Quotessence
Home / Topics / Pseudoscience Quotes

Pseudoscience Quotes

Browse 135 quotes about Pseudoscience.

Related topics

Ifs

Pseudoscience Quotes

“I am a cuddly atheist... I am against creationism being taught in schools because there is empirical evidence that it is a silly notion... I am passionately concerned about the rise in pseudo-science; in beliefs in alternative medicine; in creationism. The idea that somehow it is based on logic, on rational arguments, but it's not. It doesn't stand up to empirical evidence. In the same way in medicine, alternative medicines like homeopathy or new age therapies – reiki healing – a lot of people buy into it and it grates against my rationalist view of the world. There is no evidence for it. It is deceitful. It is insidious. I feel passionately about living in a society with a rationalist view of the world. I will be vocal on issues where religion impacts on people's lives in a way that I don't agree with – if, for instance, in faith schools some of the teaching of religion suggests the children might have homophobic views or views that are intolerant towards other belief systems... I am totally against, for example, bishops in the House of Lords. Why should someone of a particular religious faith have some preferential treatment over anyone else? This notion that the Church of England is the official religion of the country is utterly outmoded now.”

ReasonSchoolAtheismEvidenceArgumentLogicEnglandMedicineDeceitBeliefsBishopsPseudoscienceCreationismHomophobicAlternative MedicineHomeopathyReikiChurch Of EnglandHouse Of LordsReiki HealingEmpiricalFaith Schools
Author:Jim Al-Khalili
Create image

“Creationists have also changed their name ... to intelligent design theorists who study 'irreducible complexity' and the 'abrupt appearance' of life—yet more jargon for 'God did it.' ... Notice that they have no interest in replacing evolution with native American creation myths or including the Code of Hammurabi alongside the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools.”

SchoolScienceEvolutionNative AmericanFirst AmendmentSuperstitionSeparation Of Church And StateTen CommandmentsMythsJargonPseudoscienceIntelligent DesignOrigin Of LifeSophistryCreation MythsCreationistsGod Did ItIrreducible ComplexityHammurabiCode Of HammurabiGoddidit
Author:Michael Shermer
Create image

“Like all great things which then become fashions, science, as now the universal stamp of approval, probably receives more abuse than any other field of study. Glaze the word itself over whatever vague ideology one may presume ratified, no matter the degree of pseudo-science or lack of scholarly credibility packaged within, and the many will consume it like gravy on a feast. My thought for the time is that as the promise of true science increases, so shall rise its many more superficial counterparts as provided by the agenda-bound trendies and hyper-ambitious laypersons to boot.”

TruthScienceFictionStudyMediaFashionIgnoranceTheoryDiscoveryLiesIntelligenceIdeologyPropagandaFakeExplorationSuperficialFactNon FictionSuperstitionValidationScientific MethodPseudoscienceLaymanVaguenessAgendaTrendPseudo ScienceRatificationVagueness Of Language
Book:Healology
Create image

“from: The Portrayal of Child Sexual Assault in Introductory Psychology Textbooks - Elizabeth J. Letourneau, Tonya C. Lewis One of the central questions surrounding the debate on memories of CSA is how often false or repressed memories actually occur. The APA working group (Alpert et al., 1996) and other experts (e.g., Loftus, 1993a) noted that no reliable method can distinguish between accurate and inaccurate memories. Therefore, no one can determine the prevalence of false or repressed memories. Nevertheless, six texts (30%) implied that false memories occur frequently (see Table 1). Of these, three included the opinionated suggestion that a "witch hunt" may be occurring in which innocent parents are routinely accused of, and then severely punished for, CSA. Two texts suggested that false memories of CSA must occur because an entire support group (the FMSF) has been formed for falsely accused parents. These authors apparently failed to consider that some members of the FMSF may actually have sexually assaulted children but are motivated to appear innocent. (85)”

OpinionLiesMental HealthChild AbuseBiasSexual AbuseRapeHypeChild Sexual AbuseAccusationIncestPseudoscienceSociety DenialRepressed MemoriesFalse MemoriesPedophileWitch HuntRecovered MemoriesFalse Memory Syndrome FoundationFalse Memory SyndromeDenial Of Child AbuseMemory WarsFalse AllegationPseudoscientifcInflammatory
Book:Handbook for Teaching Introductory Psychology: Volume II
Create image

“One of the difficulties in raising public concern over the very severe threats of global warming is that 40 percent of the US population does not see why it is a problem, since Christ is returning in a few decades. About the same percentage believe that the world was created a few thousand years ago. If science conflicts with the Bible, so much the worse for science. It would be hard to find an analogue in other societies.”

