Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 09:21, 3 February 2008

Template:POV-title

This is a list of fields of endeavor and concepts regarded as pseudoscientific by organizations within the international scientific community, and/or notable skeptical organizations.

They may have explicitly called a field or concept "pseudoscience" or used synonyms, some of which are identified in the references section below. Also included are important concepts associated with the main entries, and concepts that, while notable and self-evidently pseudo-scientific, have not elicited commentary from mainstream scientific bodies or skeptical organizations. Notable parodies of pseudoscientific concepts are also included.

Some subjects in this list may be legitimate fields of research and/or have legitimate scientific research ongoing within them. For instance, while some proposed explanations for hypnosis are pseudoscientific, the phenomenon is generally accepted as real and there are scientific explanations for it as well.

Pseudoscientific concepts per scientific consensus

The following have broad consensus concerning their pseudoscientific status. Indicative of this are assertions by mainstream, specialized scientific bodies (e.g., a society of plasma physicists) or one or more national- or regional-level Academies of Science.

• Apollo moon landing hoax accusations made by a small number of people claiming that parts of the Apollo program were hoaxed and subsequently covered up. While many of the accusations are best categorized under conspiracy theories, some do attempt to use faulty science to prove that the moon landing couldn't have happened, qualifying them as pseudoscience.

• Astrology refers to any of several systems of understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge about reality and human existence, based on the relative positions and movement of various real and construed celestial bodies.
• Creation science is the belief that the origin of everything in the universe is the result of a first cause, brought about by a creator deity, and that this thesis is supported by geological, biological, and other scientific evidence.
  • Biblical scientific foreknowledge asserts that the Bible makes accurate statements about the world that science verifies thousands of years later.
  • Creation biology is the subset of creation science that tries to explain biology without evolution.
  • Creationist cosmologies are ones which, among other things, allow for a universe that is only thousands of years old.
  • Flood geology is the creationist form of geology that advocates most of the geologic features on Earth are explainable by a global flood.
  • Modern geocentrism, citing uniform gamma ray bursts distribution, and other arguments of this type, as evidence that we are at the center of the universe.
  • Intelligent design is a version of creation science stated in secular terms, viz. that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection."
    • Irreducible complexity is the claim that some systems are so complex that they cannot have evolved from simpler systems. It is used by proponents of intelligent design to argue that evolution by natural selection alone is incomplete or flawed, and that some additional mechanism (an "Intelligent Designer") is required to explain the origins of life.
    • Specified complexity is the claim that when something is simultaneously complex and specified, one can infer that it was produced by an intelligent cause (i.e., that it was designed) rather than being the result of natural processes.
• Crop circles are geometric designs of crushed or knocked-over crops created in a field. Aside from skilled farmers or pranksters working through the night, explanations for their formation include UFOs and anomalous, tornado-like air currents. The study of crop circles is termed "cerealogy" by proponents.
• Crystal healing is the belief that crystals have healing properties. Once common among pre-scientific and indigenous peoples, it has recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with the new age movement.
• The Face on Mars (in Cydonia Mensae) is a rock formation on Mars asserted to be evidence of intelligent, native life on the planet. High resolution images taken recently show it to appear less face-like. It features prominently in the pseudoscientific theories of Richard C. Hoagland.
• Erich Von Däniken's proposal of ancient astronauts.
• Dianetics is L. Ron Hubbard's pseudoscience that purports to treat a theoretical Reactive mind by means of an E-meter, a device which Hubbard was later legally forced to admit "does nothing".
• Dogon people and Sirius B a series of claims that the Dogon tribe knew about the white dwarf companion of Sirius despite it being invisible to the naked eye.
• Lunar effect is the belief that the full moon influences human behavior.
• Homeopathy is the belief in giving a patient with symptoms of an illness extremely dilute solutions of substances that produce those same symptoms in healthy people given larger doses. These preparations are often diluted beyond the point where any treatment molecule is likely to remain. Studies of homeopathic practice have been largely negative or inconclusive, though the question of efficacy is not entirely settled. No scientific basis for homeopathic principles has been substantiated.
• Paranormal subjects
  • Channeling is the communication of information to or through a person allegedly from a spirit or other paranormal entity.
  • Dowsing refers to practices said to enable one to detect hidden water, metals, gemstones or other objects.
  • Electronic voice phenomenon is the alleged communication by spirits through tape recorders and other electronic devices.
  • Extra-sensory perception is the paranormal ability (independent of the five main senses or deduction from previous experience) to acquire information by means such as telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, psychic abilities, and remote viewing.
  • Levitation, in this sense, is the act of rising up from the ground without any physical aids, usually by the power of thought.
  • Materialization is the supposed creation or appearance of matter from unknown sources.
  • Psychic surgery is a type of medical fraud, popular in Brazil and the Philippines. Practitioners use sleight of hand to make it appear as though they are reaching into a patients body and extracting "tumours".
  • Séances are ritualized attempts to communicate with the dead.
  • Psychokinesis is the paranormal ability of the mind to influence matter or energy at a distance.
  • Spiritualism was a religious movement which holds the belief that communication with the dead can occur through the powers of individuals called mediums.. The word spiritualism is also used generally to denote a wide range of paranormal activities and beliefs.
  • Therapeutic touch is a form of vitalism where a practitioner, who may be also a nurse, passes his or her hands over and around a patient to "realign" or "rebalance" a putative energy field. A recent Cochrane Review concluded that "here is no evidence that promotes healing of acute wounds." No biophysical basis for such an energy field has been found.
• Perpetual motion is a class of proposed machines that violate one of the Laws of Thermodynamics. Perpetual motion has been recognized as extrascientific since the late 18th century, but proposals and patents for such devices continue to be made to the present day.
  • Free energy is a particular class of perpetual motion which purports to create energy (violating the first law of thermodynamics) or extract useful work from equilibrium systems (violating the second law of thermodynamics). Of particular note are proposals involving the extraction of zero point energy, a real energy found in quantum mechanics that cannot be used to do work.
• Ufology is the study of unidentified flying objects (UFO) and frequently includes the belief that UFOs are evidence for extraterrestrial visitors.
  • Close encounters are events where persons witness UFOs, or purportedly meet and/or communicate with alien beings.
• Immanuel Velikovsky's proposals that ancient texts refer to the collision of astronomical bodies as in Worlds in Collision.

