. The end of the 19th century was marked by a boom in spiritualistic sessions in which many prominent figures, in particular the writer Arthur Conan Doyle, saw one of the means of knowing the world. The development of pseudoscience then was, in principle, closely linked with occult practices. Even then, their adherents took a rather aggressive position in relation to the scientific community. For example, E.P. Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophical Society, in her Secret Doctrine, equipped with the subtitle Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, openly ridiculed scientific advances in the study of electromagnetism.
Terminology issues
The given excursion into history shows that the field of unscientific “knowledge” is extremely wide. It can include both theories built in compliance with all principles of scientificness, but based on incorrect assumptions, and openly and aggressively opposing the existing system of scientific knowledge. In view of this, it is necessary to introduce terms that would distinguish between extra-scientific methods of "gaining knowledge." This is a rather difficult task, since the boundaries between them are quite blurred.
- Quasi-science is considered to be such knowledge in which, in various proportions, there are both scientific and erroneous or deliberately falsified propositions.
- By paranoscience we mean such a system of theories, the main provisions of which significantly deviate from scientific dogmas with a significant preponderance in the direction of erroneous ideas.
- Pseudoscience is such an area of ​​"knowledge", the provisions of which either do not correspond to scientific data or contradict them, and the subject of research either does not exist or is falsified.
Separately, it should be said about the phenomenon of antiscience, which is gaining strength recently. As follows from the term itself, its adherents see absolute evil in scientific knowledge. Anti-scientific statements, as a rule, are associated either with the activities of religious fanatics, who believe that truth does not exist outside a certain deity, or that they come from poorly educated sections of the population.
The boundaries between quasi-science and pseudoscience are very blurred. For two hundred years, homeopathy was considered a possible method of treating many diseases, and before the discoveries of Kepler and Halley it was impossible to speak as a pseudoscience about astrology. Therefore, when using these terms, it is necessary to take into account the historical stage and the existing conditions on it.
Factors of the origin of pseudoscientific theories
One of the conditions for the emergence of extra-scientific “knowledge” has already been given: a change of worldview and the corresponding worldview crisis. The second is associated with unacceptable errors during the study, such as the perception of some details as insignificant, the lack of experimental verification or ignoring third-party factors. The logic of research is thus straightened and simplified. The result is the accumulation of erroneous facts and the construction of an incorrect theory.
The third condition also stems from inaccuracies in the research work, but which arose no longer at the will of the researcher. In many areas of knowledge, some facts, with insufficient development of the instrumental and theoretical bases, are unattainable for him. Others cannot be verified in an experiment. In this case, the researcher, following his intuition, can proceed to overly decisive generalizations, the result of which also becomes the construction of an erroneous theory.
If it is possible for quasi-and paranoscience to admit mistakes, then pseudoscience does not at all seek to refute itself. On the contrary, there is a “scientific” justification of errors in which terms such as “aura”, “torsion field” or “bioenergy” are used that have no meaning. In their studies, adherents of pseudoscience sometimes use deliberately complicated language, give a lot of formulas and diagrams, behind which the inexperienced reader overlooks the subject of research and is imbued with confidence in its author’s “erudition”.
The crisis of official science is another factor in the emergence and successful spread of pseudoscientific theories. It should be recognized that the state or society is not always interested in fundamental research in any field. The vacuum formed in this case is immediately occupied by all sorts of people who seek to profit from human trust. One of the most famous modern pseudoscience in this field is homeopathy.
Signs of pseudoscientific theory
In order to determine whether a research is scientific or if it has no value, it is not necessary to be a specialist in a particular industry. A scientific publication always has a number of requirements, including formal ones. A pseudoscientific publication rarely follows these rules.
An indispensable element of a truly scientific research is the presence of a list of sources and literature used in the work, which also cite publications made earlier by the author in accredited publications. For obvious reasons, pseudoscientific “research” cannot boast of such links.
A pseudo-scientific publication does not have such an important structural element as an annotation or introduction, in which the goals and objectives of the study, as well as the methods used to solve them, are clearly formulated. Accordingly, there is no conclusion in which the findings are presented.
The adherent of pseudoscience almost always takes a pronounced aggressive position in relation to the data of official science. A considerable part of the text goes to "debunking" the usual ideas that are supposedly imposed on society (it is worth opening any volume of the New Chronology by A. T. Fomenko and G. V. Nosovsky, and there will be accusations of professional historians of falsifying data for unknown purposes). Instead, the author of such a work eagerly talks about his unexpected discoveries, leaving their subject aside. In the scientific community, such methods are considered unacceptable, and all the merits of the author consist only in listing his publications.
Science and pseudoscience also differ in that instead of the necessary overview information on the topic and its development by other researchers, the author of the pseudoscientific work gives his own philosophical arguments, in the best case only having an indirect relation to the problem being studied. In this regard, the exploitation of topics such as global disasters, prolonging life, the decline of morals and so on is especially popular. In addition to creating science, such reasoning is used as an advertising move.
