I don't really care about what people believe in, but what I do care about (and don't like about pseudoscience practices) is:
- the dilution/dismissal of scientific discourse
- the real world consequences
The discourse is schematically as follows:
- (scientist) "Foo" is true within 5 sigmas under this overwhelmingly frequent hypothesis.
- (pseudoscientist) So this is not 100%, so this may be wrong and there's room for any other explanation! Also, Newton was wrong! So scientists can be wrong, ergo you're probably wrong too! Even Einstein is probably wrong, scientists are not sure! Ergo your scientific argument (and preemptively any other) argument is dismissed! Since you can't prove me wrong I may just as well be right! Science is a cult! Maths are not real! Mathematical logic doesn't apply to the real world! Contraposition is loads of poppycock therefore in the real world if A=>B then B=>A and correlation implies causation!
A couple of acquaintances of mine are Reiki advocates. One of them has torn her knee ligaments, and refuses to be subject to surgery, instead focusing on binding them again using mind only, in spite of being regularly in pain, and doctors saying it'll only get worse with time. I can only let you imagine the discourse, acts, and consequences about global warming ("Earth is a living being and will heal itself"), I can only let you imagine the discourse, acts, and consequences about the COVID situation ("let me align your aura and it'll help you not getting sick"). I can only let you imagine the discourse, acts, and consequences on close people that got cancer.
I can respect everyone having their own beliefs, but there is a line that makes me downright unhinged.
I don't really care about what people believe in, but what I do care about (and don't like about pseudoscience practices) is:
- the dilution/dismissal of scientific discourse
- the real world consequences
The discourse is schematically as follows:
- (scientist) "Foo" is true within 5 sigmas under this overwhelmingly frequent hypothesis.
- (pseudoscientist) So this is not 100%, so this may be wrong and there's room for any other explanation! Also, Newton was wrong! So scientists can be wrong, ergo you're probably wrong too! Even Einstein is probably wrong, scientists are not sure! Ergo your scientific argument (and preemptively any other) argument is dismissed! Since you can't prove me wrong I may just as well be right! Science is a cult! Maths are not real! Mathematical logic doesn't apply to the real world! Contraposition is loads of poppycock therefore in the real world if A=>B then B=>A and correlation implies causation!
A couple of acquaintances of mine are Reiki advocates. One of them has torn her knee ligaments, and refuses to be subject to surgery, instead focusing on binding them again using mind only, in spite of being regularly in pain, and doctors saying it'll only get worse with time. I can only let you imagine the discourse, acts, and consequences about global warming ("Earth is a living being and will heal itself"), I can only let you imagine the discourse, acts, and consequences about the COVID situation ("let me align your aura and it'll help you not getting sick"). I can only let you imagine the discourse, acts, and consequences on close people that got cancer.
I can respect everyone having their own beliefs, but there is a line that makes me downright unhinged.