First, what is pseudoscience? Pseudoscience: a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific methodology, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status. Pseudoscience Hallmarks:
Experimental results are not reproducible or able to be verified by others, sometimes through lack of openness of data
Lack of effective controls (not properly randomized or double blinded, as the case may be)
The scientific method has not been rigorously adhered to
Not falsifiable (the result can not be disproved)
Not testable
Often overturns established science and proven laws of nature
Vague scientific claims, often lack specific measurements
Failure to define the operational terms so that others can independently measure or test them
Failure to use Occam's Razor (the explanation that requires the fewest possible additional assumptions is usually the most accurate)
Technical jargon or obscure language meant to confuse and sound like an authority in science
Lack of boundary conditions (real science specifies limits where the predicted phenomena do and do not apply)
Heavy reliance on testimonial and anecdotal evidence or personal experience
Argument from ignorance (just because a claim hasn't been proven false, they say it must be true)
Selection Bias (cherry picking the results to only use the hits and suppress the misses)
Argumentum Ad ignorantiam means the Argument from Ignorance. It basically states that a specific belief is true because we don't know that it isn't true. This logical fallacy can also be called the Negative Proof Argument, or Appeal to Ignorance.
This is Part 4 in a series about Logical Fallacies. We are going through one fallacy at a time. There are many types of fallacious arguments. I'm going to try to explain them with examples then find ways to help you refute those arguments when they occur. Please comment or email if there's a particular fallacy you want me to tackle, or if you have success with refuting an argument using a good technique you can share.
James stated it quite perfectly in the comments of our last fallacy lesson:
Atheist: “You cannot prove that God exists.” Theist: “Oh yeah? Well, you cannot prove that God DOESN’T exist!”
Of course this brings up the rule: The burden of proof lies on the person making the positive claim. Basically, if you state that god exists, the burden of proof lies on you.
First, what is pseudoscience? Pseudoscience: a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific methodology, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status. Pseudoscience Hallmarks:
