User talk:Self-ref/Struggle

= Cultural Struggle Surrounding Esoteric Topics in Wikipedia =

MUD-Wiki: Writer Flight and Trumped Up Statistics Amidst Warring Cabals
See the full article to be shifted elsewhere soon.

Cultural Struggle, the Weapon of Effacement, and a Theory of Hierarchic Wikis
See the full article at the Village Pump.

Pseudoscience Edit Protest Explanation
Could you explain your edits, please? You've been removing categories from articles in what appears to be an inappropriate manner. Those articles (and categories) are categorized that way because there are several reliable references indicating that they are pseudoscience. ... Hers fold  (t/a/c) 05:40, 3 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, i can explain my edits. I find that the Pseudoscience faction in Wikipedia is egregious in its abuse of the category to oppose paradigms with which it does not agree. I have no confidence that the serious damage that this is doing to the categories of its infringement will ever abate due to the aggregate momentum of the users assembled to efface what the pseudoskeptics abhor.


 * The "reliable references" to which you refer are merely biased faction supporters in a cultural war that seems to have engulfed Wikipedia to such an extent that its techniques and guidelines and customs now consistently enable the bludgeoning of topics which pseudoskeptics dislike.
 * I have indicated at least initially some of the problem areas of the Pseuodoscience category (subcats, pages) by my edits, and i will list them here for the interested, possibly reflecting this to a Talk page other than my own if i feel like it:
 * SUBCATS
 * Astrology
 * Divination
 * New Age
 * Numerology
 * Orgone energy
 * Paranormal
 * Phrenology
 * Psychic powers
 * Reiki
 * Remote Viewing
 * Spiritualism


 * Good examples, otherwise, within these SUBCATS are "Creation Science", and "Intelligent Design", possibly but probably not including "Scientology", which is a religion that does sometimes try to give the impression of being scientific.


 * PAGES
 * Astrology
 * Aura (paranormal)
 * Bigfoot
 * Colon cleansing
 * Divination
 * Dowsing
 * Graphology
 * Numerology
 * List of occultists
 * Orgone
 * Paranormal
 * Reiki
 * Remote viewing


 * In general the types of things being misplaced into the category of Pseudoscience are phenomena, principles, processes, techniques, and theories. By themselves these aren't pseudosciences even though some in the scientific community may seek to call them this. Typically they are divinatory or therapeutic techniques that may be based on questionable or disputed theoretical foundations, and this should never be considered pseudoscience by itself.


 * Feel free to quote or refer to this portion of my talk page, as it is likely going to be one of my few involvements in Wikipedia. The pseudoskeptical factions are way too strong for me (or many of my friends or family) to want to stay long, and the means by which things are changed here is so tedious that the best most of us will be able to do is put up a meek protest, explain it, and move on.


 * Thanks for your time.-- self-ref (nagasiva yronwode) (talk) 06:16, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Pseudoscience Category Abuses
Removing the pseudoscience category from articles which so obviously concern subjects in that category is very likely to be seen as vandalism. You will note that all of your removals have been reverted. For Wikipedia's attitudes towards pseudoscience, see Requests_for_arbitration/Pseudoscience, specifically the section stating

16) Theories which have a following, such as astrology, but which are generally considered pseudoscience by the scientific community may properly contain that information and may be categorized as pseudoscience.

--MediaMangler (talk) 05:46, 3 September 2008 (UTC)


 * The problem is that they don't obviously concern it. I protested and corrected the problem that you and others have allowed to continue due to your bias against the topics of your infringement. Your knowledge is floating on a cloud of consensus.


 * The arbitration to which you refer is merely a gang's victory against those who are attempting to repulse the pseudoskeptical assault on topics which aren't properly pseudosciences at all, but are targets of modern materialist science proponents who seek to use the term in this way.


 * Because some arbitration was agreed this does not mean that it is authoritative or that i must agree with it. I dispute it and would characterize it as a form of gang-warfare against an array of topics which you and others like you are effectively damaging Wikipedia's knowledge base concerning, by repeatedly infringing on these areas of knowledge and inserting pseudoskeptical viewpoints into them rather than to let them have their own zones to explain their methodologies and associated ideas in peace.