Topics which notable skeptical groups consider to be pseudoscientific

The following are subjects closely related to pseudoscience by notable skeptics or skeptical bodies such as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly CSICOP). Some of these items are not considered pseudoscientific by these commentators in and of themselves: only certain aspects, explanations, and/or applications of them have been thus classified. (See an item's description text for more information on this.)

Computer sciences

• Artificial intelligence is the attempt to enable machines, specifically computers, to think, or to simulate thinking closely enough that the result is indistinguishable from actual thought. Herbert Dreyfus has compared the field to alchemy in its lack of empirical basis and refusal to acknowledge fundamental differences between machines and human organisms.

Earth and Earth sciences

• The Bermuda Triangle is a region of the Atlantic Ocean that lies between Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and (in its most popular version) Florida. Frequent disappearances and ship and aircraft disasters in this area have led to the circulation of stories of unusual natural phenomona, paranormal encounters, and interactions with extraterrestrial.

Paranormal and Ufology

• Out-of-body experiences are experiences where a person seems to see the world from a location outside of the physical body. Qua experience, OBEs are real and theory-neutral, but some explanations invoke the paranormal.
• Pseudoarcheology is the investigation of the ancient past using alleged paranormal or otherwise means which have not been validated by mainstream science.
• Ancient astronauts are extraterrestrials said to have initiated the rise of human civilization or provided significant technological assistance to various ancient civilizations.
• Animal mutilations are cases of animals, primarily domestic livestock, with seemingly unexplainable wounds. These wounds have been said to be caused by natural predation, extra terrestrials, cults, or covert government organizations.
• Tutankhamun's curse was allegedly placed on the discoverers of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, causing widespread deaths and other disastrous events.
• Tunguska event is an anomalous meteor strike said to actually be the impact of a miniature black hole or a large body composed of antimatter, or Ball lightning.

