Seven Rules For Spotting Bogus Science 759
keynet writes "Robert L. Park is a professor of physics at the University of Maryland at College Park and the director of public information for the American Physical Society, wrote a list of warning signs to help federal judges detect scientific nonsense. (OK, so it hasn't worked and the Patent Office sure hasn't got a copy.) As he says, 'There is no scientific claim so preposterous that a scientist cannot be found to vouch for it'. What he doesn't say is that there are plenty more who will invest in it or base legislation on it."
Conspiracy theory buffs (Score:3, Funny)
Dangit... (Score:4, Funny)
Owwww, my wrists!!! I think the placebo effect is wearing off... Curse you, /.!
What about the 8th rule? (Score:4, Funny)
A WITCH!!!!!!!
Rule #1 (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Dangit... (Score:3, Funny)
hang on a minute... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:They have to care first (Score:4, Funny)
Schematic for sale... (Score:3, Funny)
For sale desgin for Flux capacitor, will pay shipping in US....
Alternative list of 7 ways to detect bogus science (Score:5, Funny)
Re:hang on a minute... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What about the 8th rule? (Score:2, Funny)
Isolation (Score:1, Funny)
But this list was developed by one guy. Ack, I don't know what to believe anymore
Maybe he knew that I could not handle the truth?
Now, where's my hazel twigs...
Another rule... (Score:3, Funny)
How does the Segway hold up? (Score:2, Funny)
1. The discoverer pitches the claim directly to the media. (Good Morning, America [go.com])
2. The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work. (beware of elderly [com.com])
Re:What about the 8th rule? (Score:2, Funny)
"There is no rule number 6."
Re:Oh puhleaase. (Score:2, Funny)
Now all we need... (Score:2, Funny)
religous bunk detector ? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Rule #1 (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh puhleaase. (Score:5, Funny)
You know why the speed of light is finite? Well, that's so that you cannot see that the universe is still under construction. Until the universe is finished, no one will be enabled to find faster-than-light travel.
And yes, I can even make a prediction: For the forseeable future, no one will invent a working warp drive - constructing an universe is a complex task, and will last quite some time. Therefore every day from now on, where no working warp drive is invented, is clear evidence for my recent-creation-theory.
Anyone who can show any evidence that I'm wrong? (Remember: Evidence for an older-than-five-minute universe is evidence for my recent-creation-theory, because it explicitly states such evidence was created.)
And of course, you cannot say it could not be falsificated. Show me a working warp drive any time soon, and you've disproven it.
Well, it seems like a quite good theory, after all
How to spot a Virus Hoax (Score:2, Funny)
2. If anti-virus programs can't save you, only deleting this file will help, it's a hoax.
3. If it tells you to email this to everyone you know, it's a hoax.
4. If a little kid in India is trying to get his letter around the world...sorry I digress.
5. If it was sent from my Dad in all caps, probably another hoax.
The Browser... (Score:3, Funny)
Rule #1 (Score:3, Funny)
Re:religous bunk detector ? (Score:2, Funny)
True story on perpetual motion. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pseudo Science and Crystal Homeopathy (Score:3, Funny)
"Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java(tm)."
Hey! who took my magic Java crystals??!
Crackpot Index (Score:2, Funny)
John Baez
A simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to physics:
1. A -5 point starting credit.
2. 1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false.
3. 2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous.
4. 3 points for every statement that is logically inconsistent.
5. 5 points for each such statement that is adhered to despite careful correction.
6. 5 points for using a thought experiment that contradicts the results of a widely accepted real experiment.
7. 5 points for each word in all capital letters (except for those with defective keyboards).
8. 5 points for each mention of "Einstien", "Hawkins" or "Feynmann".
9. 10 points for each claim that quantum mechanics is fundamentally misguided (without good evidence).
10. 10 points for pointing out that you have gone to school, as if this were evidence of sanity.
11. 10 points for beginning the description of your theory by saying how long you have been working on it.
12. 10 points for mailing your theory to someone you don't know personally and asking them not to tell anyone else about it, for fear that your ideas will be stolen.
13. 10 points for offering prize money to anyone who proves and/or finds any flaws in your theory.
14. 10 points for each statement along the lines of "I'm not good at math, but my theory is conceptually right, so all I need is for someone to express it in terms of equations".
15. 10 points for arguing that a current well-established theory is "only a theory", as if this were somehow a point against it.
16. 10 points for arguing that while a current well-established theory predicts phenomena correctly, it doesn't explain "why" they occur, or fails to provide a "mechanism".
17. 10 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Einstein, or claim that special or general relativity are fundamentally misguided (without good evidence).
18. 10 points for claiming that your work is on the cutting edge of a "paradigm shift".
19. 20 points for suggesting that you deserve a Nobel prize.
20. 20 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Newton or claim that classical mechanics is fundamentally misguided (without good evidence).
21. 20 points for every use of science fiction works or myths as if they were fact.
22. 20 points for defending yourself by bringing up (real or imagined) ridicule accorded to your past theories.
23. 20 points for each use of the phrase "hidebound reactionary".
24. 20 points for each use of the phrase "self-appointed defender of the orthodoxy".
25. 30 points for suggesting that a famous figure secretly disbelieved in a theory which he or she publicly supported. (E.g., that Feynman was a closet opponent of special relativity, as deduced by reading between the lines in his freshman physics textbooks.)
26. 30 points for suggesting that Einstein, in his later years, was groping his way towards the ideas you now advocate.
27. 30 points for claiming that your theories were developed by an extraterrestrial civilization (without good evidence).
28. 30 points for allusions to a delay in your work while you spent time in an asylum, or references to the psychiatrist who tried to talk you out of your theory.
29. 40 points for comparing those who argue against your ideas to Nazis, stormtroopers, or brownshirts.
30. 40 points for claiming that the "scientific establishment" is engaged in a "conspiracy" to prevent your work from gaining its well-deserved fame, or suchlike.
31. 40 points for comparing yourself to Galileo, suggesting that a modern-day Inquisition is hard at work on your case, and so on.
32. 40 points for claiming that when your theory is finally appreciated, present-day science will be seen for the sham it truly is. (30 more points for fantasizing about show trials in which scientists who mocked your theories will be forced to recant.)
33. 50 points for claiming you have a revolutionary theory but giving no concrete testable predictions.