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pseudoscience
This course was taught at Portland State University.
Excerpt from Syllabus
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell
“That which can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof.” —Christopher Hitchens
“Feeling better is not actually being better. Heroin also makes people feel better, but I wouldn’t recommend using heroin.” —James Randi
This course examines basic issues in philosophy of science through an analysis of creation “science,” faith healing, UFO abduction stories, and other pseudoscience. Some of the questions addressed: What distinguishes science from pseudoscience? Why does evidence matter? Must we invoke the supernatural to explain certain aspects of reality?
Learning Goals
By the end of this course, students should have:
- Developed a healthy skepticism.
- Formulated beliefs on the basis of reason and evidence.
- Improved their critical thinking skills.
- Designed experiments to test (pseudoscientific) claims.
- Developed tools to discern reality from “makebelieveland”.
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This course was taught at Portland State University.
Excerpt from Syllabus
“As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” —Donald Rumsfeld, Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
“I am one of those who are very willing to be refuted if I say anything which is not true, and very willing to refute anyone else who says what is not true, and quite as ready to be refuted as to refute—for I hold that this is the greater gain of the two…” —Socrates in the Gorgias
This class is designed to improve reasoning and critical thinking skills. The focus is on practical/applied methods of reasoning. Students will learn to use tools to think clearly and critically about a wide range of questions and issues.
Learning Goals
By the end of this course, students should have:
- Developed a healthy skepticism.
- Improved their critical thinking skills.
- Formulated beliefs on the basis of reason and evidence.
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This course was taught at Davis & Elkins College during the spring 2010 semester.
Excerpt from Syllabus
This course exposes students to ongoing biological research. Published articles from scientific magazines and peer-reviewed journals will be thoroughly analyzed and discussed. As part of the course, students will be invited to watch selected episodes of Penn & Teller’s Showtime TV series “Bullshit,” which exposes and debunks pseudoscientific claims and paranormal phenomena.
Learning Goals
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Interpret scientific data, as presented in the literature.
- Determine whether authors’ conclusions are valid, based on the available data.
- Suggest follow-up studies to address weaknesses in current research.
- Recognize the difference between science and pseudoscience.
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(194 kb PDF)
This course was taught at the University of Findlay during the fall 2011 semester.
Excerpt from Syllabus
This course examines the key issues associated with the scientific study of critical thinking. Although it’s common to see courses on critical thinking in many domains (e.g. education & philosophy) the scientific examination of what critical thinking is and how it relates to problem solving is exclusively an advanced topic in cognitive science. Cognitive science is concerned with the study of the “thinking mind” and when we talk about “critical thinking” we base our examination on the hypothesis that while it’s true that everyone “thinks” it’s not true that everyone “thinks well.” At the core of this class is the idea that we can all fall prey to bad thinking strategies. In this course, students will learn how to be critical thinkers when dealing with a variety of situations, as well as learn how to tell the difference between science and pseudoscience. Students will focus primarily on how to think about weird situations, but if they can master the skills needed to effectively evaluate strange phenomena (e.g. UFOs) students can easily apply these skills to less bizarre situations (e.g. Will eating “Cheerios” really help lower cholesterol?). By the conclusion of this course students should be able to find answers for themselves (because everyone knows “The Truth Is Out There”) and with good critical thinking skills they will be more likely to find it.
Learning Goals
Upon completion of this course students will be able to:
- Demonstrate scientific reading, and writing skills.
- Apply the science of critical thinking to unique situations.
- Discuss specific critical thinking & problem solving topics in depth.
- Understand the biological bases of behavior and mental processes.
- Use theories to explain and predict behavior and mental processes.
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(312 kb PDF)
This course was taught at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh during the fall 2010 semester.
Excerpt from Syllabus
In its broadest sense, Fantastic Archaeology describes those claims and interpretations about the archaeological record that are outside the orthodox mainstream of the scholarly and professional world of archaeology. This can range from new, as yet untested hypotheses that may become the orthodox interpretations to the outrageous claims that can be easily refuted. Students will examine this entire range of competing, non-orthodox interpretations of the archaeological record.
This course has a much broader subject area than students are likely to encounter in other courses–even in an eclectic field like Anthropology. Students have the opportunity to bring knowledge and expertise acquired in other courses, or their general life experience, to the discussions.
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(630 kb PDF)
This course was taught at Wittenberg University during the fall 2010 semester.