ThinkingReasonScienceReligionProgressSocietyAtheismIgnoranceBibleLogicClimateClimate ChangeStupidityScriptureThoughtGlobal WarmingApocalypsePublic OpinionConsensusAdvancementScientific MethodTheismPseudoscienceIntelligent DesignDeismScientificSocietiesScripture Will Save Us
Author:Noam Chomsky
Create image

“Why does the mind crave superstition! It's because superstition is a psychological apparatus for self-preservation. And it appears to us as truth because the only truth our brain is concerned with is the one that takes away our anxiety and aids in our survival, even if that truth happens to be just another lie our brain cooks up to maintain internal order. However, neurologically speaking, there is no such thing as a mind without superstition. Your belief that you have no superstition, is just another superstition. So, it's not about developing a mind without superstition, which is impossible, rather it is about being aware of the superstitions as much as possible, and reject those that are particularly harmful, for the self and society.”

Human NaturePrejudiceNeuroscienceEvolutionary PsychologySuperstitionSuperstitiousBelief SystemsPseudoscienceConsciousness Mind BrainCognitive Psychology
Book:Divane Dynamite: Only truth in the cosmos is love
Create image

“Vibration and Frequency (The Sonnet) Surpass the nonsense of vibration, Surpass the nonsense of frequency. Come down to the land of mortals, Embrace the heart's simple beauty. Science is science, sentiment is sentiment, In rationalizing sentiment one breeds superstition. There is no vibration to love and community, There is no frequency to uplift and unification. Cleanse your mind of all imitation science, Just like you ought to do with bigoted holiness. Trading in one blindness for another is no sanctity, Replacing one superstition with another is no science. With the rise of oneness, theories wither and fade away. But if things are opposite, know that you are going astray.”

ScienceSpiritualityIgnorancePrejudiceHumanismMysticismSuperstitionRational ThinkingPseudoscienceVibrational Energy Quotes
Book:Mücadele Muhabbet: Gospel of An Unarmed Soldier
Create image

“Half knowledge is more dangerous than ignorance. Take the notion that jellyfish don't have a brain, for example. When we talk about the brain, we're actually referring to the central nervous system. In case of the jellyfish, the nervous system is not centralized, instead it's spread across the anatomy. So the actual fact is, jellyfish do have a brain, it just doesn't look like one. Even trees have a brain, a nervous system that is. To put it simply, consciousness is the supreme fundamental of life, and it is impossible to have consciousness without having some sort of nervous system, for consciousness is the creation of the nervous system.”

PsychologyIgnoranceNeuroscienceMind Body SpiritHuman BrainPseudoscienceConsciousness QuotesNeurologyConsciousness Mind BrainNeurobiology
Book:Mucize Misafir Merhaba: The Peace Testament
Create image

“Treating Abuse Today 3(4) pp. 26-33 TAT: No. I don't know anymore than you know they're not. But, I'm talking about boundaries and privacy here. As a therapist working with survivors, I have been harassed by people who claim to be affiliated with the false memory movement. Parents and other family members have called or written me insisting on talking with me about my patients' cases, despite my clearly indicating I can't because of professional confidentiality. I have had other parents and family members investigate me -- look into my professional background -- hoping to find something to discredit me to the patients I was seeing at the time because they disputed their memories. This isn't the kind of sober, scientific discourse you all claim you want.”

AbuseBoundariesHarassmentIntimidationInterviewPseudoscienceSociety DenialPrivate InvestigatorPsychological AbuseSurvivors Of AbuseFalse MemoriesPedophiliaScamFalse MemoryFalse Memory Syndrome FoundationFalse Memory SyndromeRepressed MemoryFmsfConfidentialityParental AbuseAbuse DeniersPseudo ScienceAd HominemPseudoscientificPsychotherapistIntrusivePamela FreydAnti SciencePrivacy ProblemsBoundary ViolationsViolation Leading To Disruption
Author:David L. Calof
Create image