Philosophy and psychology

• Handwriting analysis/graphology is the practice of gleaning information about a person's personality through examination of his or her handwriting.
• Multiple personality disorder, also called dissociative identity disorder. Multiple personality disorder is a mental condition characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personalities. The post-traumatic model of this disorder has been the target of numerous scientific critics but is still popular among many psychotherapists. The disorder itself is still included as a classification in the DSM-IV and ICD-10.
• Phrenology was the first theory to be characterized as pseudoscience in 1843. Phrenologists believed that the mind was compartmentalized, an idea featured in modern neuro-imaging technique (see also modularity of mind or faculty psychology). Phrenologists also claimed to determine character and personality traits on the basis of the shape of the head (reading "bumps").
• Subliminal perception is visual or auditory information that is discerned below the threshold of conscious awareness and has an effect on human behavior. It went into disrepute in the late 1970s but there has been renewed research interest recently.

Health and Medicine

• Anthroposophic medicine is a form of complementary medicine founded in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Dr. Ita Wegman. Adherents believe in a holistic and salutogenic approach to health. Skeptic Robert Carroll asserts the underlying thinking can be explained by sympathetic magic out of touch with conventional medicine. No thorough scientific analysis of anthroposophical medicine generally has been undertaken; studies of individual medicines have shown a range of positive and negative results. An "anthroposophic lifestyle" has been shown to reduce atopy.
• Applied kinesiology is a means of medical diagnosis which proponents believe can identify health problems or nutritional deficiencies through practitioner assessment of external physical qualities such as muscle response, posture, or motion analysis. A variety of therapies are prescribed based on weakness or smoothness of the tested muscle action, and the organ associated under the theory. The sole use of Applied Kinesiology to diagnose or treat any allergy or illness is not scientifically supported, and the International College of Applied Kinesiology requires concurrent use of standard diagnostic techniques. Applied kinesiologists are often chiropractors, but may also be physicians, dentists, nutritionists, physical therapists, massage therapists, and nurses. Applied Kinesiology should not be confused with kinesiology, the scientific study of human movement.
• Attachment therapy is a set of potentially fatal clinical interventions and parenting techniques aimed at controlling aggressive, disobedient, or unaffectionate children using "restraint and physical and psychological abuse to seek their desired results." Perhaps the most extreme is "rebirthing," in which the child is wrapped tightly in a blanket and then made to simulate emergence from a birth canal. This is done by encouraging the child to struggle and pushing and squeezing him/her to mimic contractions.
• The Bates method for better eyesight is an educational method developed by ophthalmologist William Bates, intended to improve vision "naturally" to the point at which it can allegedly eliminate the need for glasses by undoing a habitual strain to see. These claims are viewed with skepticism by ophthalmologists and optometrists, and in 1929 Bates was cited by the FTC for false or misleading advertising in connection with his book describing the method. Although many people claim to have improved their eyesight by following his principles, Bates' theories about vision continue to lack mainstream support.
• Chiropractors remain outside of the scientific method.
• Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) is a reported sensitivity to electric and magnetic fields or electromagnetic radiation of various frequencies at exposure levels well below established safety standards. Symptoms are inconsistent, but can include headache, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and similar non-specific indications. Provocation studies find that the discomfort of sufferers is unrelated to hidden sources of radiation, and "no scientific basis currently exists for a connection between EHS and exposure to ."
• Faith healing is the act of curing disease by such means as prayer and laying on of hands. No material benefit in excess of that expected by placebo is observed.
• Homeopathy (See above.)
• Hypnosis is an extremely relaxed state in which a person is unusually responsive to suggestions made by the hypnotist. While hypnosis in some sense is almost universally regarded as real, explanations of the phenomenon are split between whether hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness, or falls within conscious psychology. Certain applications of hypnosis in psychotherapy, such as smoking cessation and self-esteem improvement, currently lack robust empirical support. Evidence in support of hypnosis comes from hypnotic suggestion studies, neuroscientific data (eg. EEG), and from patients who have received surgery under hypnosis.. Some claimed uses of hypnosis outside of hypnotherapy clearly fall within the area of pseudo-science, such as using the hypnotic technique of regression beyond plausible limits; past life regression. Also see false memory syndrome.
• Iridology is a means of medical diagnosis which proponents believe can identify and diagnose health problems through close examination of the markings and patterns of the iris. Practitioners divide the iris into 80-90 zones, each of which is connected to a particular body region or organ. This connection has not been scientifically validated, and disorder detection is neither selective nor specific.
• Magnetic therapy is the practice of using magnetic fields to positively influence health. While there are legitimate medical uses for magnets and magnetic fields, the field strength used in magnetic therapy is too low to effect any biological change, and the methods used have no scientific validity.
• Scientific racism is the claim that scientific evidence shows the inferiority or superiority of certain races.

