[WikiEN-l] Slander against scientists

[Robert]

Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net> writes:

> Yes!  Even a noted skeptic like Michael Shermer is very
> careful about using the word.  Pseudoscience literaly
> means false science.

Stop playing word games.  Pseudoscience has a much wider
meaning than that. In any case, mainstream scientists and
skeptics use this word quite a bit.  They only use this
word, of course, when there is no other alternative.


>  In reality many of the subject areas popularly
> encompased by the term have never been proven true to 
> the satisfaction of the traditional scientific 
> community.  To say that not proven equates to proven
> false is to apply the fallacy of the excluded middle 
> that is often phrased "If you're not with us you're
> against us." 

Untrue. This not how science works, or how the skeptical
community deals with claims of the paranormal.  Propoents
of pseudosceince are unable to defend themselves from the
actual claims that scientists make, so they create a
straw-man carcicature of science, and attack that strawman.
That is shameful.


> The term "pseudoscience" is as much a pejorative
> as "kike" or "faggot" which have been discussed in a
> concurrent thread  

That's a bald-faced lie, and an attempt to slander
scientists.  I am shocked at the hateful way that
proponents of pseudoscience claim to be victims of
religious-like discrimination.  The truth is that
proponents of pseudoscience push statements that can not be
proven, and when scientifically analyzed in controlled
studies, are found to be false - or fraudulent. 

I am appalled that you publicly slander scientists, instead
of dealing with the issues.

RK


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