 * I gather that were i to continue to make these edits over and over again you would be within your rights and powers to issue to me some kind of warning. This is the means by which the culture war is carried out -- through the mechanism of the Wiki POLICE (Patrollers). Your Talk page itself indicates that your interest is Pseudoscience, and you have a vested interest in maintaining the intellectual boundaries which are in fact whittling away at the topics that the category of Pseudoscience is allowed to encompass, quite idiotically and biasedly.-- self-ref (nagasiva yronwode) (talk) 06:40, 3 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I would like to add here that mine is not the first voice being raised in alarm at the abuses of the category (and terminological use) of 'pseudoscience'. during several arbitration incidents arguments have successively explained some of these problems, inclusive of that by Gleng in the immediately foregoing arbitration that
 * "'Pseudoscience” is a word rarely used by scientists in the peer reviewed literature; it has no consistent and clear general meaning, although it may be used with a particular meaning in mind when used in a particular context. I think it should be avoided in general on WP because of its vagueness and derogatory implication, if something has been criticized as obscure, illogical, unfounded, false, or mystical, say that, and say why the source of the opinion is notable if it is not apparent, and make sure that the citation is accessible online so that the context can be seen."


 * Additionally, the text of Jim Butler (refined cites slightly for sourcing) is of some assistance, excerpted from that same arbitration:
 * "I agree with Gleng's comments. As he says below and elsewhere, the term 'pseudoscience' isn't found much in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Accordingly, to the extent that we use the term, we should be clear about whose POV we're representing, and with which V RS's."


 * "Editors concerned with highlighting what they believe are pseudoscientific topics rightly point to the NPOV FAQ's comments on pseudoscience, giving 'equal validity', and making necessary assumptions. However, NPOV and VER go further than those passages, and if we rely too heavily on those passages at the expense of other aspects of NPOV and VER, we're missing the forest for the trees. For example, if WP:NPOVT means anything, it means that category:pseudoscience should be used sparingly.  I've commented on this issue in some detail here.  Thanks, Jim Butler(talk) 08:25, 5 October 2006 (UTC) (minor edits for clarity 05:31, 6 October 2006 (UTC))"


 * "As an example regarding categorization: Is the current inclusion of homeopathy in category:pseudoscience appropriate or necessary when a Pubmed search turns up a scant three citations of the terms 'homeopathy' and 'pseudoscience' together? Why doesn't it suffice simply to let the facts speak for themselves, as WP:NPOV says?  I believe some editors (cf. User:FeloniousMonk's comment at Talk:Pseudoscience) are tending to use the above-linked comments from the NPOV FAQ as a way to resurrect the deprecated WP:SPOV.  It's as if so-labelled pseudoscientific topics have magically become exceptions to the NPOV and VER requirements that we use V RS's to say who says what and why.  Editors such as FM are arguing that if authors who write for non-peer-reviewed popular journals such as Skeptical Inquirer designate a field as pseudoscience, that suffices for categorization --"
 * "* despite the fact that such sources don't meet RS for scientific sources;"
 * "* irrespective of whether we can prove the scientific community takes such a stance; and"
 * * despite the NPOV problems with the category namespace that WP:CG mentions (i.e., it appears without annotations, so it can be used to advance one view over another rather than presenting competing views).
 * "Since these disputes affect large numbers of articles, guidance from the ArbCom would be helpful. thanks, Jim Butler(talk) 08:38, 8 October 2006 (UTC)"


 * Finally, i would also like to include the following material from Jim Butler's User page which he references above in excerpt as it is appropos and bears repeating:
 * What is pseudoscience?


 * Pseudoscience essentially means "something misrepresented as being scientific". The definition thus depends both on what is meant by "scientific" and on whether misrepresentation is taking place, and the term remains ill-defined.  Unless one explains the ways in which a particular field diverges from the scientific method, the term pseudoscience remains little more than an epithet, like "cult".


 * Notable critics have argued that some topics in alternative medicine have particular pseudoscientific characteristics. I often agree with such criticisms (and the ways in which alt-med topics diverge from the basic requirements of the scientific method are too numerous to list here).  However, it's overreaching to assert that critics of pseudoscience who write for popular audiences (e.g., in publications like Skeptical Inquirer) necessarily represent the views of a majority of scientists.  (For that, we need to follow WP:V, which says to use reliable sources that meet particular standards.)  I believe that some self-identified "skeptics" err on the side of pseudoskepticism, and in their zeal to debunk have tended to throw out some "baby" along with the "bathwater".