Finally, one of the most recognizable moves by pseudoscience authors of "research" is the "claim to a miracle." Such a work describes previously unknown facts, phenomena, and theories that cannot be verified. At the same time, the author willingly uses scientific terminology, distorting its meaning at its own discretion. The inaccessibility of such information to society is explained by various conspiracy theories.
The implementation of pseudoscience
The main disciplines in which various pseudo-sciences and pseudosciences have taken root and feel confidently include medicine, physics, biology, areas of humanitarian knowledge (history, sociology, linguistics) and even a seemingly protected from speculation field like mathematics. Distorting, simplifying, or completely denying scientific knowledge, the adherents of pseudoscience, mainly for the purpose of quick enrichment, created a number of theories and even “disciplines”. You can create the following list of pseudoscience:
- astrology;
- homeopathy;
- parapsychology;
- numerology;
- phrenology;
- ufology;
- alternative history (recently the term "folk history" is increasingly used);
- graphology;
- cryptobiology
- alchemy.
This list does not exhaust all the manifestations of pseudoscientific theories. Unlike official science, whose funding in most cases is not sufficient, pseudoscience adherents earn substantial money from their theories and practices, so the emergence of new exclusive discoveries has become a mass phenomenon.
Astrology
Many serious scientists, giving examples of pseudoscience, consider astrology their reference representative. It should be borne in mind that we are talking about modern astrological research. There is no doubt in the objective knowledge obtained by this science in the states of ancient Mesopotamia or Greece, just as it is impossible to deny their importance for the formation and development of astronomy.
But at present, astrology has lost its positive side. The activities of its representatives boil down to making horoscopes and vague predictions that can be interpreted as you like. At the same time, astrology uses outdated data. The zodiacal circle used in this pseudoscience consists of 12 constellations, while astronomy knows that the trajectory of the sun lies through the constellation Ophiuchus. Astrologers tried to correct the situation, but with fundamentally opposite methods. Some hastened to include Ophiuchus in the zodiac circle, while others said that the zodiac is a 30-degree ecliptic sector that is not tied to the constellations.
Already from such attempts, we can conclude that modern astrology is pseudoscience. However, many people continue to believe the predictions of astrologers, despite the fact that a little more than seven billion people live on the earth, twelve constellations, which means that the same prediction is true for 580 million people at once.
Homeopathy
The appearance of this type of treatment can be attributed to historical oddities. Samuel Hahnemann - a physician who lived more than two hundred years ago - on the basis that quinine, one of the then anti-malarial drugs, like the disease, caused him fever, he decided that any disease can be controlled by causing its symptoms. Thus, the essence of the homeopathic method is to take highly diluted medications.
Doubts about the effectiveness of this method existed from the very beginning of its existence. Realizing this, homeopaths stubbornly tried to bring a scientific base for their activities , but to no avail. In 1998, a special "Commission to Combat Pseudoscience and the Falsification of Scientific Research" was created at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Naturally, close attention was immediately paid to homeopathy. During the study, it was found that expensive homeopathic remedies pose a serious health hazard. It was indicated that giving them preference, people ignore medicines whose effectiveness has already been proven. In 2017, homeopathy was officially called pseudoscience. In addition, relevant recommendations were made to the Ministry of Health. The most important of these are stopping the use of homeopathic medicines in health facilities, as well as countering their advertising.
The Pseudoscience Commission also urged pharmacies not to place homeopathic medicines together with medicines with proven effectiveness and to print in the press the equivalence of concepts such as homeopathy, magic, and extrasensory perception.
Mathematical Pseudoscience
One of the most popular objects for constructing pseudo-scientific theories in the field of mathematics is numbers, and historically the most ancient such "discipline" is numerology. Its occurrence is also associated with scientific needs: the Pythagorean school in Ancient Greece studied the fundamental properties of numbers, but this happened hand in hand with endowing the perfect discoveries with some philosophical meaning. So, there were simple and compound, perfect, friendly and many other numbers. The study of their properties continues to this day and is of serious importance for mathematics, however, apart from purely scientific purposes, the representations of the Pythagoreans became the basis for the search for prisoners of fate in numbers.
Like other esoteric practices, numerology exists in close connection with other pseudosciences: astrology, palmistry, and even alchemy. It also uses meaningless terminology: the unit is called a monad, instead of "eight" they say "oxoade". Numbers are endowed with special properties. For example, 9 symbolizes the divine power of a certain Creator, and 8 symbolizes Providence and Fate.
Like others, this pseudoscience is rejected by scientists. In 1993, in the United Kingdom, and 19 years later, in Israel, special experiments were carried out, which were to check whether the numbers are really able to somehow influence the fate of a person. We expect their result: no connection was found, however, numerologists declared the findings false, without proving this in any way.
Humanitarian rigging
History and linguistics are perhaps the most popular areas for the emergence of pseudo-scientific theories. This is explained by the fact that these sciences do not provide opportunities to test any concept. History very often at the request of the ruling circles corresponded anew: it was forbidden to mention some events, and was silent about the role of other statesmen. Such an attitude and the loss of many sources for various reasons (for example, due to fires) led to the formation of numerous unexplored areas, which made it possible for people far from history to put forward absolutely fantastic theories, which they present as great discoveries that change all ideas.
