Science à la Carte 7The most effective practitioners of pseudoscience are scientists
well acquainted with how the scientific method works. Like company
employees pulling off an inside job, they know how to subvert the time-
honored tenets of research to fit personal ideologies or ulterior motives.
Here are a few common tactics:
- Using the media to exploit the bread-and-butter practice of present-
ing opposing viewpoints, which feeds the perception that scientists
are equally divided. (As one example: lost in a two-person debate is
the fact that 98 percent of climate scientists attribute global warming
to human activity, while only percent do not.) - Highlighting the absence of black-and-white findings to imply
uncertainty and division among scientists. (In fact, the role of science
is providing a way to navigate uncertainty by weighing all evidence
and building consensus, which takes time.) - Dismissing findings as bogus while never submitting contrary
evidence or studies for peer review. (Such criticism often includes
cooking up sinister motives for existing science.) - Creating a scientific façade through official-sounding institutes,
conferences, speakers, and even published proceedings. (On the
surface are the trappings of scientific integrity. Below the surface are
dubious funding sources and lack of peer review.) - Impugning the reputation of scientists who disagree with their
positions. (This often includes vicious personal character attacks,
unsubstantiated allegations, and misrepresentation by taking facts
out of context.) - Targeting donations and sponsoring endowed chairs at public
institutions. (The clear intent is to create an apparently indepen-
dent, well-respected source of information to disseminate a particular
message that is favorable to the donor.) - Using popular media to distribute sensationalized but official-
sounding stories. (This rewards people seeking to affirm their own
biases.) - Invoking seemingly scholarly articles published in open-access jour-
nals. (Pseudo-online journals are the latest way to earn quick money.
To illustrate the point, Science magazine submitted 3 versions of a
bogus wonder-drug study with hopelessly flawed results to online