Why Do Irrational Beliefs Mimic Science? The Cultural Evolution of Pseudoscience
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20142623 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stefaan Blancke (0000-0002-7807-5606, Ghent University), Maarten Boudry (0000-0003-0932-3394, Ghent University and Tufts University), Massimo Pigliucci (City College of New York) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 83 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 78-97 |
| Publication date | 2017-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Theoria (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0040-5825 • E-ISSN: 1755-2567 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/theo.12109 |
| OpenAlex | W2557632168 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 27 |
| References cited | 45 |
Why do irrational beliefs adopt the trappings of science, to become what is known as “pseudoscience”? Here, we develop and extend an epidemiological framework to map the factors that explain the form and the popularity of irrational beliefs in scientific garb. These factors include the exploitation of epistemic vigilance, the misunderstanding of the authority of science, the use of the honorific title of “science” as an explicit argument for belief, and the phenomenon of epistemic negligence. We conclude by integrating the various factors in an epidemiological framework and thus provide a comprehensive cultural evolutionary account of science mimicry
Argument (complex analysis) · Epistemology · Honorific · Irrational number · Phenomenon · Popularity · Pseudoscience · Sociology · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology
Reasonable Irrationality
Audience Experience in an Anti-expert Age
Demarcating, defining, and diagnosing pseudoscience
Culturing Belief
Concluding Thoughts
What Should We Believe About Belief?
How Our Minds Are Made Up
Nudging Well
Dare to Think?
Epistemic Pollution
Sven Ove Hansson, Ciência E Pseudociência; Tradução De Cristiane Xerez Barroso
Diagnosing Pseudoscience – by Getting Rid of the Demarcation Problem
Wie wil er weten? Op zoek naar waarheid in gepolariseerde tijden aan de hand van Kants modi van voor waar houden
How cultural evolution can inform the science of science communication—and vice versa
“Trust Me, I’m a Scientist”
Pre-service Teachers’ False Beliefs in Superstitions and Pseudosciences in Relation to Science and Technology
How does pseudoscience differ from science? A pair-wise bibliometric analysis
Advancing the debate on the consequences of misinformation
Bullshit, trust, and evidence
Looking for the Evidence of “Self-Evident Truth”
Processing the Scientific Tentativeness of Medical Research
Bad Beliefs
Do as the Romans do
Alternative science, alternative experts, alternative politics. The roots of pseudoscientific beliefs in Western Europe
Pseudotechnologies, Non-functional Principles and Scientific Knowledge
Conspiracy Beliefs and Consumption
Technical Language as Evidence of Expertise
Psychological essentialism in children
The moral, epistemic, and mindreading components of children’s vigilance towards deception
Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory
How Darwinian is cultural evolution?
The Argumentative Theory
Explaining culture
Science as Social Knowledge
A Theory of Justice
Nonsense on Stilts
Blinded with science
Philosophy of Pseudoscience
The science delusion
The Social Dimensions of Scientific Knowledge
Knowledge in a Social World
Not By Genes Alone
Epistemic Vigilance
Can cultural evolution bridge scientific continents
The Unnatural Nature of Science
How Schrödinger’s Cat Became a Zombie
Experts
Creationism in Europe
Fact, fiction, and forecast
Feeling the future
How convenient! The epistemic rationale of self-validating belief systems
How Lay Cognition Constrains Scientific Cognition
| Unique citing works | 27 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2026 (10) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 24 |