 * Scientists generally comment on evidence, not on whether something is "pseudoscience". Pseudoscience is inherently a contentious term because it says that a topic's advocate is engaging (knowingly or not) in misrepresentation.  Wikipedias's categorization guidelines, at WP:CG, suggest that we avoid using categories when they are contentious.  Thus, for topics that are in "grey areas", i.e. that have significant scientific and pseudoscientific elements, we should be very careful about using the pseudoscience category.  (Fortunately, since I wrote this section, the ArbCom has clarified matters and we may rely on WP:NPOVFAQ.


 * (Inspirational quote)


 * From User:Gleng, this is a keeper:


 * Like most scientists am sparing with the term "pseudoscience" because it is both offensively perjorative and irredeemably imprecise. My resource is PubMed, this vast repository of the scientific literature spanning all disciplines and many languages, in all this trove only 71 articles even use the word, of these only 11 are reviews, and mostly concern the historical debates about now rejected areas of science. Scientists deal with the merits of arguments, case by case; they do not categorise by prejudice, either arguments or those who make them; to call something a pseudoscience or someone a pseudoscientist are either gratuitous insults or they are serious charges, worthy of close and careful argument, of meticulous rigor and precision, to justify what might be seen as a libel.Gleng 15:14, 19 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your attention to these abuses.-- self-ref (nagasiva yronwode) (talk) 18:47, 11 September 2008 (UTC) (whoopsee forgot to sign)

Pseudoscience category as a weapon in the hegemonic culture wars
In Wikipedia, Pseudoscience is defined like this: Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific or made to appear scientific, but does not adhere to the scientific method,[2][3][4] lacks supporting evidence or plausibility,[5] or otherwise lacks scientific status.[6]

This sentence contains an opening clause -- the "claimed to be or made to appear" clause -- and three dependent sub-clauses, the "does not adhere" sub-clause, the "lacks supporting evidence" sub-clause, and the "lacks scientific status" sub-clause.

The sub-clauses only function as agents upon the first clause ("claimed to be or made to appear scientific"). If this were not so, then anything in the world which "lacks scientific status" -- a cheeseburger, a dog, a piece of hand-woven cloth from Equador -- could be classified as a "Pseudoscience." Obviously this is not the case, because these items (and a million others), are never thought of as Pseudosciences because they were never "claimed to be or made to appear scientific."

The problem is that the pseudoskeptic group at Wikipedia treats these three sub-clauses as independent clauses. They do this despite that fact that adherents and practitioners of the subjects labelled "pseudoscience" are not always claiming a scientific basis for their beliefs or, if they are, they may be using the word "science" in its broadest sense, meaning "knowledge," and not in the narrow sense of "an approved academic curriculum of study of the material world that utilizes the 'scientific method' of investigation into physical phenomena".

Let us take Spiritualism, for an example. Spiritualism is a religion. There have been claims made for it of a scientific nature in the narrow sense of the word, mostly in the past, and mostly by a very small minority of adherents. However, this entire religion, consisting of many denominations (see List of Spiritualist organizations) is unfairly labelled a Pseudoscience at Wikipedia. This is grossly unfair and prejudicial to the religion of Spiritualism.

Then let us take New Age. This is an interfaith religio-cultural movement. Again, a small minority of adherents have made scientific claims, narrowly defined, for aspects of the movement, but the general woman-in-the-street adherent does not make scientific claims, merely thinking of herself as a "New Ager" or "New Age pracititoner." Labelling her beliefs a "Pseudoscience" is inaccurate, prejudicial, and discourteous.

Scientology is listed as "Pseudoscience" at Wikipedia, which makes some sense, as this religion does curently present itself as "science" based. But why is the religion of Thelema NOT labeled a "Pseudoscience" at Wikipedia, despite the fact that its motto is "The aim of religion, the method of science"? This is inconsistent, to say the least, and also a-historical, given the intertwined origins of the two religions.

