Pigliucci (2010)
25 November 2021
09:11
While not often lethal, faulty thinking about how the world works can hurt plenty
Evidence: women in Kenia (and other countries) killed in suspicion of being witches, these
murders increase during times of droughts and flooding (weather events)
People can lose a lot of money on "alternative" medicine
Everyone has a right to be irrational, but rampant irrationality in a society can be highly wasteful
and destructive
Giving a pass to credulity on the grounds that "it does not hurt anyone" is not a rational
position
Emphasis of the chapter = that beliefs (various aspects of pseudoscience) have certain things in
common and how they differ from the sciences and quasi-sciences
Death by pseudoscience: AIDS denialism in Africa
South Africa complex nation with tense history of racial relations -> almost inevitable to become
fertile ground for a rejection of Western medicine in favour of local traditions and solutions
Still, astonishing to discover the depths of irrationality reached by some South African
leaders, and the absurd cost in human loves that their insane policies are directly causing
How is this possible? Because of the beliefs of former President Thabo Mbeki and his then
health minister, who argued that western medicine for HICV and AIDS were poison and
refuted the scientific evidence that HIV causes AIDS
o Do have some support from a minority of academics (but this is almost always the
case)
Science is a human activity, and human beings can legitimately hold different
opinions about empirical evidence
Not surprising that people emerging from an apartheid regime are sceptic about Western medicine,
and rightfully so, however, it is ironic that they - at the same time - resort to Western scientists who
support their claims
Clear example of why fighting pseudoscience entails more than just science education or
critical thinking. People believe in a lot of supernational stuff for reasons that go well
beyond the poor grasp of science and difficulty in deploying the tools of critical thinking
AIDS denial clear example of why superstition is dangerous to the point of lethality
Not in the Stars: Astrology as Bunk
Astrology is a perfect example of pseudoscience, because it claims can in fact be tested, have been
tested repeatedly and shown to be wrong, and yet people continue to practice.
Scientific evidence:
Star constellations actually do not exist; they are optical illusions, because the stars that
make up a given constellation are positioned at very different distances from Earth and the
only reason we group them together is because of a projection effect
Zodiac has shifted because the Earth has an axis of rotation (day and night) and an axis of
revolution (around the sun) which are not parallel
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