Pseudo-Science, its Types and the Difference Between it and Real Science

Recently, many courses have spread inviting people to participate on the basis of teaching them some special skills, such as Neuro Linguistic Programming, which works, as it claims, to study the behavior and personality of the individual and control them by dealing with them as their personality, or horoscopes that spread daily in newspapers, magazines, on networks, and TV, and other myths that claim human development, magic and astrology, are all classified under the so-called pseudoscience. So, in this article, we will learn about it and the difference between it and real science, so follow us.

Pseudoscience:

The concept of Pseudoscience is defined as the education and application of some methods and rules that claim to be based on real scientific laws and knowledge, but it does not carry any scientific evidence and proofs to prove their validity. It is based on gossip. Someone came out declaring false information and allegations and said that they are scientific facts and others have adopted and believed them.

These practices began with the beginning of real science, and man became clear what the truth is proven by experiments, rules, pseudoscience, and wrong practices that indicate ignorance and do not give any result. The strange thing is that despite the great development that we have witnessed and are still witnessing, pseudoscience is still practiced and adopted by many. Moreover, it develops and becomes more complex day by day.

The term pseudoscience was first used by historian James Andrew in 1796, when he said about alchemy that it is a pseudoscience, and then this term was popularized in the eighties of the nineteenth century when scientists began using it to refer to false methods and cultures that attract people to practice it as a scientific method, and it has nothing to do with science and reality.

Types of Pseudoscience:

There are many pseudosciences and convictions held by many people, and we will get acquainted with some of them in the following:

1. Flat Earth Theory:

Despite the development of science and human access to space and our ability to see the planets for what they are from our place, there are still many people who doubt the sphericity of the Earth and adopt the idea of ​​a flat Earth, and they debate and confront scientists and accuse them of not having enough evidence.

2. Astrology and astrological signs:

The heresy of the age and previous eras is the claim of being able to know the unseen and the future through the movement of stars and planets in orbits, and that it has effects when moving in the personality, psyche, livelihood, luck, and other myths that have no validity and any scientific basis.

3. Homeopathy:

This type of pseudoscience falls under the category of alternative medicine, and it claims to be homeopathic. It states that drinking a very small percentage of poison, for example, has a role in the prevention and treatment of poisoning cases, or taking a specific drug in a small amount to prevent and protect against specific diseases. That is, we are self-healing through invisible energy in the human body.

These practices appeared at the hands of a German doctor named "Samuel Hahnemann" nearly 200 years ago. He claimed that ingesting a toxin in small quantities would cause recovery from the disease it caused. For example, a person who is allergic to pistachio eats very small amounts of it periodically until they become insensitive to it, and these are wrong and false practices and cause many serious health problems.

4. Acupuncture:

These are also pseudoscience practices, and they have no scientific basis. Their principle is to prick separate and specific areas of the body with very fine needles that stimulate the energy points "chakra" found in the body. Scientists and doctors are certain that this belief has no basis.

5. Energy therapy:

It is a pseudoscience that claims that man is composed of energy and a

body, and contains within it nine sources of energy. Each source has a color and function, and it is called "chakra", which controls a person’s psychological and health condition. Experts in this pseudoscience say that psychological reactions such as sadness, anxiety, or fear are all caused by an imbalance in one of the sources of “chakra”, and the strange thing is that people pay huge amounts of money to get energy therapy sessions although they have no result to mention and are all heresies and fraud.

6. Semantic Graphology:

It is a pseudoscience through which it is believed that the expert in it can determine the personality of the writer and their psychological state from the style and method of writing their handwriting, and this belief is wrong. Many of the plaintiffs failed to predict and know people’s characters from the way their hands write, and it is worth noting that semantic graphology is completely different from linear analysis in forensic medicine that analyzes letters and the method of writing to find out their owner.

There are many other pseudosciences that claim to be sciences that have scientific foundations, but they do not have that and do not have any credibility to mention.

Real Science and its Types:

Real science: It is a set of practices, systematic methods, rules, and laws proven by experience. 

It has an organized, measurable, and testable knowledge structure, the study and analysis of data, the development of hypotheses and theories and their proof to reach knowledge and verify its validity.

Real knowledge is divided into three types:

1. Natural sciences:

It is the science that studies nature and the world around us in all its details, and it is physics, biology and chemistry.

2. Social Sciences:

It is the science that studies human beings, their lives, their social relations, their history, and their work, such as history, sociology, psychology, economics, and others.

3. Formal Science: 

The types of science that come from experiments, which develop with the progress of time, the development of ideas, and the success of successive experiments, such as mathematics, communications, informatics, and engineering of all kinds.

Characteristics of Real Science:

Here are the characteristics of real science:

1. It can be measured, proven, tested, and corrected through experiment and modification.
2. It has physical evidence proving its existence, as well as the various physicochemical evidence around us.
3. It has the ability to repeat its experiences and develop them.
4. In real science, any hypothesis that cannot be proven or is not supported by any scientific basis is ignored, and any scientific theory that is not based on experiment is invalid.
5. The objective truth resulting from experiments, evidence, progress, and scientific foundations is the truth of science because in real science, the absolute truth does not exist.
6. It is interested in what is present and within reach, and searches for material things in the universe around us, and it is not interested in imagination and metaphysical assumptions.

The difference between Pseudoscience and Real Science:

There are many differences between pseudoscience and real science, and here are some of them:

1. Pseudoscience is based on riddles, and it is assumed that these riddles do not have any solution, while real science is based on finding solutions to all puzzles by experience and thinking.
2. Pseudo-science cites myths, legends, and imaginations, while real science cites the history that accompanies documented and proven experiences, laws, and ideas.
3. Pseudo-science follows an unreliable and systematic approach to presenting its evidence, and does not have a convincing argument to prove its validity, while documented and systematic evidence and proofs are the cornerstone that accompanies real science.
4. Pseudo-science possesses hypotheses that cannot be disputed and refuted as if they are accepted facts and this is wrong; Because in real science, any hypothesis must be tried to prove and conduct experiments on it, and if it is not proven, it is rejected.
5. Pseudoscience builds deep foundations on false analogies. If your phone number is like your ID number, then the pseudoscience tells you that this is a great matter and that you have luck and other things. However, with some thinking, we conclude that it is not true and that this and other similarities happened by chance. As for real science, it links the similarities in scientific issues on high standards and laws that are verified, and it links them using thinking, reason, and experience, not using intuition only.
6. False science is not subject to review, measurement, and verification, while real science is always subject to review, continuous correction, measurement, and experiment.

There are also other differences between pseudoscience and real science.

Sayings about science:

1. Knowledge in childhood is like engraving on a stone.
2. Science is a medicine for the poison of superstition.
3. Where ignorance is bliss, it is foolish to be wise.
4. Knowledge is good, and ignorance is evil.

In conclusion:

It is worth being wary of these sciences because they waste time and money, and some of them are also dangerous to health. Therefore, search for correct science and refute myths and legends, and stay away from those who encourage them because they are a danger to people and society. George Bernard Shaw said: “Pseudo-science is more dangerous than ignorance.”