Religious and spiritual beliefs

Spiritual and religious practices and beliefs are normally not classified as pseudoscience. At least one prominent skeptical source relates the following to pseudoscience in some way, however:

• Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment and improve health and fortune. There is an article about Feng shui (with unknown content) in the Skeptic's Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience.
• Neoshamanism is a combination of shamanistic, new-age spiritual, and other philosophies which include belief in spirits, meditation and sometimes the use of entheogens. There is an article about neoshamanism (with unknown content) in the Skeptic's Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience.
• Reincarnation is the belief that souls inhabit a succession of physical bodies over the course of their existence. It is not usually believed that memories survive reincarnation, but some people have claimed to have remembered past lives, which can be scientifically studied. There is an article about reincarnation (with unknown content) in the Skeptic's Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience.
• The Shroud of Turin is a length of linen cloth believed by some members of the Christian community to have been Jesus' death shroud. Radiocarbon dating of the original material has shown that it dates from the 13th or 14th century, and analyses of the paint and the herringbone twill weave of the cloth similarly point to a medieval origin.

Other

• Laundry balls are spherical or toroidal objects marketed as soap substitutes for washing machines.
• Quantum mysticism is a variety of claims which borrow terms or ideas from Quantum mechanics to support New Age and pseudoscientific beliefs.
• Stock market prediction mostly involves a large range of technical analysis techniques that are of dubious scientific legitimacy.
• Synchronicity is a phenomenon described by psychologist Carl Jung as "temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events." The inability to test for it has marginalized its scientific importance.

Parody pseudoscience

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "List of topics characterized as pseudoscience" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The following are notable parodies of other pseudosciences and pseudoscientific concepts, or scientific jokes posing as serious theories.

• Intelligent falling is a parody of intelligent design which attacks gravitation in the same way intelligent design attacks origin theories.
• Dihydrogen monoxide hoax dhmo.org is a web site purporting to be set up by concerned citizens to examine "the controversy surrounding dihydrogen monoxide" including evidence of its environmental, health, and other problems. Dihydrogen Monoxide is H₂O (also known as water).

Idiosyncratic theories

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The following theories have only a very small number of proponents, yet have become notable.

• Autodynamics is a proposed alternative to special relativity proposed by Ricardo Carezani.
• Bogdanov Affair was an academic dispute regarding the legitimacy of a series of theoretical physics papers written by French twin brothers Igor and Grichka Bogdanov.
• Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe is a proposed theory of everything made by an autodidact with allegedly the world's highest IQ.
• Einstein-Cartan-Evans Theory is a proposed theory of everything made by a Welsh chemist, Myron Evans.
• Electrogravitics is based upon the original work of Nikola Tesla and advanced by Thomas Townsend Brown that attempts to connect gravity and electromagnetism.
• Hutchison effect is a proposed explanation for purported levitation caused by devices made by John Hutchison.
• Lawsonomy was a proposed philosophy and system of claims about physics made by baseball player Alfred William Lawson.
• Scalar field theories are a set of proposals that modify electromagnetic theory in various non-standard ways.
• Kauko Armas Nieminen is a self-published Finnish autodidact proposing various alternative physical theories.
• Nucleonic energy is a technological concept developed by Canadian autodidact and inventor Mel Winfield.
• Omega point is a set of ideas purporting to explain the origin of consciousness in the universe. Frank Tipler is perhaps its most notable proponent.
• Ousiograph is a device created by schizophrenic Steven Green to detect the messages that are sent to one's brain.
• Theory of radial momentum is a proposal by Ed Seykota, a commodities trader, which claims to clarify "problems" with the application of the Bernoulli principle.
• Time Cube is a proposed theory of everything which holds that time is cubic. Its creator, Gene Ray, finds those who are ignorant of or in disagreement with his theory to be "stupid and evil."
• Welteislehre is a notion by the Austrian Hans Hörbiger that ice was the basic substance of all cosmic processes.

