La presente propuesta tiene como objetivo principal identificar y caracterizar las nuevas condiciones de mediatización que, en tiempos de revolución tecnológica, dan cabida a la actual propagación de ...creencias y discursos pseudocientíficos. Para tal fin se toma como eje de referencia al concepto de mediatización ofrecido por el semiólogo argentino Eliseo Verón. Sin caer en un determinismo tecnológico, no se puede dejar de reparar en las condiciones presentes que este ambiente tecno-mediático comporta en términos de acceso, circulación y consumo de pseudociencias. Haciendo usufructo de las potencialidades comunicativas inherentes a los nuevos dispositivos técnicos que pueblan nuestra cotidianeidad, sus promotores encuentran en la presente infraestructura tecno-comunicacional una vía idónea para su difusión y popularización en un marco que reconoce el avance de discursos relativistas y posmodernistas que buscan desacreditar y deslegitimar a la ciencia y a sus amplios y expresivos logros.
Is There a Limit to Resemblances? Park, Wonyong; Brock, Richard
Science & education,
01/2023, Letnik:
32, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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Abstract The notion of family resemblance has recently emerged as a promising and fruitful approach to characterising the nature of science (NOS) in science education research, offering solutions to ...some perplexing challenges such as capturing both the domain-general and domain-specific features of science with a single framework. At the same time, however, criticism has been levelled that the resemblance might eventually extend to certain activities that are not scientific but pose as science. This would be an undesirable consequence for science educators, particularly given the increasing need for individuals to discern pseudoscientific claims circulated on social media from scientific information. Many pseudoscientific and non-scientific activities resemble science in terms of their aim to explain nature, their use of evidence-based methods, and their interrelation with politics and society. In this theoretical article, we build on the concept of family resemblance to consider how it can simultaneously explain the diversity and unity of science and help students to learn about the nature of science and that of pseudoscience in science education. We put forward three principles that can guide teaching about pseudoscience based on the family resemblance conceptualisation of science.
In this study, we tested the relationship between personal agency beliefs, represented by free will, scientific and fatalistic determinism and unpredictability, and epistemically suspect beliefs ...(ESBs), including conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscience beliefs, across two different cultures (Türkiye and the UK). In two preregistered studies (NStudy 1 = 682, NStudy 2 = 532), we proposed and found correlational evidence for the idea that although seemingly contradictory, both forms of determinism—scientific and fatalistic—might lead individuals to feel a reduced control over their actions, prompting them towards simpler explanations offered by ESBs, thereby compensating for a diminished sense of agency. The relationship between free will, unpredictability, and ESBs varied by culture, likely influenced by the cultural interpretation of those beliefs. Our results underscore the link between personal agency and ESBs, suggesting that ESBs may act as a safeguard against eroding personal agency.
•Examined the relationship between agency beliefs and epistemically suspect beliefs (ESB).•Conducted two studies on samples from Türkiye and the UK.•Found significant associations between both fatalistic and scientific determinism with ESB.•Revealed mixed findings on the correlation between free will and unpredictability beliefs with ESB.
Practices such as astrology or crystal healing can be defined as pseudoscience. Against pseudoscience, one of the major responsibilities of science education must be to develop science-literate ...individuals who are able to understand what science is, how science is undertaken, how scientific knowledge is constructed, and how it is justified, then they will be able to determine whether a claim is valid and be alert to practices which fall outside the realms of science, especially those in the area of pseudoscience. For this reason, the ability of recognizing flawed process and claims of pseudoscience is referred to one of the crucial parts of science literacy. The present study aimed to uncover middle school students’ understanding of the inherent aim of pseudoscientists and pseudoscientific applications related to crystals and to reveal their judgments and justifications regarding the effectiveness and scientific basis of these applications. The present study was qualitative in nature. The results of the study showed that the students were very gullible about the aim, effectiveness, and scientific basis of pseudoscientific practices and in particular the use of crystals. Furthermore, similar to pseudoscientists, the students generally used weak reasoning to evaluate the presented claims and research designs about crystals and crystal healing.