The phenomenon of folk history or alternative history is currently gaining momentum. Using the data of linguistics, astronomy and mathematics arbitrarily, the “researchers” to their taste either shorten the duration of the story (“New Chronology”) or unduly bother some events. As noted by researchers, professional historians have long preferred not to notice such publications, considering them too nonsense to inspire confidence in the readership. However, the crisis in the scientific community and the lack of reaction of the scientific community have led to the fact that pseudo-scientific theories of the origin of all the languages ​​of the world from Russian (at best Slavic) or the existence of a powerful Russian power in the second millennium BC began to be perceived as true.
The already mentioned Commission on Pseudoscience is taking decisive steps to combat the spread of such "knowledge." Round tables devoted to the problem are held, new publications are published with a detailed and consistent debunking of the "advanced" methods of folk historians. Unfortunately, this has not yet produced tangible results: Fomenko's publications and the like continue to be published in large print runs, arousing interest in the readership.
The fight against pseudoscience in the USSR
When enumerating the difficulties in determining the content of the term "pseudoscience" one of them was deliberately omitted: under certain conditions and the presence of benefits (not necessarily material), these were truly scientific disciplines.
So, during the period of Stalinism in the USSR, genetics turned out to be pseudoscience. This event was completely political in nature. The main opponent of the supporters of the new theory of heredity was the agronomist and biologist T.D. Lysenko. Unable to counter genetics with any convincing scientific counterarguments, Lysenko turned to political accusations and bullying. In particular, he stated that the doctrine of genes and heredity resulted in racism and fascism, and the experiments conducted on Drosophila were a waste of folk money and direct wrecking. Conducted in the early 30s. discussions on genetics were soon discontinued. The Great Terror began in the country, the victims of which were also many biologists: G. A. Nadson, N. I. Vavilov. They were accused of espionage in favor of hostile states and other types of anti-government activities.
In 1948, the struggle against genetics ended with the victory of Lysenko. In a report read at a session of the Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences, he repeated the previous argument: there is no “substance” of heredity. Proponents of genetics were allowed to make rebuttals, but after that Lysenko stated that his report was personally approved by Stalin. In these circumstances, it was impossible to continue the discussion. As bourgeois pseudoscience, genetics in the USSR existed until the mid-60s, when, after decoding DNA, it became impossible to deny the existence of genes.
Another object of bullying in the USSR was cybernetics. It was first declared pseudoscience in the issue of Literaturnaya Gazeta dated April 5, 1952. Again, the reasons for this were purely political: fearing that, having become acquainted with the Western way of life after the end of World War II, Soviet society would turn its back on Marxist ideals, Stalin initiated a struggle against cosmopolitanism and low worship of the West. Articles appeared in the foreign press about the new science of information management and its transfer were immediately declared bourgeois obscurantism.
Currently, there are articles that the persecution of cybernetics is a myth, since research in this direction began to be carried out in the USSR very soon, and the lag behind the United States in the field of computer technology was insignificant. However, one should not forget: the defeat of genetics in Stalinism was almost twenty years old, cybernetics took a year. Scientists who saw no reason to consider cybernetics a pseudoscience, resisted the authorities. Soon the leadership of the country made concessions, saying that if society "does not mind", science will be rehabilitated. After the 20th Congress and criticism of the cult of personality, the possibilities for the development of cybernetics became much greater.
Pseudoscience and society
It should be recognized: a significant part of the population is not interested in pseudoscience and the fight against it. In the 90s, when Russian society was seized by a systemic crisis, psychics, healers and other charlatans were actually the only ones who gave hope for a happy future. Naturally, not for free. It is not clear to the average layman why ufology is pseudoscience, but psychology is not. Publications on this subject exist, but they are clearly not enough, and sometimes they are inaccessible.
The most effective way to combat pseudoscience is to increase the educational level of the population. This, like many others, rests on the need to increase funding. Obviously insufficient funds are allocated for science and education. Failure to obtain the necessary knowledge is the reason for the spread in modern society of such seemingly unthinkable theories as the theory of a flat Earth. The geopolitical catastrophes that occurred with Russia at the beginning and end of the last century made people need a heroic past: it seemed the only alternative to a hopeless present. Immediately there appeared “historians” who were happy to fantasize on the theme of the great all-Slavic state, subjugating to itself in the IX (or VII, or II - this is not important) century of all neighbors. The high cost of health care, an indifferent attitude to patients, total bribery led to an increase in mistrust in medicine and more frequent calls for help to healers and homeopaths.
The psychology of pseudoscience is simple: if society has a demand for a miracle, then such a miracle will certainly appear for a certain price. However, from the rationalistic picture of the world, with which all pseudoscience persistently struggle, it follows that miracles do not exist. Numerology and phrenology could be considered only amusing oddities from the history of scientific knowledge, if interest in them were not fueled by people interested in this. Therefore, we must admit: the confrontation has just begun. And what pseudosciences have yet to appear - time will tell.