Unusual natural phenomena

Certain unusual natural phenomena have previously been considered pseudoscientific by skeptics but are no longer doubted by modern science:

• Meteorites are stones or iron that fall from space onto the surface of the Earth. This was contested by skeptical scientists in the 18th century, especially those of the French Academy. Ernst Chladni demonstrated their celestial origin in 1794, and a substantial fall of meteorites in France in 1803 dispersed the skepticism.
• Ball lightning is a slow-moving, luminous sphere which is up to 30cm in diameter, explanations for which have ranged from combusted hydrocarbon gas to "Will o' the wisp" creatures. The phenomenon is now better understood and contemporary scientific consensus clearly accepts the existence of a phenomenon which mimics some reports of ball lightning, but is on a much smaller scale.

See also

• Anomalous phenomenon
• Crank (referencing a disagreeable person)
• Falsification
• List of minority-opinion scientific theories
• List of protosciences
• Occam's razor
• Paradigm
• Paradigm shift
• Pathological science
• Philosophy of science
• Protoscience
• Pseudoscience
• Pseudoskepticism
• Pseudophilosophy
• Science
• Scientific consensus (describes the majority views of scientists)
• Superseded scientific theory

Further reading

• Abell, George O. and Barry Singer, Science and the Paranormal: Probing the Existence of the Supernatural, Charles Scribner's, 1981, ISBN 0-684-17820-6
• Collins, Paul S. (2002) Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the World. Picador. ISBN 0-312-30033-6
• Gardner, Martin, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science
• Gardner, Martin, Science, Good, Bad, and Bogus
• Randi, James, Flim-Flam: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and other Delusions, Prometheus, 1982, ISBN 0-87975-198-3
• Sagan, Carl, The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark. Ballantine Books, March 1997 ISBN 0-345-40946-9, 480 pgs. 1996 hardback edition: Random House, ISBN 0-394-53512-X, xv+457 pages plus addenda insert (some printings).
• Schick, Theodore and Lewis Vaughn. (1998) How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age. Mayfield. ISBN 0-7674-0013-5
• Shermer, Michael. (2002) Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. Owl Books. ISBN 0-8050-7089-3

