/oss/taxonomy/term/515/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience-history/will-graphology-become-extinct <p>Can a pseudoscience ever truly disappear? Over the course of human history, we have made many attempts at explaining the world around us, and while some of these guesses were eventually confirmed through rigorous scientific experimentation, many of our hypotheses were shown to be wrong, yet some survived. They became belief systems with a patina of scientific credibility applied on top. It still surprises me that astrology, a clear pseudoscience which has been firmly supplanted by both astronomy and human psychology, remains popular today.</p> Fri, 19 Jul 2024 12:02:15 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10004 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/so-you-want-grow-hair <p>If you want to make a lot of money, all you have to do is come up with an effective treatment for androgenic alopecia. That’s male pattern baldness. Actually, even a minimally effective product will do.</p> Wed, 29 May 2024 05:22:28 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9961 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/dim-science-neuroglow <p>The cosmetics industry sells hope by mixing a little chemistry with a hefty dose of hype. Novelty, whether in “actives,” or in packaging, or just fresh flim-flam is what opens wallets. Since consumers are becoming blasé about over-used terms like moisturizing, anti-aging, rejuvenating, nurturing, hydrating, revolutionary and natural, marketers are pressed to come up with new ploys. Throwing in sciency terms like “psychodermatology” and “neurocosmetics,” can invigorate sales. Neurocosmetics are said to forge a link between the mind and skin care. Who says so? Psychodermatologists.</p> Wed, 22 May 2024 02:16:08 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9951 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/no-eating-french-fries-not-same-smoking-cigarettes <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-no-eating-french-fries-is-not-the-same-as-smoking-cigarettes">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 10 May 2024 15:46:56 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9944 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/crank-magnetism-weston-price-foundation <p>In June 2007, Mark Hoofnagle and Chris Hoofnagle published an article on ScienceBlogs entitled <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2007/06/28/crank-magnetism-1">“Crank Magnetism.”</a> As far as I can tell, this is the first appearance of this phrase online.</p> Fri, 12 Apr 2024 14:10:33 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9908 at /oss /oss/article/medical-pseudoscience/donors-organ-donors-personality-lets-approach-sensibly <p>It’s a story that would make the publishers of the <i>Kama Sutra </i>blush with envy. A 25-year-old graduate student’s sex drive suddenly surged and his technique apparently improved overnight. “I make love like I know exactly how the woman’s body feels and responds,” he told researchers, “almost as if it is my body.” His girlfriend concurred: “He’s a much better lover now.” She also noticed other changes. Her boyfriend was now a hugger, and he loved to go shopping, and he carried a purse with him. And going to museums? “He would never, absolutely never do that,” she said.</p> Fri, 01 Mar 2024 16:03:16 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9853 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/naprapathy-stretches-credulity <p>Buried in <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5443677/49/ragsdale-v-central-dupage-hospital/">a court document</a> mentioning Joe Mercola was the first reference to naprapathy I had ever seen. Joe Mercola has made a fortune selling dietary supplements and publishing health misinformation over the past few decades. The court case did not involve Mercola but rather a woman he had treated. In her lawsuit against a life insurance company, the plaintiff is described as having been bitten by a tick and contracting Lyme disease.</p> Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:41:47 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9821 at /oss /oss/article/medical-pseudoscience/homeopathy-scientifically-implausible <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-homeopathy-is-scientifically-implausible">Montreal Gazette</a>.</em></p> Fri, 12 Jan 2024 18:23:31 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9801 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience-general-science/claptrap <p>Our brain controls the production of certain hormones and neurotransmitters such as melatonin, serotonin and dopamine. Simplistically, one can say that “rest and repair” hormones are activated by a lack of light, while “coping with stress” hormones are produced when light is abundant. But the situation is actually more complicated. Hormonal activity is governed by messages sent from the eye in response to specific wavelengths and problems arise if there is exposure to an unnatural mix of wavelengths, termed the “unnatural wavelength effect” (UWE).</p> Fri, 01 Dec 2023 20:02:43 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9748 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience-technology/gadget-scam <p>Anyone who owns a car and who lives in snowy climes will be tempted by this. What if you could buy a small device that you left in your car and that magically melted the snow off of it and prevented your car from freezing? You may think this is the sort of thing you would see on <i>Star Trek</i>, yet I can point you to <a href="https://fivfivgo.com/products/pro-electromagnetic-molecular-interference-antifreeze-snow-removal-instrument">a website</a> where you can acquire this incredible device today for only USD 26.97.</p> Fri, 24 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9739 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/magnesium-supplements-sleep-may-not-work-dream <p>Everywhere I turn these days, an influencer is trying to sell me magnesium supplements. Apparently, all of us who find it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep all night are missing the boat. The answer is a simple mineral available as a dietary supplement: the all-mighty magnesium.</p> Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:09:25 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9649 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/whats-trending-world-pseudoscience <p>Our office’s mission is to separate sense from nonsense, which may well be a Sisyphean task. There is a lot of pseudoscience—meaning ideas and interventions that look scientific but that are not—especially around health. Having a mental map of what is trending right now can help us better understand the landscape so that we can intervene more effectively. I have been interested in health-related pseudoscience for over a decade now. Here is what I see being popular at the moment and who is pushing (and often profiting from) these narratives.</p> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9645 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/alien-abduction-hardly-convincing-one <p>In September of 1961, Barney and Betty Hill had taken a belated honeymoon trip and were on their way to New Hampshire from Montreal on what should have been an uneventful drive. It turned out to be anything but! Just as they were passing Lancaster on U.S. Route 3, Betty noted a bright light in the sky. The couple didn’t pay much attention to it until the light seemed to follow them, getting closer and closer. Betty had a look through binoculars and described what she saw as a “spinning disk” in the air.</p> Fri, 01 Sep 2023 19:37:05 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9618 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/step-right-essential-oils-boost-your-memory-maybe-not <p>As we get older, our memory declines. What if I told you there was now a “simple” and “easy” successful method to boost your memory, the result of research from genuine scientists at a university which has produced five Nobel laureates?</p> Fri, 25 Aug 2023 16:00:52 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9609 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/who-likely-believe-conspiracy-theories <p>Pre-pandemic, the question I would most often get was, “How do I know whom to trust when it comes to health and science information?”</p> <p>Over three years after a new virus began sweeping the globe, the question I hear again and again is, “Why is it that my husband/sister/aunt/father believes in all this conspiratorial nonsense?”</p> Fri, 28 Jul 2023 13:49:24 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9588 at /oss