Then we have Divination, in all its many branches. While some forms of divination are presented by some (but not all) adherents and practitioners as "scientific," others are virtually never given that appellation. In my 40-plus years of reading tea leaves, for instance, i have never heard Tasseography "claimed to be or made to appear scientific," yet it is still classified at Wikipedia as a "Pseudscience." WHY?

Why are the pseudoskeptics holding these topics hostage inside a category that exists only in the NEGATIVE, only to disrespect the items thus contained? Why is Wikipedia openly allowing a small coterie of editors to discredit and tarnish sincere religious and spiritual adherents?

It is my opinion that a pseudoskeptical faction of active and aggressive editors is waging a hegemonic culture war against small religions, folkloric customs, divination, mysticism, ccultism, and spirituality, that they are doing so by taking over and controlling the categories in which these diverse socio-cultural topics appear at Wikipedia, and that this is being done with the full knowledge and encouragement of Wikipedia administrators and bureaucrats.

If this were not so, the pseudoskeptics would allow members of these religions to absent their religions from the "Pseudoscience" category -- but they do not. They would allow practitioners and adherents of folkloric forms of divination to ask for independence from the "Pseudoscience" category -- but they do not.

WHY NOT?

As a Jew, i cannot help but note that this enforced classification of religions as "pseudo-somethings" is abhorrent and grossly offensive. Let me tell you how horrific it appears to me. Judaism is not "Pseudochristianity" and no one at Wikipedia would allow it to be listed as such -- but at the same time, Spiritualism and its attendent organizations like Universal Hagar's Spiritual Church and Pentecostal Spiritual Assemblies of Christ - International and Metropolitan Spiritual Churches of Christ -- which are not "Pseudoscience" and should never have been classified as "Pseudoscience" in the first place -- are thus listed, held captive to the mocking whim of pseudoskeptics who think that their connection to rich, powerful, White scientific atheists gives them the right to disrespect and malign any religion they choose.

That's what it looks like to me, and i invite anyone who doesn't have a closed mind to click on the links to those small, mostly African American, Spiritualist groups and tell me why -- WHY? -- they are placed in the "Pseudoscience" category. Can you justify it? Really? If you can, tell me why. Or better yet, tell THEM.

Please feel free to carry this material to any other discussion page at Wikipedia where it might be appropriate.

Thaks for reading. cat yronwode a.k.a. "64" 64.142.90.33 (talk) 07:39, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

CfD nomination of Category:Pseudoskeptic Target
I have nominated pseudoskeptic target for deletion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at the discussion page. Thank you. Gillyweed (talk) 10:44, 4 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you very much for doing that. I have referenced the above 3 Sections as part of the presentation there. Should i actually move these sections interior to that CfD discussion? or should i leave it here on my Talk page? I am concerned that if were deleted in the future there would be no way to fully understand that discussion and want it archived. thanks for any recommendations that any may be interested in providing.-- self-ref (nagasiva yronwode) (talk) 13:40, 4 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Also, i have set out more coherently and with detail what my premise was in doing what i have done, presenting this at the Village Pump.-- self-ref (nagasiva yronwode) (talk) 18:38, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Prototype for a List of Pseudoskeptic Targets Article
note: Category:Pseudoscience Category:Pseudoskepticism

SPECIAL REFLECTION NOTE: List_of_pseudosciences_and_pseudoscientific_concepts

PROPOSAL: create List_of_pseudoskeptic_targets

PREMISE
Usually calling their targets "pseudoscience", pseudoskeptics attempt to argue with and efface competing ideologies they have identified as in error or as contrary to their understanding of the universe. Typically these are techniques, therapies, and phenomena which offend their modern scientific perspective, and which they seek to oppose in society through their pseudoskeptical methods.

The following are contested as to their pseudoscientific status. Pseudoskeptics use assertions by mainstream, specialized scientific bodies (e.g., a society of plasma physicists) or one or more national- or regional-level Academies of Science to issue challenges to their legitimacy and to repeatedly efface their complete coverage. That these items listed here are not accepted by the scientific establishment is acknowledged, but that this necessarily means that they seek to be known as sciences on a consistent and comparably meaningful basis or primarily promote themselves as sciences is <B>disputed</B>. 'Pseudosciences' used in this pejorative sense deserves a more stringent restriction for its application, and phenomena, theories, and ideas which modern science dispute deserve greater protection from this cultural infringement. Thus, the list below is helpful in identifying these targets which are receiving undue effacement by pseudoskeptics in such networks and projects as Wikipedia.

