PSEUDO-SCIENCE 101 |
This column doesn’t understand why pseudo-science has such a bad reputation when so many people use it. It’s much easier to establish a new theory when you aren’t restricted by old-fashioned arbitrary conventions laid down by a bunch of hide-bound academicians. Some of the greatest advances in current thinking wouldn’t have taken place if our new age thinkers had let themselves be restricted by the old rules.
The old scientific method involves the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis, and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis.
Even a single exception is enough to disprove a whole theory. But if the theory happens to be true, neither experimental confirmation nor mathematical demonstration can prove that it will always hold. The fact that "dropped apples invariably fall" does not imply that they will always fall.
The freedom of pseudo-science from this kind of straight-jacket thinking is one of its most important features. It permits use of the powerful methodologies of proof by example, by correlation and by anecdotal evidence. In some cases, a random sample of one is sufficient to prove a hypothesis. The new approach has been responsible for some of the major advances in modern science.
Correlation techniques and statistical studies are especially useful in sociology and community health studies. If multiple events or phenomena always take place at the same time, there is a distinct possibility that there may be a cause-and-effect relationship. An anti-drug group conducted a study of crime caused by drug use in a medium-size midwestern city over a ten year period. They found that drug use increased by 65% over that time, and that crime also increased by 65%. Fortunately, this did not affect the growth of the city, whose population was able to grow by 65% in the same ten years.
Correlation has also helped community activists show that diseases occur in neighborhoods near high-voltage electrical transmission lines. If a number of people living near a power line develop cancer, that can be taken as proof that the electromagnetic field from the power line causes cancer. It renders unnecessary the difficult and restrictive old-fashioned scientific method, which would have required subjecting laboratory animals to strong electric and magnetic fields, and studying the diseases produced in the animals. The Food and Drug Administration goes by the old rules in approving new medications, and everybody knows how time-consuming and expensive that process is.
Alternative medicine is one of the fields that have derived major benefit from the introduction of pseudo-science. The new thinking has been responsible for the development of such disciplines as aromatherapy, applied kinesiology, reflexology and numerous other new methods of treatment of physical and mental dysfunctions. We would not otherwise have the benefits of acupuncture, therapeutic magnets or homeopathic remedies.
Today’s multi-billion dollar health food and nutritional supplement industry could not exist if it were not permitted to use anecdotal evidence to demonstrate the benefits derived from the consumption of these products. Here, again, it would be impractical to have to conduct long-time studies with control groups, then to measure the resulting beneficial effects. Testimonials from people who were helped are certainly sufficient evidence to demonstrate the value of improved nutrition.
Archaeology and the study of human origins and civilization have benefited from the use of pseudo-scientific techniques. By studying the writings, legends and artifacts of ancient cultures, researchers have found astonishing documentary evidence of Earth’s origins and Man’s celestial ancestors. Analysis of scriptures and ancient texts provides indisputable documentary proof of the extraterrestrial gods who changed the course of human development. Startling evidence has been unearthed, challenging established notions of the origins of Earth and life on it, and suggests the existence of a superior race of beings who once inhabited our world. There is a remarkable correlation between the events that shaped our civilization in millennia past – pinpointing with astonishing accuracy the beginning of time as we know it, and revealing the indisputable signature of extraterrestrial gods indelibly written in stone.
The study of psychic phenomena has also benefited from the use of pseudo-scientific techniques. Anecdotal evidence from people who have experienced psychic occurrences has gone a long way toward demonstrating their validity. Even on an individual basis, almost everyone has had a personal experience which attests to the existence of precognition or extra-sensory perception.
It’s hard to understand how our civilization has come as far as it has under a system so restrictive on innovative thought as the old scientific method.