Anatomy has been a cornerstone of osteopathic theory, practice and identity since the discipline's emergence in the 1800s and continues to be viewed as core knowledge to the present day. The domain ...of anatomical knowledge has provided seemingly endless rationales and explanations to justify osteopathic diagnosis, assessment and treatment. Moreover, knowledge of anatomy has been foundational for osteopaths' professional identity and conception of healthcare practice. Anatomical possibilism refers to the imagined, exaggerated, implausible and unproven relationships which are claimed to exist between anatomical structures. In persisting with such an approach to theory, practice and reasoning osteopathy may waste time, energy and intellectual capital and as a result fail to take advantage of opportunities to develop more plausible, ethical and person-focused approaches to patient care.
•We examined the relations between IH and endorsing/believing misinformation.•Intra- and interpersonal IH features best predicted endorsing/believing misinformation.•IH was related to less ...conspiratorial ideation and fake news susceptibility.•IH tended to not be related to pseudoscience beliefs.•Results tended to be unique to IH once accounting for covariates (e.g., humility).
We addressed key questions regarding the relations between intellectual humility (IH) and endorsing/believing misinformation by (1) understanding what aspects of IH best predict endorsing/believing misinformation, (2) examining whether IH is related to endorsing/believing multiple manifestations of misinformation (pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, fake news), and (3) investigating whether these relations are specific to IH as opposed to relevant covariates. Across three samples, the IH measure assessing intrapersonal, interpersonal, and emotional features tended to be a stronger negative correlate of endorsing/believing misinformation than the IH measure assessing intrapersonal features alone. IH was generally related to less conspiratorial ideation and susceptibility to fake news. Nevertheless, IH tended to not be related to pseudoscience measures. Finally, these relations were generally robust after controlling for covariates.
Recent statistics show that almost 1/4 of a million people have died and four million people are affected either with mild or serious health problems caused by coronavirus (COVID‐19). These numbers ...are rapidly increasing (World Health Organization, May 3, 2020c). There is much concern during this pandemic about the spread of misleading or inaccurate information. This article reports on a small study which attempted to identify the types and sources of COVID‐19 misinformation. The authors identified and analysed 1225 pieces of COVID‐19 fake news stories taken from fact‐checkers, myth‐busters and COVID‐19 dashboards. The study is significant given the concern raised by the WHO Director‐General that ‘we are not just fighting the pandemic, we are also fighting infodemic’. The study concludes that the COVID‐19 infodemic is full of false claims, half backed conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific therapies, regarding the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, origin and spread of the virus. Fake news is pervasive in social media, putting public health at risk. The scale of the crisis and ubiquity of the misleading information require that scientists, health information professionals and journalists exercise their professional responsibility to help the general public identify fake news stories. They should ensure that accurate information is published and disseminated.J.M.
Misinformation can undermine a well-functioning democracy. For example, public misconceptions about climate change can lead to lowered acceptance of the reality of climate change and lowered support ...for mitigation policies. This study experimentally explored the impact of misinformation about climate change and tested several pre-emptive interventions designed to reduce the influence of misinformation. We found that false-balance media coverage (giving contrarian views equal voice with climate scientists) lowered perceived consensus overall, although the effect was greater among free-market supporters. Likewise, misinformation that confuses people about the level of scientific agreement regarding anthropogenic global warming (AGW) had a polarizing effect, with free-market supporters reducing their acceptance of AGW and those with low free-market support increasing their acceptance of AGW. However, we found that inoculating messages that (1) explain the flawed argumentation technique used in the misinformation or that (2) highlight the scientific consensus on climate change were effective in neutralizing those adverse effects of misinformation. We recommend that climate communication messages should take into account ways in which scientific content can be distorted, and include pre-emptive inoculation messages.
Handwriting patterns are unique to each individual and can offer valuable insights into their mental health conditions, personality traits, behavioral tendencies, mindsets, and more. To effectively ...analyze someone's personality or solve a problem using their handwriting, it is crucial to employ suitable descriptors that accurately represent the essential information it contains. Therefore, this study aims to explore the application of invariant moments as descriptors to map personality types using the psychological technique of enneagrams in conjunction with handwriting patterns. The main procedures in this research involve pre-processing, texture-based feature extraction utilizing seven invariant moment values, and applying the chi-square similarity measure. Through testing with 49 handwriting samples and 120 reference data points, it was discovered that 42 writings were successfully and accurately mapped to their corresponding personalities, achieving an impressive accuracy rate of 85.7%. This research also reaffirms the validity of personality analysis through a system that utilizes graphological techniques, as demonstrated by a 4.1% increase in accuracy through the inclusion of invariant moment descriptors when compared to psychologist analysis.
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