Preliminary List of Pseudoscientific Targets

 * Astrology refers to any of several systems of understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge about reality and human existence, based on the relative positions and movement of various real and construed celestial bodies.


 * Crop circles are geometric designs of crushed or knocked-over crops created in a field. Aside from skilled farmers or pranksters working through the night, explanations for their formation include UFOs and anomalous, tornado-like air currents. The study of crop circles is termed "cerealogy" by proponents.


 * Crystal healing is the belief that crystals have healing properties. Once common among pre-scientific and indigenous peoples, it has recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with the new age movement.


 * Homeopathy is the belief in giving a patient with symptoms of an illness extremely dilute solutions of substances that produce those same symptoms in healthy people given larger doses.


 * Lunar effect is the belief that the full moon influences human behavior.


 * Paranormal subjects


 * Channeling is the communication of information to or through a person allegedly from a spirit or other paranormal entity.


 * Dowsing refers to practices said to enable one to detect hidden water, metals, gemstones or other objects.


 * Electronic voice phenomenon is the alleged communication by spirits through tape recorders and other electronic devices.


 * Levitation, in this sense, is the act of rising up from the ground without any physical aids, usually by the power of thought.


 * Materialization is the supposed creation or appearance of matter from unknown sources.


 * Séances are ritualized attempts to communicate with the dead.


 * Psychokinesis is the paranormal ability of the mind to influence matter or energy at a distance.


 * Therapeutic touch is a form of vitalism where a practitioner, who may be also a nurse, passes his or her hands over and around a patient to "realign" or "rebalance" a putative energy field.

Other topics which pseudoskeptics label 'pseudoscience' and try to marginalize
The following are subjects labelled pseudoscience by notable skeptical bodies such as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly CSICOP). The fact that these items are not considered scientific by these groups in and of themselves, and that only certain aspects, explanations, and/or applications of them have been thus classified, warrants their characterization as pseudoskeptic targets. They are the victims of an ongoing scientistic culture war. This is not to say that they are justified, well-founded, or more than fantasies, just that they are mislabelled as 'pseudosciences' when in fact at best they are products of pseudosciences or pseudoscientists.

-- Terran regions
 * The Bermuda Triangle is a region of the Atlantic Ocean that lies between Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and (in its most popular version) Florida. Frequent disappearances and ship and aircraft disasters in this area have led to the circulation of stories of unusual natural phenomona, paranormal encounters, and interactions with extraterrestrial.

-- Paranormal and ufology


 * Ancient astronauts are extraterrestrials said to have initiated the rise of human civilization or provided significant technological assistance to various ancient civilizations.


 * Animal mutilations are cases of animals, primarily domestic livestock, with seemingly unexplainable wounds. These wounds have been said to be caused by natural predation, extra terrestrials, cults, or covert government organizations.


 * Tutankhamun's curse was allegedly placed on the discoverers of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, causing widespread deaths and other disastrous events.


 * Tunguska event is an anomalous meteor strike said to actually be the impact of a miniature black hole or a large body composed of antimatter, or Ball lightning.

Philosophy and psychology

 * Graphology is a purported psychological test based on a belief that personality traits unconsciously and consistently influence handwriting morphology - that certain types of people exhibit certain quirks of the pen. Analysis of handwriting attributes provides no better than chance correspondence with personality, and neuroscientist Barry Beyerstein likened the assigned correlations to sympathetic magic. Graphology is only superficially related to forensic document examination, which also examines handwriting.


 * Phrenology Phrenologists believe that the mind is compartmentalize, an idea featured in modern neuro-imaging technique (see also modularity of mind or faculty psychology). Phrenologists also claim to determine character and personality traits on the basis of the shape of the head (reading "bumps").


 * Primal therapy The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology (2001) states that: "The theoretical basis for the therapy is the supposition that prenatal experiences and birth trauma form people's primary impressions of life and that they subsequently influence the direction our lives take....".


 * Subliminal perception is visual or auditory information that is discerned below the threshold of conscious awareness and has an effect on human behavior.