Notes and references

1. ^ article on the website of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
2. Knier, Gil (2001-03-30). "The Moon Landing Hoax". NASA. Retrieved 2007-12-02. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) "Did we actually send humans to the Moon in the 1960's? Of course we did!"
3. "The Universe At Your Fingertips Activity: Activities With Astrology". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Retrieved 2007-12-03. "These activities help students to understand the difference between science and pseudoscience by investigating some of astrology's claims."
4. ^ statement from the California Academy of Sciences.
5. ^ statement from the Iowa Academy of Science.
6. ^ statement from the Russian Academy of Sciences.
7. National Science Board (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 978-0160665790. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Belief in pseudoscience is relatively widespread... More than 25 percent of the public believes in astrology, that is, that the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives."
8. ^ statement from the International Council for Science.
9. Ruling, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Conclusion "In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents."
10. Discovery Institute, Center for Science and Culture. Questions about Intelligent Design: What is the theory of intelligent design? "The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." Questions About Intelligent Design
11. "They call it cerealogy", CNN.com
12. Campion, Edward (1993). "Why Unconventional Medicine". New England Journal of Medicine.
13. Carroll, Robert Todd. "crystal power". The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
14. Stephen S. Carey. A Beginner's Guide to Scientific Method. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN 0-534-58450-0.
15. Christopher Riche Evans (1974). Cults of Unreason. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-13324-7. Chapter 6.
16. Russell Miller. Bare-faced messiah: The true story of L. Ron Hubbard. Key Porter.
17. Dr. Peter Banys in the SF Chronicle
18. defined as pseudoscience at Skeptic's Dictionary
19. "Dianetics, that unholy alliance of psychoanalysis and cybernetics, rates a special chapter." - Some Comments on Popular-Science Books, John Pfeiffer, Science (New Series), Vol. 117, No. 3042 (Apr., 1953), pp. 399-403, referencing Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science by Martin Gardner
20. Goldacre, Ben (2007-11-17). "Benefits and Risks of Homoeopathy". The Lancet. 370: 1672. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61706-1. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Five large meta-analyses of homoeopathy trials have been done. All have had the same result: after excluding methodologically inadequate trials and accounting for publication bias, homoeopathy produced no statistically significant benefit over placebo."
21. "Homoeopathy's benefit questioned". BBC News. 2005-08-25. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Professor Egger said: "We acknowledge to prove a negative is impossible. "But good large studies of homeopathy do not show a difference between the placebo and the homoeopathic remedy, whereas in the case of conventional medicines you still see an effect.""
22. "Homeopathy: systematic review of systematic reviews". Bandolier. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "None of these systematic reviews provided any convincing evidence that homeopathy was effective for any condition. The lesson was often that the best designed trials had the most negative result"
23. "Questions and Answers About Homeopathty". National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2003-04. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) "In sum, systematic reviews have not found homeopathy to be a definitively proven treatment for any medical condition."
24. CSICOP, cited in National Science Board Subcommittee on Science & Engineering Indicators (2000). "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding Science Fiction and Pseudoscience". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
25. "NCAHF Position Paper on Homeopathy". National Council Against Health Fraud. 1994. Retrieved 2007-07-14.
26. ^ Beyerstein, BL (1997). "Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-07-14.
27. Tyler, Chris (2006-09). "Sense About Homeopathy" (PDF). Sense About Science. Retrieved 2008-01-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) "The scientific evidence shows that homeopathy acts only as a placebo and there is no scientific explanation of how it could work any other way."
28. "Questions and Answers About Homeopathty". National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2003-04. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) "a number of its key concepts do not follow the laws of science (particularly chemistry and physics)."
29. "What is Homeopathy". American Cancer Society. 2000-01-05. Retrieved 2008-01-30. "Most scientists say homeopathic remedies are basically water and can act only as placebos."
30. "In a statement, the Royal College of Pathologists said they were "deeply alarmed" that the regulation of medicine had "moved away from science and clear information for the public"."Scientists attack homeopathy move, BBC News, 25 October 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
32. Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding - Science Fiction and Pseudoscience
33. ^ Scientific American
34. http://parapsych.org/glossary_e_k.html#e Parapsychological Association website, Glossary of Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology, Retrieved January 24, 2006
35. Alcock, James E. "Electronic Voice Phenomena:Voices of the Dead?". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
36. ^ Carroll, Robert Todd, The Skeptic's Dictionary 2003, Wiley Publishing Company, ISBN 0471272426
37. Shermer, Michael (2005). "Turn Me On, Dead Man". Scientific American. Retrieved 2007-02-28. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