“Treating Abuse Today (Tat), 3(4), pp. 26-33 Freyd: I see what you're saying but people in psychology don't have a uniform agreement on this issue of the depth of -- I guess the term that was used at the conference was -- "robust repression." TAT: Well, Pamela, there's a whole lot of evidence that people dissociate traumatic things. What's interesting to me is how the concept of "dissociation" is side-stepped in favor of "repression." I don't think it's as much about repression as it is about traumatic amnesia and dissociation. That has been documented in a variety of trauma survivors. Army psychiatrists in the Second World War, for instance, documented that following battles, many soldiers had amnesia for the battles. Often, the memories wouldn't break through until much later when they were in psychotherapy. Freyd: But I think I mentioned Dr. Loren Pankratz. He is a psychologist who was studying veterans for post-traumatic stress in a Veterans Administration Hospital in Portland. They found some people who were admitted to Veteran's hospitals for postrraumatic stress in Vietnam who didn't serve in Vietnam. They found at least one patient who was being treated who wasn't even a veteran. Without external validation, we just can't know -- TAT: -- Well, we have external validation in some of our cases. Freyd: In this field you're going to find people who have all levels of belief, understanding, experience with the area of repression. As I said before it's not an area in which there's any kind of uniform agreement in the field. The full notion of repression has a meaning within a psychoanalytic framework and it's got a meaning to people in everyday use and everyday language. What there is evidence for is that any kind of memory is reconstructed and reinterpreted. It has not been shown to be anything else. Memories are reconstructed and reinterpreted from fragments. Some memories are true and some memories are confabulated and some are downright false. TAT: It is certainly possible for in offender to dissociate a memory. It's possible that some of the people who call you could have done or witnessed some of the things they've been accused of -- maybe in an alcoholic black-out or in a dissociative state -- and truly not remember. I think that's very possible. Freyd: I would say that virtually anything is possible. But when the stories include murdering babies and breeding babies and some of the rather bizarre things that come up, it's mighty puzzling. TAT: I've treated adults with dissociative disorders who were both victimized and victimizers. I've seen previously repressed memories of my clients' earlier sexual offenses coming back to them in therapy. You guys seem to be saying, be skeptical if the person claims to have forgotten previously, especially if it is about something horrible. Should we be equally skeptical if someone says "I'm remembering that I perpetrated and I didn't remember before. It's been repressed for years and now it's surfacing because of therapy." I ask you, should we have the same degree of skepticism for this type of delayed-memory that you have for the other kind? Freyd: Does that happen? TAT: Oh, yes. A lot.”

AbuseWorld War IiPtsdSexual AbuseRapeRepressionWorld War 2SoldiersDissociationPsychotherapyAmnesiaSexual AssaultSurvivorsRepressedIncestInterviewVictimsPseudoscienceAbusersPerpetratorsSociety DenialWorld War TwoVeteransChild RapePost Traumatic Stress DisorderRepressed MemoriesDissociative AmnesiaFalse MemoriesDissociative DisordersPedophiliaScamPosttraumatic Stress DisorderFalse MemoryRecovered MemoriesFalse Memory Syndrome FoundationFalse Memory SyndromeRepressed MemoryFmsfAbuse DeniersDenial Of AbusePseudo ScienceDenial Of Child AbuseForgotten MemoriesPost Traumatic StressTraumatic MemoriesPseudoscientificPerpetratorPamela FreydVictim PerpetratorsDenial Of IncestAnti ScienceConfabulationTraumatic AmnesiaDissociateDissociated AmnesiaDissociated StateSexual Offense
Author:David L. Calof
Create image

“AI Con (The Sonnet) Everybody is concerned about psychics conning people, How 'bout the billionaires who con people using science! Con artists come in all shapes and sizes, Some use barnum statements, others artificial intelligence. Most scientists speak up against only the little frauds, But not the big frauds who support their livelihood. Am I not afraid to be blacklisted by the big algorithms! Is the sun afraid, its light will offend some puny hoods! I come from the soil, I'll die struggling in the soil. My needs are less, hence my integrity is dangerous. I am here to show this infantile species how to grow up. I can't be bothered by the fragility of a few spoiled brats. Reason and fiction both are fundamental to build a civilization. Neither is the problem, the problem is greed and self-absorption.”

InnovationArtificial IntelligenceOligarchyPseudoscienceSocial Media AddictionEconomic DisparityTechnology Existential RisksBig TechCon ArtistsHumanitarian Science Poetry
Book:Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None
Create image

“In order to establish the narrative that innocent men have been the victims of an epidemic of false allegations, “moral panic” advocates have misrepresented child protection interventions and legal cases in significant ways (R. Cheit, 2014; Kitzinger, 2004; Michael Salter, 2016). This has included championing the cause of convicted sex offenders despite overwhelming evidence of guilt (R. Cheit, 2014; R. E. Cheit, 2001; Olio & Cornell, 1998).”

