Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy Against Science

566 Pages·2018·6.85 MB·English

by  Allison B. Kaufman

Pseudoscience
The Conspiracy Against Science
Edited by Allison B. Kaufman and James C. Kaufman
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical
means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in
writing from the publisher.
This book was set in ITC Stone Serif by Westchester Publishing Services. Printed and bound in the United
States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kaufman, Allison (Allison B.) editor. |
Kaufman, James C., editor.
Title: Pseudoscience : the conspiracy against science / edited by Allison Kaufman and James C. Kaufman.
Description: Cambridge, MA : The MIT Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017025528 | ISBN 9780262037426 (hardcover : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH:
Pseudoscience.
Classification: LCC Q172.5.P77 P73 2017 | DDC 001.9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017025528
To my parents, Jean and Joe Katz, the original scientists in my life
—ABK
For my parents,
Drs. Alan S. and Nadeen L. Kaufman,
Who nurtured in me a lifelong love of learning and science (and the arts) and
taught me to question, wonder, and dream
—JCK
Contents
Foreword: Navigating a Post-Truth World: Ten Enduring Lessons
from the Study of Pseudoscience
Scott O. Lilienfeld
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Pseudoscience: What It Costs and Efforts to Fight
It
   I    The Basics of Pseudoscience
  1    Pseudoscience and the Pursuit of Truth
David K. Hecht
  2    The Psychology of (Pseudo)Science: Cognitive, Social, and
Cultural Factors
Emilio J. C. Lobato and Corinne Zimmerman
  3    The Illusion of Causality: A Cognitive Bias Underlying
Pseudoscience
Fernando Blanco and Helena Matute
  4    Hard Science, Soft Science, and Pseudoscience: Implications
of Research on the Hierarchy of the Sciences
Dean Keith Simonton
  II    What Pseudoscience Costs Society
  5    Food-o-science Pseudoscience: The Weapons and Tactics in the
War on Crop Biotechnology
Kevin M. Folta
6    An Inside Look at Naturopathic Medicine: A Whistleblower’s
Deconstruction of Its Core Principles
Britt Marie Hermes
  7    Risky Play and Growing Up: How to Understand the
Overprotection of the Next Generation
Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, and
David Ball
  8    The Anti-Vaccine Movement: A Litany of Fallacy and Errors
Jonathan Howard and Dorit Rubinstein Reiss
 III    Scientific (or Pseudoscientific) Soundness
  9    Understanding Pseudoscience Vulnerability through
Epistemological Development, Critical Thinking, and Science
Literacy
Arnold Kozak
10    Scientific Failure as a Public Good: Illustrating the Process
of Science and Its Contrast with Pseudoscience
Chad Orzel
11    Evidence-Based Practice as a Driver of Pseudoscience in
Prevention Research
Dennis M. Gorman
12    Scientific Soundness and the Problem of Predatory Journals
Jeffrey Beall
13    Pseudoscience, Coming to a Peer-Reviewed Journal Near You
Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky
IV    Pseudoscience in the Mainstream
14    “Integrative” Medicine: Integrating Quackery with Science-
Based Medicine
David H. Gorski
15    Hypnosis: Science, Pseudoscience, and Nonsense
Steven Jay Lynn, Ashwin Gautam, Stacy Ellenberg, and Scott O.
Lilienfeld
16    Abuses and Misuses of Intelligence Tests: Facts and
Misconceptions
Mark Benisz, John O. Willis, and Ron Dumont
17    Reflections on Pseudoscience and Parapsychology: From Here to
There and (Slightly) Back Again
Christopher C. French
 V    Science Activism: How People Think about Pseudoscience
18    Using Case Studies to Combat a Pseudoscience Culture
Clyde Freeman Herreid
19    “HIV Does Not Cause AIDS”: A Journey into AIDS Denialism
Seth C. Kalichman
20    Swaying Pseudoscience: The Inoculation Effect
Kavin Senapathy
21    The Challenges of Changing Minds: How Confirmation Bias and
Pattern Recognition Affect Our Search for Meaning
Indre Viskontas
 VI    Conclusion
22    Truth Shall Prevail
Paul Joseph Barnett and James C. Kaufman
Contributor List
Index
List of Figures
Figure 3.1  The Müller-Lyer illusion.
Figure 3.2  The same configuration of the Müller-Lyer illusion induces depth
perception when further details (such as shades, windows) are added. (Figure
elaborated by the authors.)
Figure 3.3  Contingency matrix with four possible event types, with one cause
and one effect.
Figure 3.4  Contingency matrix containing trial frequencies that suggest a
