Worst Pseudoscience

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2002-07-04 08:38am

Doomriser, Rob, might I remind you two that this is the "science and logic" forum, not the "bash Christians" forum.

Doom, your .sig just makes you look stupid.

Post by **Rob Wilson** » 2002-07-04 08:46am

Iceberg wrote:Doomriser, Rob, might I remind you two that this is the "science and logic" forum, not the "bash Christians" forum.

I'm not bashing Christians, I'm bashing the morons that think prayer alone can heal the terminally ill, or the ones that thinking praying for someone is a substitute for actually helping them in other ways like emotional support or physical aid. If someone wants to pray, then go for it. But remember that you can do other things as well.

Post by **Rob Wilson** » 2002-07-04 08:48am

Iceberg wrote:Doomriser, Rob, might I remind you two that this is the "science and logic" forum, not the "bash Christians" forum.

How about "Christian Scientists" have no Logic? That fits in.

What is the deal with Christian Scientists anyway, they don't actully believe in Science.

BTW I'm talking about the Christian Science movement, not Scientists that happen to be Christian

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2002-07-04 08:58am

Rob Wilson wrote:How about "Christian Scientists" have no Logic? That fits in.

What is the deal with Christian Scientists anyway, they don't actully believe in Science.

BTW I'm talking about the Christian Science movement, not Scientists that happen to be Christian

Not only do they not believe in science, they don't really believe in Christ (don't believe in his Deity, let alone in the Trinity).

My dad once told me, "Christian Scientists are neither Christian, nor scientists." Further examination led me to the conclusion that he was dead-on right.

Post by **Rob Wilson** » 2002-07-04 09:11am

Iceberg wrote:
Rob Wilson wrote:How about "Christian Scientists" have no Logic? That fits in.

What is the deal with Christian Scientists anyway, they don't actully believe in Science.

BTW I'm talking about the Christian Science movement, not Scientists that happen to be Christian
Not only do they not believe in science, they don't really believe in Christ (don't believe in his Deity, let alone in the Trinity).

My dad once told me, "Christian Scientists are neither Christian, nor scientists." Further examination led me to the conclusion that he was dead-on right.

Makes you wonder why they didn't just call themselves Satanic Intuitors.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2002-07-04 09:17am

Rob Wilson wrote:Makes you wonder why they didn't just call themselves Satanic Intuitors.

Doesn't look good on a business card.

Post by **Rob Wilson** » 2002-07-04 09:30am

Iceberg wrote:
Rob Wilson wrote:Makes you wonder why they didn't just call themselves Satanic Intuitors.

Doesn't look good on a business card.

Just to get back on-topic (who me, someone pick up the fainters at the back), I put "Quantum" and "Healing" into a search engine just to see what I'd get.

It gave me this as the first find
http://www.quantumhealing.com/

And from their FAQ we find this
"What is Subluxation?

A vertebral (spinal) subluxation is a clinical condition affecting the relationship and alignment of spinal bones and neurological structures which impacts the overall function of the body’s natural coordinating systems. The influence of the subluxation on the body may be subtle and asymptomatic, or rather dramatic and expressive. The effects of subluxations are cumulative and global."

Anyone want to point out the flaws in tht one paragraph, not to mention what it really says?

Also we get
"How do you know the vertebral subluxation has been reduced or corrected?

The interference from vertebral subluxation is like a rock obstructing the natural flow of a mountain stream. Normally, that life force would flow from above down, and like all generated life energy, from the inside out. When there is interference to the fluid flow of life’s energy, it creates a disharmonious relationship of the physical, emotional, or mental aspects of oneself.

When the pressure of vertebral subluxation is alleviated, and proper spinal alignment restored, that life force energy is released, to resume its natural flow. You will get to know when you are subluxation free and you will experience an increase in productivity, efficiency, and ease."

Same for that one. Any takers?

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2002-07-04 11:05am

The religion preached by the Raëlian Movement![/url]

IDMR · Post by **IDMR** » 2002-07-04 11:11am

Rob Wilson wrote:
Iceberg wrote:Alex Chiu is definitely a good candidate.
Yes the Healing properties of magnets, maybe we should get him and the "Magnetic fields cause cancer" crowd together and let them fight it out.

<Snip>

[stoopid]NO! There is no contradiction! Teh mganetic rings properly llines up the life force and the magnetic fields, the powre lines just produce storng field not properly alighned with the life force![/stoopid]

Soulman · Post by **Soulman** » 2002-07-04 02:32pm

New Scientist usually has some good nonsense in the feedback section...

"Primordial M-Water™ is a Perfect Living Water concentrate that is imbued with super coherent life supporting primordial vibration and energy as well as super coherent molecular clustering. With Primordial M-Water™ there is an integration of advanced scientific theory and profound functional health benefits that go beyond limited medical mechanisms."

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2002-07-04 02:35pm

Soulman wrote:New Scientist usually has some good nonsense in the feedback section...

"Primordial M-Water™ is a Perfect Living Water concentrate that is imbued with super coherent life supporting primordial vibration and energy as well as super coherent molecular clustering. With Primordial M-Water™ there is an integration of advanced scientific theory and profound functional health benefits that go beyond limited medical mechanisms."

WOW! I want some! I bet that ting is good for just about everything!
Rocket fuel, immortality potion, turbolaser ammo and whatnot!

Franc28 · Post by **Franc28** » 2002-07-04 05:14pm

For more entertainment with whackos, check out the site done by me and my girlfriend, called Insolitology ( www.insolitology.com ). It is our web site on oddity on the Internet.