38. Terrence Hines, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the Evidence, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY, 1988. ISBN 0-87975-419-2.Thagard (1978) op cit 223 ff
39. Parapsychological Association website, Glossary of Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology, Retrieved December 24, 2006
40. "extrasensory perception" Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
41. Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding - Science Fiction and Pseudoscience
42. National Science Board (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 978-0160665790. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Belief in pseudoscience is relatively widespread... At least half of the public believes in the existence of extrasensory perception (ESP)."
43. Randi, James (1989). The Faith Healers. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-535-0.
44. David Vernon in Skeptical - a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, ed Donald Laycock, David Vernon, Colin Groves, Simon Brown, Imagecraft, Canberra, 1989, ISBN 0731657942, p47
45. ""Psychic surgery" -- 40 (3): 184 -- CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians". Retrieved 2007-07-28.
46. Carroll, Robert Todd. "Psychic Surgery". The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
47. "Psychic surgeon charged". The Filipino Reporter. June 17–23, 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
48. ^ entry in The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience.
49. National Science Board (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 978-0160665790. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Surveys administered periodically even show increasing belief in pseudoscience... Belief in four of the phenomena, haunted houses, ghosts, communication with the dead, and witches, had double-digit percentage point increases."
50. Wallace, Sampson (1998-03-24). ""Therapeutic Touch" Fails a Rare Scientific Test". CSICOP News. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-12-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) "Despite this lack of evidence, TT is now supported by major nursing organizations such as the National League of Nurses and the American Nurses Association."
51. O'Mathuna, DP (2003/2006). "Therapeutic touch for healing acute wounds". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2003 (4): CD002766. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD002766. Retrieved 2008-01-27. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
52. Courcey, Kevin. "Further Notes on Therapeutic Touch". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-12-05. "What's missing from all of this, of course, is any statement by Krieger and her disciples about how the existence of their energy field can be demonstrated by scientifically accepted methods."
53. "Energy Medicine: An Overview". National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2007-12-05. "neither the external energy fields nor their therapeutic effects have been demonstrated convincingly by any biophysical means."
54. National Science Board (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 978-0160665790. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Belief in pseudoscience is relatively widespread... A sizable minority of the public believes in UFOs and that aliens have landed on Earth."
55. Herbert Dreyfus, "Alchemy and Artificial Intelligence", The Rand Corporation, Dec. 1965, pp. 84-5
56. Hubert Dreyfus, What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason, MIT Press, 1992. ISBN 0-262-04134-0. pp. 303-5
57. Trefil, James (2007-03). "Who Were the Ancient Engineers of Egypt?". Skeptical Briefs. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) "the pyramids, as impressive as they are, give no evidence at all for the presence of advanced technology at work in ancient Egypt."
58. Loftus, Elizabeth & Katherine Ketcham (1996). The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse. St. Martin's Griffin; 1st St. Martin's Griffin Ed edition. ISBN 0-312-14123-8 Amazon.com
59. Spanos, Nicholas P. (2001). Multiple Identities & False Memories: A Sociocognitive Perspective. American Psychological Association (APA). ISBN 1-55798-893-5 Amazon.com
60. Magendie, F (1843) An Elementary Treatise on Human Physiology. 5th Ed. Tr. John Revere. New York: Harper, p 150. Magendie refers to phrenology as "a pseudo-science of the present day" (note the hyphen).
61. Fodor, JA. (1983) The Modularity of Mind. MIT Press. p.14, 23, 131
62. "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Business (Subliminal Advertising)". The Urban Legends Reference Pages. Retrieved 2006-08-11.
63. For example, processing of happy and sad faces affecting the desirability of subsequent stimulus (Westen, 2006 p.184-185).
64. ^ Westen et al. 2006 "Psychology: Austraian and New Zealand edition" John Wiley.
65. von Rohr et al., [http://www.smw.ch/docs/pdf/2000_34/2000-34-245.PDF "Experiences in the realisation of a research project on anthroposophical medicine in patients with advanced cancer"], Schweiz Med Wochenschr 2000;130:1173–84
66. Ernst, Edzard, "Anthroposophical Medicine: A systematic review of randomised clinical trials." Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift, ISSN 0043-5325, 2004, vol. 116, no4, pp. 128-130
67. Alm, J. S., Swartz, J., Lilja, G., Scheynius, A., and Pershagen, G. (1999). Atopy in children of families with an anthroposophic lifestyle. Lancet, 353(9163):1485-8. PMID 10232315 Reprint copy
68. "Report of the Special Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medical Practitioners, In Opposition to the Licensure of Naturopaths" (PDF). Massachusetts Medical Society. Retrieved 2008-01-27. "Many of the means by which naturopaths diagnose these toxins and allergies are outright quackery: electrodiagnostic devices (banned by the FDA as worthless), hair analysis, applied kinesiology, iridology, and more."
69. "Applied Kinesiology". American Cancer Society. 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2008-01-27. "Available scientific evidence does not support the claim that applied kinesiology can diagnose or treat cancer or other illness."
