--- Guettarda guettarda@gmail.com wrote:
No, not really - pseudoscience is a term for something which adopts the appearances of the scientific method, and claims to
be scientific, without
actually using the scientific method.
This is rather well stated, and perhaps my question was a bit oblique. The point really goes to the issue of how the term 'pseudoscience' may have, outside of a qualified statement ("scientists think ID is pseudoscience" (1)), have gained undue use, due to our strong science-oriented contingency.
Read logically, (1) is not much different than saying 'apple lovers think pears are at best pseudo-apples.' The distinctions between terms are always arbitrary and meaningful only in context. In the context of Wikipedia articles and the terms we tend to use, the term 'pseudoscience' is only meaningful in the science context. IMHO. There are areas where relatively neutral and objective terms have been deprecated because they carry pejorative use.
The difference between science and pseudoscience is fairly clear. It isn't > really an
expression of an
opinion. If something can be objectively described
as science or pseudoscience, then it isn't POV.
No, I respectfully disagree. The word isn't a designation, because it defers to scientific rationality - ie. a particular view. Hence it IS a POV term, albeit one which is legitimate to state in the context of conflicts between science (rational methodology) and everything else. In short:
pseudoscience is a term from the language of science, and is not a neutral term in the context of debates where science is a partisan party.
Fred linked to Larry Sanger's quotes on the subject, which were quite to the point. But the NPOV pseudoscience section seems written from the POV of a disgruntled SPOV devotee "there was no consensus" instead of "was flat out rejected as contradictory with NPOV" but thats probably just nitpicking.
Stevertigo
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