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Science versus Pseudoscience
How can people be expected to know the difference if they've never been taught science? |
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"Reality Check." Columns in Skeptical Briefs - Skeptical Briefs is the newsletter of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Note that the following may differ from the published versions, which are often edited. The published versions are "official." Several of the links go directly to the Skeptical Briefs web site. All published columns may be distributed and quoted, with proper credit. A Field Guide to Critical Thinking - Being a responsible adult means accepting the fact that almost all knowledge is tentative, and accepting it cheerfully. You may be required to change your belief tomorrow, if the evidence warrants, and you should be willing and able to do so. That, in essence, is what skepticism means: to believe if and only if the evidence warrants. Tuning Up Your Crank Filters by Victor J. Stenger. Science Magazine's top 125 Unanswered Questions - the most compelling puzzles and questions facing scientists today. A special, free news feature in Science explores 125 big questions that face scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century.
James Randi Educational Foundation - We humbly dedicate this web site to the memory of Dr. Carl Sagan, a true friend, one with a huge sense of humor and deep compassion, a perceptive and generous man who supported our work and added to everyone's understanding of the universe. He was, and continues to be, an inspiration and shining example to all rational people. We are better for his having spent his life among us, and we shall never forget his contribution to the world. Penn & Teller BULLSHIT - By their own admission, Penn & Teller have been dying to do shows like this. Confirmed skeptics and pro-science atheists (they refer to God as "an imaginary friend"), these magicians are big fans of the art of debunking. What's the difference between astronomy and astrology? - Astronomy is based on the laws of physics (and therefore mathematics) and aims at describing what is happening to the universe based on what we observe today. Because the laws of physics are constant (as far as we can tell), astronomy can also explain how the universe behaved in the past and can propose a limited number of possible scenarios for its future (see FAQ entry about Big Bang). Everyday life applications of astronomy include calculations/predictions of sunrise/sunset times, moon phases, tides, eclipse locations, comet visibility, encounters between various celestial bodies (e.g., SL9 comet crash onto Jupiter in 1994), spacecraft trajectories, etc. Astrology on the other hand claims it can predict what will happen to individuals (or guess what is happening to them), or to mankind, based on such things as solar system configurations and birth dates. Common applications include horoscopes and such. Regardless of whether there is scientific support for astrology, its goal and methods are clearly distinct from those of astronomy. See: Resources
Cambridge University Press Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics Relativity and FTL Travel Black Holes FAQ Ask an Astrophysicist
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© Copyright 2008 - Samuel J. Wormley
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