Health and medicine

 * Anthroposophic medicine, or Anthroposophically extended medicine, is a school of complementary medicine founded in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Dr. Ita Wegman based on the spiritual philosophy of anthroposophy. Adherents practice a highly individualized holistic and salutogenic approach to health, embracing a "Fourfold Path" of healing by considering the physical body, formative processes, consciousness, and biography (ego). Medications are formulated to stimulate healing by matching "key dynamic forces" with symptoms, and prepared for external, oral, or parenteral introduction in various dilutions ranging from whole to homeopathic. Skeptic Robert Carroll likens to sympathetic magic the principle that curative plants may be identified by distortions or abnormalities in their morphology or physiology. Carroll and others suggest that the system is out of touch with conventional medicine. Practitioners give less significance to randomized controlled trials, emphasizing balancing these with individualized diagnosis and treatment. Because promotion of self-healing is preferred, anthroposophical doctors and parents generally restrict or delay the use of vaccinations, antibiotics, and antipyretics; this restriction has been associated with a relative reduction in incidence of allergies in children being raised according to an anthroposophic lifestyle. No thorough scientific analysis of the efficacy of anthroposophical medicine as a system independent of its philosophical underpinnings has been undertaken; no evidence-based conclusion of the overall efficacy of the system can be made at this time.


 * Applied kinesiology is a means of medical diagnosis which proponents believe can identify health problems or nutritional deficiencies through practitioner assessment of external physical qualities such as muscle response, posture, or motion analysis. A variety of therapies are prescribed based on tested weakness or smoothness of muscle action and a conjectured viscerosomatic association between particular muscles and organs. The sole use of Applied Kinesiology to diagnose or treat any allergy or illness is not scientifically supported, and the International College of Applied Kinesiology requires concurrent use of standard diagnostic techniques. Applied kinesiologists are often chiropractors, but may also be naturopaths, physicians, dentists, nutritionists, physical therapists, massage therapists, and nurses. Applied Kinesiology should not be confused with kinesiology, the scientific study of human movement.


 * Attachment therapy is a set of potentially fatal clinical interventions and parenting techniques aimed at controlling aggressive, disobedient, or unaffectionate children using "restraint and physical and psychological abuse to seek their desired results." Probably the most common form is holding therapy in which the child is restrained by adults for the purpose of supposed cathartic release of suppressed rage and regression. Perhaps the most extreme, but much less common, is "rebirthing," in which the child is wrapped tightly in a blanket and then made to simulate emergence from a birth canal. This is done by encouraging the child to struggle and pushing and squeezing him/her to mimic contractions. Despite its name it is not based on attachment theory or research. In 2006 it was the subject of an almost entirely critical Taskforce Report commissioned by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC).


 * Ayurveda is a 5,000 year old alternative medical practice with roots in ancient India based on a mind-body set of beliefs. Imbalance or stress in an individual’s consciousness is believed to be the reason of diseases. Patients are classified by body types (three doshas, which are considered to control mind-body harmony, determine an individual’s "body type"); and treatment is aimed at restoring balance to the mind-body system.  Its beliefs and practices include: 1) obvious and well established principles; 2) herbal remedies which might be proven useful by medical research; 3) absurd ideas, some of which are dangerous. It has long been the main traditional system of health care in India, and it has become institutionalized in India's colleges and schools. Although it superficially adheres to modern institutions, the institutional practitioners are haunted by Ayurvedic vaidyas, who were trained outside the traditional medicine school and are often referred to as "quacks".


 * The Bates method for better eyesight is an educational method developed by ophthalmologist William Bates intended to improve vision "naturally" to the point at which it can allegedly eliminate the need for glasses by undoing a habitual strain to see. In 1929 Bates was cited by the FTC for false or misleading advertising in connection with his book describing the method, Perfect Sight Without Glasses. Although some people claim to have improved their eyesight by following his principles, Bates' ideas about vision and accommodation have been rejected  by mainstream ophthalmology and optometry.