70. "Applied Kinesiology". Natural Standard. 2005-07-01. Retrieved 2008-01-27. "applied kinesiology has not been shown to be effective for the diagnosis or treatment of any disease."
71. "Applied Kinesiology Status Statement". International College of Applied Kinesiology. 1992-06-16. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
72. Applied Kinesiology, American Cancer Society, May 23, 2007. available online
73. Randi, James (2004-07-16 "This is a total quack procedure that has actually killed children."). "Swift: Online Newsletter of the JREF". Retrieved 2007-11-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
74. Maloney, Shannon-Bridget. "Be Wary of Attachment Therapy". Retrieved 2007-11-17.
75. Quackenbush, Thomas R. (2000). Better Eyesight The complete magazines of William H. Bates. North Atlantic Books. pp. page 643. ISBN 1-55643-351-4. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
76. Worrall, Russell S. (2007-09-12 "The claims Bates made in advertising his book were so dubious that in 1929 the Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint against him for advertising "falsely or misleadingly.""). "Eye-Related Quackery". Retrieved 2007-11-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
77. http://www.visionsofjoy.org/testimonials.htm
78. Robyn E. Bradley (September 23, 2003). "ADVOCATES SEE ONLY BENEFITS FROM EYE EXERCISES" (PDF). The Boston Globe (MA).
79. Marg, E. (1952). ""Flashes" of clear vision and negative accommodation with reference to the Bates Method of visual training" (PDF). Am J Opt Arch Am Ac Opt. 29 (4): 167–84.
80. Randi, James (2006-11-11 "This is pure old quackery, it’s wishful thinking, and it’s profitable."). "Swift: the weekly newsletter of the JREF". Retrieved 2007-11-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
81. Chiropractic: Flagship of the Alternative Medicine Fleet, Part One and Part Two - by Steven Novella MD, and President of the New England Skeptical Society
82. Roosli, Martin (February 2004). "Symptoms of ill health ascribed to electromagnetic field exposure--a questionnaire survey". Int J Hyg Environ Health. 207 (2): 141–50. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
83. Rubin, G James (2005). "Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity: A Systematic Review of Provocation Studies". Psychosomatic Medicine. 67: 224–232. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
84. Goldacre, Ben. "Electrosensitives: the new cash cow of the woo industry". Retrieved 2007-11-17.
85. "Electromagnetic fields and public health". Retrieved 2007-11-17.
86. National Science Board (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 978-0160665790. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Belief in pseudoscience is relatively widespread... Polls also show that one quarter to more than half of the public believes in ... faith healing."
87. Frazier, Kendrick (2005-01). "In the Land of Galileo, Fifth World Skeptics Congress Solves Mysteries, Champions Scientific Outlook". Skeptical Inquirer. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) "The majority of rigorous trials show no effect beyond placebo." (Edzard Ernst)
88. "Iridology". Natural Standard. 2005-07-07. Retrieved 2008-02-01. "Research suggests that iridology is not an effective method to diagnose or help treat any specific medical condition."
89. Ernst E. Iridology: not useful and potentially harmful. Arch. Ophthalmol. 2000 Jan;118(1):120-1. PMID 10636425
90. "H-175.998 Evaluation of Iridology". American Medical Association. Retrieved 2008-02-01. "Our AMA believes that iridology, the study of the iris of the human eye, has not yet been established as having any merit as a diagnostic technique."
91. Park, Robert L. (2000). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 58–63. ISBN 0-19-513515-6 "Not only are magnetic fields of no value in healing, you might characterize these as "homeopathic" magnetic fields.". {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
92. National Science Board (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN 978-0160665790. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Among all who had heard of , 14 percent said it was very scientific and another 54 percent said it was sort of scientific. Only 25 percent of those surveyed answered correctly, that is, that it is not at all scientific."
93. Gould, Stephen Jay (1981). The Mismeasure of Man. New York, NY: W W Norton and Co. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-393-01489-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within."
94. Kurtz, Paul (2004-09). "Can the Sciences Help Us to Make Wise Ethical Judgments?". Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) "There have been abundant illustrations of pseudoscientific theories-monocausal theories of human behavior that were hailed as "scientific"-that have been applied with disastrous results. Examples: ... Many racists today point to IQ to justify a menial role for blacks in society and their opposition to affirmative action."
95. Carl Sagan, "Does Truth Matter? Science, Pseudoscience, and Civilization", Skeptical Inquirer, 1996
96. Damon, P. E. (1989-02). "Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin". Nature. 337 (6208): 611–615. doi:10.1038/337611a0. Retrieved 2007-11-18. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
97. Nickell, Joe "the scientific approach allows the preponderance of evidence to lead to a conclusion: the shroud is the work of a medieval artisan". "PBS "Secrets of the Dead" Buries the Truth About Turin Shroud". Retrieved 2007-11-18.
98. Ray, Gene. Time Cube. 12 Mar. 2007
99. William F. Williams, Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, ISBN 0-8160-5080-5, p. 215
100. NIH discussion
101. New Scientist
102. Abrahamson J, Dinniss J., "Ball lightning caused by oxidation of nanoparticle networks from normal lightning strikes on soil", Nature. 2000 Feb 3;403(6769):519-21.

• Fringe science
• Paranormal
• Pseudoscience
• Scientific skepticism