Sexual AbuseChild Sexual AbuseHysteriaRitual AbusePseudoscienceChild ProtectionMoral PanicFalse AllegationsMiscarriages Of Justice
Book:The History of Surrealist Painting
Create image

“Changing mainstream media will be hard, but you can help create parallel options. More academics should blog, post videos, post audio, post lectures, offer articles, and more. You’ll enjoy it: I’ve had threats and blackmail, abuse, smears and formal complaints with forged documentation. But it’s worth it, for one simple reason: pulling bad science apart is the best teaching gimmick I know for explaining how good science works.”

ScienceStatisticsPseudoscienceSensationalismEpidemiologyBig PharmaCorporate Media
Book:I Think You'll Find It's a Bit More Complicated Than That
Create image

“To take a specific example, a researcher in the Journal of Traumatic Stress interviewed 129 women with documented histories of child sexual abuse that occurred between the ages of 10 months and 12 years. Of those, 38 percent had forgotten the abuse. Of the remaining women who remembered, 16 percent reported that they had for a period of time forgotten but subsequently recovered their memories. [46] Thus, during that time a "false negative" recorded for those women. These are the sort of distinctions for which Elaine Showalter in Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media fails to account.”

TraumaSexual AbuseEpidemicsChild Sexual AbuseSurvivorsHystericalIncestPseudoscienceRepressed MemoriesFeministsFalse MemoriesTraumatic StressRepressed MemoryMisleadingPseudo ScienceAcademic ResearchRecovered MemoryIncestuousHystericsElaine ShowalterFalse NegativesWomen Survivors
Book:Trauma Cinema: Documenting Incest and the Holocaust
Create image

“Although the terminology implies scientific endorsement, false memory syndrome is not currently an accepted diagnostic label by the APA and is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Seventeen researchers (Carstensen et al., 1993) noted that this syndrome is a "non-psychological term originated by a private foundation whose stated purpose is to support accused parents" (p.23). Those authors urged professionals to forgo use of this pseudoscientific terminology. Terminology implies acceptance of this pseudodiagnostic label may leave readers with the mistaken impression that false memory syndrome is a bona fide clinical disorder supported by concomitant empirical evidence.(85)... ... it may be easier to imagine women forming false memories given biases against women's mental and cognitive abilities (e.g., Coltrane & Adams, 1996). 86”

Mental HealthGenderChild AbuseBiasSexual AbuseRapeDiagnosisChild Sexual AbuseAccusationSexistHystericalIncestPseudoscienceSociety DenialRepressed MemoriesFalse MemoriesPedophileRecovered MemoriesStereotypingFalse Memory SyndromeDenial Of Child AbuseMemory WarsHystericsFalse AllegationPseudoscientifcPseudodiagnostic
Author:Michelle Rae Hebl
Create image

“TAT: I find I'm still left wanting to know how to tell if my patient has false memory syndrome. What's the test? How do I determine if my patient is suffering from this syndrome? Freyd: What are the tests if some body is suffering from " repressed memory syndrome?" TAT: Well, I can give you several symptom clusters - dissociative, cognitive, affective, somatic effects they're well documented. But, I'm asking you the question. You're telling me, David, as a clinician: you must be aware of the possibility your patients may have false memory syndrome. Okay, how should I be aware of that? How am I going to know? How do I test for it? Freyd: David, I'm going to ask Dr. Paul McHugh to talk to you because he is a clinician and I have stated from the beginning that I am not. TAT: I appreciate that, Pamela. But here's my issue with you not knowing. If I was talking to the Executive Director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, who presumably is also not a clinician, I'll bet he or she could give me the signs and symptoms of muscular dystrophy. But in the case of false memory syndrome, so far no one seems to be able to say. Treating Abuse Today, 3(4), pp. 26-33”

Child Sexual AbuseIncestPseudoscienceSociety DenialFalse MemoriesFalse MemoryFalse Memory Syndrome FoundationPedophilesFalse Memory SyndromeRepressed MemoryAbuse DeniersMemory WarsPamela Freyd
Author:David L. Calof
Create image