 * Biorhythms – a hypothesis holding that human physiology and behavior are governed by physical, emotional, and intellectual cycles lasting 23, 28, and 33 days, respectively; not to be confused with Chronobiology, the scientific study of biological rhythms. The system posits that, for instance, errors in judgment are more probable on days when an individual's intellectual cycle, as determined by days since birth, is near a minimum. No biophysical mechanism of action has been discovered, and the predictive power of biorhythms charts is no better than chance.  For the scientific study of biological cycles such as circadian rhythms, see chronobiology.


 * Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) is a reported sensitivity to electric and magnetic fields or electromagnetic radiation of various frequencies at exposure levels well below established safety standards. Symptoms are inconsistent, but can include headache, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and similar non-specific indications. Provocation studies find that the discomfort of sufferers is unrelated to hidden sources of radiation, and "no scientific basis currently exists for a connection between EHS and exposure to [electromagnetic fields]."


 * Faith healing is the act of curing disease by such means as prayer and laying on of hands. No material benefit in excess of that expected by placebo is observed.


 * Hypnosis is a state of extreme relaxation and inner focus in which a person is unusually responsive to suggestions made by the hypnotist. The modern practice has its roots in the idea of animal magnetism, or mesmerism, originated by Franz Mesmer. Though Mesmer's explanations were thoroughly discredited, hypnosis itself is today almost universally regarded as real. It is clinically useful for e.g. pain management, but some claimed uses of hypnosis outside of hypnotherapy clearly fall within the area of pseudoscience. Such areas include the use of hypnotic regression beyond plausible limits, including past life regression. Also see false memory syndrome.


 * Iridology is a means of medical diagnosis which proponents believe can identify and diagnose health problems through close examination of the markings and patterns of the iris. Practitioners divide the iris into 80-90 zones, each of which is connected to a particular body region or organ. This connection has not been scientifically validated, and disorder detection is neither selective nor specific.  Because iris texture is a phenotypical feature which develops during gestation and remains unchanged after birth (which makes the iris useful for Biometrics), Iridology is all but impossible.


 * Magnetic therapy is the practice of using magnetic fields to positively influence health. While there are legitimate medical uses for magnets and magnetic fields, the field strength used in magnetic therapy is too low to effect any biological change, and the methods used have no scientific validity.


 * Radionics is a means of medical diagnosis and therapy which proponents believe can diagnose and remedy health problems using various frequencies in a putative energy field coupled to the practitioner's electronic device. The first such "black box" devices were designed and promoted by Albert Abrams, and were definitively proven useless by an independent investigation commissioned by Scientific American in 1924. The internal circuitry of radionics devices is often obfuscated and irrelevant, leading proponents to conjecture dowsing and ESP as operating principles. Similar devices continue to be marketed under various names, though none is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration; there is no scientific evidence for the efficacy or underlying premise of radionics devices.  The radionics of Albert Abrams and his intellectual descendants should not be confused with similarly named reputable and legitimate companies, products, or medical treatments such as radiotherapy or radiofrequency ablation.

Religious and spiritual beliefs
Spiritual and religious practices and beliefs are normally not classified as pseudoscience.
 * Omitted based on Stephen Jay Gould's sufficient defense of religion as a separate knowledge magisteria.

-- Parody pseudoscience ...notable parodies of other pseudosciences and pseudoscientific concepts, or scientific jokes posing as serious theories.

-- Idiosyncratic ideas ...concepts have only a very small number of proponents, yet have become notable.


 * The 2 above omitted as unneedful of defense, yet mentioned because concepts and hoaxes aren't sciences or pseudosciences, though they may derive from pseudoscientists or those conducting pseudoscience.

Notes and references
Category:Fringe science Category:Paranormal Category:Pseudoskepticism Category:Scientific skepticism

POV Fork
The above content is a clear POV Fork, in which you have taken the NPOV article and added your views. It'll need massive changes were it to be added to namespace. Verbal  chat  09:54, 5 September 2008 (UTC)


 * yes, i think i know to what you refer, and think that i agree completely with you.
 * my interest here isn't really to create a useful page for the public wiki, but instead to create a useful page for those who must consistently contend against the pseudoskeptics. I'd like to add that your comment here is to me a demonstration of your integrity and willingness to help (your overall generous nature and interest in providing helpful feedback), and it is definitely appreciated, thanks.-- self-ref (nagasiva yronwode) (talk) 05:24, 7 September 2008 (UTC)