We're not done yet, but about half the material is there...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 2002-07-04 06:09pm

Well the standard creationist arguments tend to take the cake.

"If every effect must have a cause, and this cannot continue to infinity, then there must be a God to fix my brainache!"
Layering assumption on further assumption, this argument is the most widely-used and irritating, in my mind.

"The fossil record does not show one species turning into another!"
The fossil record has never been even slightly complete, fossils are bloody hard to create and the varying populations of different species of varying success will inevitably yield a 'record' where 'missing links' are rare in the extreme.

"The Earth's magnetic field has been declining slowly. If it was more than 6'000 or so years old it would have been lethally intense!"
Bullshit layered upon additional bullshit, with an outright lie thrown in. The Earth's magnetic field is constantly shifting in all sorts of ways, and is widely thought to invert quite often.

"God is outside this reality and so cannot be criticised by conventional science."
Or 'I can't be arsed to justify my beliefs'. God managed to 'dip his hands in' to our universe for a bit of creationist fun, yes? If you cannot come up with any supporting evidence don't dance around making poor excuses.

"Two separate species cannot evolve from one species."
Crap. They certainly can when subjected to differing environmental conditions and niches.

-Which are my nominated few pseudoscience statements.

victorhadin · Post by **victorhadin** » 2002-07-04 06:11pm

Blast. I forgot to login. The above post is mine.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2002-07-04 09:45pm

If every effect must have a cause, and this cannot continue to infinity, then there must be a God to fix my brainache!

I love this argument. It's so easy to punch holes in because it violates its own premise.

Premise: Every effect must have a cause.
Conclusion: There must be an effect that did not have a cause.

This is just downright hilarious, and I can't believe people actually buy it and consider themselves educated.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2002-07-04 09:47pm

If every effect must have a cause, and this cannot continue to infinity, then there must be a God to fix my brainache!

I love this argument. It's so easy to punch holes in because it violates its own premise.

Premise 1: Every effect must have a cause.
Premise 2: This chain cannot be infinite (why not?).
Conclusion: There must be an effect that did not have a cause (what about Premise 1?).

This is just downright hilarious, and I can't believe people actually buy it and consider themselves educated.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2002-07-04 09:57pm

Star Trek is just one big anomaly that hinders science.

Post by **Rob Wilson** » 2002-07-04 10:14pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Star Trek is just one big anomaly that hinders science.

Thankfully Entropy knows no barriers and so ST is fading away and grinding to a halt due to lack of creative energy.

BlueExcalibur · Post by **BlueExcalibur** » 2002-07-04 11:33pm

"Occam's Razor is a scientific principle which says that when faced with two theories, we should always choose the simplest theory. Evolution theory requires billions of years of chemical reactions, environmental effects, and genetic mutations. Creation theory simply says "God did it". Creation theory is obviously simpler, therefore Occam's Razor demands that we must select Creation theory on scientific grounds."

Yeah, I pulled if from Mike's site, but oh well.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2002-07-04 11:36pm

Durandal wrote:
If every effect must have a cause, and this cannot continue to infinity, then there must be a God to fix my brainache!
I love this argument. It's so easy to punch holes in because it violates its own premise.

Premise: Every effect must have a cause.
Conclusion: There must be an effect that did not have a cause.

That's not pseudoscience, just bad logic.

Post by **Rob Wilson** » 2002-07-04 11:37pm

BlueExcalibur wrote:
"Occam's Razor is a scientific principle which says that when faced with two theories, we should always choose the simplest theory. Evolution theory requires billions of years of chemical reactions, environmental effects, and genetic mutations. Creation theory simply says "God did it". Creation theory is obviously simpler, therefore Occam's Razor demands that we must select Creation theory on scientific grounds."
Yeah, I pulled if from Mike's site, but oh well.

Well for staggeringly huge misuse of a scientific tool, i think we have a new leader. Any more out there?

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2002-07-05 02:27am

I forgot to mention that my mother tries to "prove" that positioning loudspeakers in a certain way means that you lose memory when sleeping.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2002-07-05 02:29am

BlueExcalibur wrote:
"Occam's Razor is a scientific principle which says that when faced with two theories, we should always choose the simplest theory. Evolution theory requires billions of years of chemical reactions, environmental effects, and genetic mutations. Creation theory simply says "God did it". Creation theory is obviously simpler, therefore Occam's Razor demands that we must select Creation theory on scientific grounds."
Yeah, I pulled if from Mike's site, but oh well.

Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 2002-07-05 03:05am

Rob Wilson wrote:
Doomriser wrote:If a patient in a hospital actually believes that prayer will help him, then people praying will help alleiviate his condition. While prayer itself does not help, if a patient feels happier, loved, cared-for, more confident, and relaxed, than his condition should improve or at least he would feel better.
And if he doesn't know? What if he has Terminal Cancer? Is blind? Has lost a limb? Suffering from Altsiemers? Has AIDs? Has been Paralysed the Destruction of his spinal column? Suffering from 80% coverage of burns? How exactly is the prayer going to help there, apart from assuaging the bad feelings of the one giving the prayer.

Actually in a number of studies.........patients who pray regulary and are semi-religious do tend to have a better recovery rate then non praying/non-religous. I didn't beleive it when my proffessor told me so I looked it up......and it's true (Psych major here so it's kinda my job to know after all

). So there is a benefit from it

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2002-07-05 03:09am

Anonymous wrote:Actually in a number of studies.........

hahaha...I love it when an argument begins with that phrase!