Pseudoscience

What is Pseudoscience?

A common fallacy in exploring new ideas in the scientific field has to do with experimentation - when we experiment, who performs the experiment, and whether we are actually at the point where experimentation is feasible. Sometimes it's difficult to see the difference between the units of the scientific method because the same words used to describe it are used in everyday conversation but with different meaning. For example, a hypothesis and a theory are different stages of the scientific method and have entirely different qualifications, yet in everyday conversation, the words are interchangable.

Applying the scientific method to the paranormal can be hard to do since sometimes we are prone to believe that our own evidence (I saw it with my own eyes!) is enough to end the debate, at least for ourselves. However, many groups in the past from the Egyptians to the Greeks to the Mayans based beliefs strictly on observation, and were proven wrong by future societies who either had different observations or new tools to observe (like microscopes, telescopes, or X-ray machines).

It is true that supposed "laws of nature" change. Though it would seem that this means science is just as fallible as belief, in truth we are just always growing in our capabilities - scientifically and observationally - and have to revise our truths based on that. It does not mean that the original law was unfounded, only that its application is not universal. One example of this can be found in Newton's Laws of Motion. These laws work for nearly every possible practical problem we may need to solve - unless the motion of the bodies in question is at or near light speed. These laws were not revised to reflect that change until hundreds of years after Newton had first published them, and his laws are still taught in Physics classrooms everywhere.

The scientific method may seem like the driest information in the world, but really, it is intended to be. Before the scientific method was developed as guidelines for scienfitic belief, you could skip stages like testing out a theory or rely on random chance for results or base your findings on one incident rather than many.

The scientific method contains these elements:

1. Observation

In paranormal phenomena, we might have sightings of shadowy figures and unexplainable temperature drops in the "observation" category. These are observable phenomena, and we must throw out any personal information about the experience that is not observable, like a sense of impending doom. While this can certainly sway the way we would view our own experience, it is invalid unless accompanied by externally observable indications such as heart rate, breathing, or perspiration. Even then, since these are indications of fear, the data is not evidence of a paranormal experience since the cause cannot be absolutely determined. It cannot be shown whether spirits, because of their nature, trigger a fear response or if the human body reacts with a fear response due to unknown variables.

2. Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an idea given to explain observations. My original observation was shadowy figures and temperature drops. My hypothesis would then make a conclusion that could potentially explain the observations. In this case, it is that the shadowy figures are ghosts, and that ghosts drop the temperature of a room. Unfortunately, this explanation covers a lot of different variables. An experiment is a better indicator of fact if it isolates one particular variable. "Cold spots" in a room could be caused by a number of different things other than spirits, and shadowy figures are not necessarily spirits, but we have developed a "causal relationship" between the two. ie: The shadowy figures are spirits. They cause the cold spots. There are serious problems with developing causal relationships without much more than two occurences that happen to be simultaneous. For example, a satirical group that promotes scientific thinking and is against teaching Intelligent Design in schools called "The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" has stated that the deity of their religion - The Flying Spaghetti Monster - has observable proofs of his existence in the form of a causal relationship. Pirates are the "chosen ones" of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. As the number of pirates in the world has decreased, global warming has increased, reflecting the Flying Spaghetti Monster's unhappiness. Clearly there is no relationship between pirates and global warming, but viewing the evidence in a certain light can give the impression that there is.

3. Theory

A theory is not just an idea. A theory should be able to predict future events. So, if I use my hypothesis that shadowy figures are spirits and cause temperature drops, then I should be able to say that in the presence of a spirit, there will always be a room temperature drop. Note the word "always". In the same way that if you gather a large group of human beings into a small room there will always be a temperature increase due to body heat, a spirit, if it ever causes a temperature drop, should do so always. If they do not, then I need to start over with a new hypothesis, because mine has been proven false.

4. Experiment

Experimentation on spirits is impossible because spirits have never made it past "hypothesis" in the scientific realm. In order to conduct my experiment on the causal relationship between spirits and temperature drops, I would first have to introduce a spirit into a room with a thermometer. The experiment cannot, at least at this point, be conducted. This is the problem with paranormal investigation. They work off the assumption that ghosts and psychics are proven phenomenon. They are not. Never before has there been indisputable evidence that there are psychics or ghosts.

None of the equipment used in paranormal investigation has ever been proven to have the ability to gauge spirit activity. Finding readings on any of these instruments means nothing since I was never able to prove that a spirit affects a thermometer. The original question is still in place - Do ghosts exist? And while we may wish to answer that for ourselves based on our experiences, and our beliefs, that is not good science. As we have discovered in other essays on this site, the mind is not infallible in its observations. Scientific data is not needed to prove the existence of a paranormal realm just to skeptics, but to everyone.

Using instruments with implied correlation to paranormal encounters cannot prove the paranormal because the correlation itself has never been proven to exist. This is why paranormal activity falls under the category of pseudoscience - hardly any phenomenon has the possibility of being tested, and the ones that have have failed. Parts of the scientific method are used in paranormal research, but parts are ignored. And, amazingly, claims are made that are viewed as truths without any proof of any type of relationship.

Examples:

Poltergeist activity is actually just latent psi power of a disturbed teenager.

Truth: There has never been a proven case of poltergeist activity, whether it has its roots in psi power or anywhere else.

Ghosts drop temperatures because they absorb thermal energy when they appear.

Truth: Ghosts have never been proven to exist, let alone drop the temperature of a room.

True orbs are balls of energy.

Truth: An orb has never been captured or studied, so if they exist, it is unknown what material they would be made of.

It is dangerous to use a Ouija Board by yourself.

Truth: Ouija boards operate through the Ideomotor Effect and have never been proven capable of doing anything, especially not opening doors to the spirit world.

Ghosts often attach themselves to individual people.

Truth: While paranormal phenomena may be more likely to "occur" around one person over and over again, it is more likely that this is because of their personal beliefs than the beliefs of any deceased individual.

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