“Treating Abuse Today 3(4) pp. 26-33 Freyd: The term "multiple personality" itself assumes that there is "single personality" and there is evidence that no one ever displays a single personality. TAT: The issue here is the extent of dissociation and amnesia and the extent to which these fragmentary aspects of personality can take executive control and control function. Sure, you and I have different parts to our mind, there's no doubt about that, but I don't lose time to mine they can't come out in the middle of a lecture and start acting 7 years old. I'm very much in the camp that says that we all are multi-minds, but the difference between you and me and a multiple is pretty tangible. Freyd: Those are clearly interesting questions, but that area and the clinical aspects of dissociation and multiple personalities is beyond anything the Foundation is actively... TAT: That's a real problem. Let me tell you why that's a problem. Many of the people that have been alleged to have "false memory syndrome" have diagnosed dissociative disorders. It seems to me the fact that you don't talk about dissociative disorders is a little dishonest, since many people whose lives have been impacted by this movement are MPD or have a dissociative disorder. To say, "Well, we ONLY know about repression but not about dissociation or multiple personalities" seems irresponsible. Freyd: Be that as it may, some of the scientific issues with memory are clear. So if we can just stick with some things for a moment; one is that memories are reconstructed and reinterpreted no matter how long ago or recent. TAT: You weigh the recollected testimony of an alleged perpetrator more than the alleged victim's. You're saying, basically, if the parents deny it, that's another notch for disbelief. Freyd: If it's denied, certainly one would want to check things. It would have to be one of many factors that are weighed -- and that's the problem with these issues -- they are not black and white, they're very complicated issues.”

AbuseDissociative Identity DisorderDishonestyRepressionMultiple Personality DisorderInterviewPseudoscienceAbusersPerpetratorsSociety DenialMultiple PersonalitiesRepressed MemoriesFalse MemoriesDissociative DisordersPedophiliaAbusive ParentsScamMpdFalse MemoryFalse Memory Syndrome FoundationDishonestFalse Memory SyndromeRepressed MemoryFmsfParental AbuseAbuse DeniersPseudo ScienceDenial Of Child AbuseMultiple PersonalityUnscientificPseudoscientificPerpetratorPamela FreydDenial Of IncestFalse Memory MythAbuse DenialFalse Memory CampaignLie Of Omission
Author:David L. Calof
Create image

“Will those insights be tested,or simply used to justify the status quo and reinforce prejudices? When I consider the sloppy and self-serving ways that companies use data, I'm often reminded of phrenology, a pseudoscience that was briefly the rage in the nineteenth century. Phrenologists would run their fingers over the patient's skull, probing for bumps and indentations. Each one, they thought, was linked to personality traits that existed in twenty-seven regions of the brain. Usually the conclusion of the phrenologist jibed with the observations he made. If the patient was morbidly anxious or suffering from alcoholism, the skull probe would usually find bumps and dips that correlated with that observation - which, in turn, bolstered faith in the science of phrenology. Phrenology was a model that relied on pseudoscientific nonsense to make authoritative pronouncements, and for decades it went untested. Big Data can fall into the same trap. Models like the ones that red-lighted Kyle Behm and black-balled foreign medical students and St. George's can lock people out, even when the "science" inside them is little more than a bundle of untested assumptions.”

ScienceFairnessPseudosciencePhrenologyBig DataFeedback Loop
Book:Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
Create image

“Curse of Spirituality (Sonnet 2537) Why is it that 90% of modern spiritual population are just newage nutters, what's the point in surpassing religious fundamentalism, if you end up being sucked into superstitions with glitter! Why can't you be spiritual without being superstitious, why can't you be religious without being a fundamentalist - the day you could, that's the beginning of civilized spirituality and human religion. I'm not asking for cold, cantankerous logic all the time, all I'm saying is, why does spirituality have to depend on superstition - if your spirituality crumbles without superstition, you were never spiritual, just underdeveloped. There is no spirituality except kindness, there is no religion but service.”

SpiritualSpiritualityService Of HumanityScience And ReligionSuperstitionRational ThinkingSelfless ServiceSuperstitiousPseudoscienceNew Age Movement
Book:Hazrat-e Humanity: The Uncultured Polyglot
Create image

“Nobody has ever found any genes linking ethnicity or race to school results. Like Henry Garrett half a century earlier, [Gerhard] Meisenberg chooses to skip over the social, historical, and economic aspects of racial inequality. Rather, he believes that scientific evidence that doesn't yet exist will explain the gaps eventually. He takes it as given that the answer must be biological.”

RacismPseudoscienceBad Science
Book:Superior: The Return of Race Science
Create image

“The failure of Popper's demarcation criterion throws up an important question. Is it actually possible to find some common feature shared by all the things we call 'science...'? It may be that they share some fixed set of features that define what it is to be science, but it may not.... If so, a simple criterion for demarcating science from pseudo-science is unlikely to be found.”

PhilosophySciencePhilosophy Of SciencePseudoscienceKarl Popper
Book:Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction
Create image