Excerpt from Syllabus
“Vaccines cause autism.” “Playing Mozart to infants increases their intelligence.” “Prayer cures cancer.” These and other sensational claims are reported daily by the popular media, who usually present them as factual because there is—purportedly—scientific evidence of their validity. But what qualifies as scientific evidence, and how do we distinguish scientifically-supported conclusions from plausible-sounding but unsubstantiated, untestable assertions? In this course, we begin by defining what science is and how it differs from pseudoscience. We then consider the basic perceptual and cognitive mechanisms through which humans gather and process information, emphasizing errors in thinking and reasoning that, despite scientific evidence to the contrary, predispose us to believe, “weird” things.
Finally, we will use what we have learned to investigate phenomena of particular interest to behavioral scientists and paranormal investigators, including subliminal perception and persuasion, astrology, near death experiences, criminal profiling, alien abduction stories, repressed memories, and “new” psychotherapies. Our goal is to be open to novel claims, coupled with the determination to subject those claims to careful scientific scrutiny.
Learning Goals
In this class, students will:
- Learn how science and pseudoscience differ, and why the difference matters.
- Explore human perception, cognition, memory, and emotion, including errors and biases that lead us to believe “weird things.”
- Develop tools for conducting skeptical analyses of extraordinary claims.
- Sharpen writing and oral presentation skills.
- Design, complete, and present an investigation of an extraordinary claim.
- Lay the foundation for a successful college experience.
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(81 kb PDF)
This course was taught at Rowan University.
Excerpt from Syllabus
This course is designed as an introduction to the methods of science and the role that science plays in the understanding of how the world works. Throughout the course, students will be given the tools to differentiate between valid scientific claims and those made as a result of “junk” science or pseudoscience. The main emphasis of the course will be the development of critical thinking skills and a healthy skepticism when confronted with “scientific” claims. This course is also designed to introduce students to basic psychological processes that underlie human judgment and decision making that play a role in the persistence of beliefs in pseudoscientific and nonscientific explanations of behavior and phenomena (e.g., alien abductions, ESP, etc.). In addition to providing students with essential critical thinking skills and a working knowledge of the scientific methodologies, this course is also designed to introduce students to a number of psychological processes that underlie scientific methodologies and the persistence of belief in non-scientific claims.
Learning Goals
- Introduction to the scientific methodologies used in psychology
- Stimulation of student interest in methods of science
- Sharpening of critical thinking skills
- Encouragement of skepticism when faced with information
- Development of an understanding of the psychological processes involved in judgment and decision making
- Differentiation between good science and pseudoscience
- Appreciation of the ethical implications of science and pseudoscience
- Critical evaluation of information from various sources (popular press, internet, scientific publications, etc.)
- Understanding of the contextual nature of science and its role within society.
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(123 kb PDF)
This course was taught at New York Medical College during the spring 2011 semester.
Excerpt from Syllabus
A paradox in modern society is that while society increasingly depends upon science, more and more members of that society are coming to accept various pseudoscientific and paranormal beliefs. Claims for all sorts of paranormal and pseudoscientific phenomena are widely treated in the media as if they were as real as, say, gravity. There is very little critical examination of these claims. Gullibility is the watchword. This course will examine a wide range of such beliefs and claims, as noted in the class calendar. One focus will be on the nature of the evidence for these beliefs. A second focus will be on the psychology of belief—what causes people to believe, often very strongly, in a claim of phenomenon that, the evidence shows, is false.
Course Objectives
There are several course objectives. At a general level, students should learn the characteristics of pseudoscientific claims and how to critically examine such claims. This will involve an understanding of basic logic and scientific methods, as well as some statistical reasoning. In addition, students should come away from the course knowing the cognitive factors that lead to acceptance of claims and ideas which the evidence shows are incorrect. At a more specific level, students will learn the facts about the various topics covered in the class and the readings and become conversant with the arguments for and against the reality of the phenomena that will be covered.
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(94 kb PDF)
In this talk, Dr. Peter Boghossian argues that faith-based processes are unreliable and unlikely to lead one to the truth. Since our goal as knowers is to have more true beliefs than false ones, faith, as a process for getting to the truth, should be abandoned in favor of other, more reliable processes. The talk was followed by a question and answer session from the audience. This presentation, sponsored by the Freethinkers of Portland State University and published by philosophynews.com, was given by Dr. Peter Boghossian of Portland State University on January 27, 2012.
Synthesizing thirty years of research, Michael Shermer upends traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first, and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. Using sensory data that flow in through the senses, the brain naturally looks for and finds patterns—and then infuses those patterns with meaning, forming beliefs. Once beliefs are formed, our brains subconsciously seek out confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, accelerating the process of reinforcing them. Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal.
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(285 MB Powerpoint Presentation)
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