positive causal relationship, but yield a null contingency value (i.e., ΔP = 0).
Figure 3.5  Main results of the experiment reported in Blanco et al. (2014). The
left panel shows the mean proportion of patients to which the participants gave
the fictitious drug—or, in other words, the probability with which they
administered the cause, P(Cause), in each of the two groups. The right panel
shows the mean effectiveness judgments given by participants in the two groups.
Error bars depict 95 percent confidence intervals for the means. Blanco, F.,
Barberia, I., and Matute, H. (2014). The Lack of Side Effects of an Ineffective
Treatment Facilitates the Development of a Belief in Its Effectiveness. Public
Library of Science ONE, 9(1): e84084.
Figure 3.6  Four simulations of the Rescorla-Wagner learning model. Using
this model we simulated learning under four different contingency tables: one
positive, one negative, and two involving null-contingency matrices. One of the
null-contingency matrices included both cause-and outcome-density
manipulations, which resulted in an overestimation of the null contingency. This
would be equivalent to a causal illusion. The parameters used for these
simulations are the same as those used in the simulations of the Rescorla-
Wagner model reported by Vadillo, Blanco, Yarritu, and Matute (2016): α =
CS
.30, α = .10, β = β = .80.
Context Outcome ¬Outcome
Figure 4.1  The disciplines of physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and
sociology placed in a Comtean hierarchy of the sciences. The horizontal axis
indicates the rank and the vertical axis indicates the composite score on the
definitional factor.
Figure 5.1  The Frankenfood Paradox. Techniques of plant genetic
improvement that are less invasive and more predictable, and that affect the
fewest genes, are the ones that bother people most. Ranging methods with
unpredictable outcomes are well accepted.
Figure 6.1  A comparison chart of MD and ND credits in the first two years of
each program, published and widely used by the naturopathic profession
(Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges, n.d.-a). The numbers
are based on funny accounting, which seems to inflate naturopathic training. The
graphic is adapted from a graph that originally appeared on the website of the
Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges. It is no longer
available. The authors of the original graph claimed that it accurately compared
the credit load for the medical degree program at the University of Washington
and the naturopathic degree program at Bastyr University for the 2010 academic
year.
Figure 6.2  A chart comparing the naturopathic curricula to the medical
curricula at top universities in the United States (California Naturopathic
Doctors Association, 2013). The total number of training hours for naturopathic
students comprises time spent learning “naturopathic therapeutics,” which
include debunked and unproven therapies like homeopathy and chiropractic
techniques. Naturopaths use this misleading figure alongside the amount of real
training completed in medical schools to make it seem as though naturopaths
receive equivalent training as medical doctors.
Figure 7.1  Non-fatal injury rates for selected activities based on A&E
attendances in the United Kingdom (Play Safety Forum, 2012, p. 11).
Figure 8.1  A flier first issued in 1955 warning about dangers of the polio
vaccine, which had been invented three years prior.
Figure 8.2  James Gillray’s 1802 caricature of Jenner vaccinating patients who
feared it would make them sprout cowlike appendages.
Figure 8.3  A mathematical explanation of why autism symptoms are bound to
emerge after vaccination in some children.
Figure 8.4
Figure 8.5
Figure 11.1  Causal Loops Depicting How Researchers Manipulate the
Evidence-Based Review System. Use of flexible data analysis practices (top
loop) and minimal adherence to study design criteria (bottom loop)
Figure 11.2  Program Flow. A: Pre-NREPP; B: NREPP as envisioned; C:
NREPP in practice.
Figure 12.1  One of two evaluation sections of a peer review report from a
questionable publisher. (Quoted from an anonymous peer review shared with the
author.)
List of Tables
Table 11.1  “Key Findings” from the Project TND Evaluations Cited in the
NREPP Review of the Program
Table 11.2  Statistically Significant Main Effects in the Project TND
Evaluations Reported in the NREPP Review
Table 14.1  CAM Subtypes as Defined by NCCIH after 2011
Table 14.2  Subtypes of CAM as Defined by OCCAM
Table 19.1  The Seven Principles of AIDS Denialism
Table 19.2  A Brief History of AIDS Denialism