449:. According to Brian Baigrie (1988, 438), "hat is objectionable about these beliefs is that they masquerade as genuinely scientific ones." These and many other authors assume that to be pseudoscientific, an activity or a teaching has to satisfy the following two criteria (Hansson 1996): (1) it is not scientific, and (2) its major proponents try to create the impression that it is scientific."
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adopts the definition of (Shermer, 1997): "claims presented so that they appear scientific even though they lack supporting evidence and plausibility" (Shermer 1997, p. 33). In contrast, science is "a set of methods designed to describe and interpret observed and inferred phenomena, past or present,
259:, similar to molasses in a raw form similar to coal. The subject purports to be a serious topic, but is in fact an attempt to test the credulity of the reader. The thick black nature of treacle makes the deception plausible. The topic has been a standing joke in British humor for a century or more.
33:
is a person's willingness or ability to believe that a statement is true, especially on minimal or uncertain evidence. Credulity is not necessarily a belief in something that may be false: the subject of the belief may even be correct, but a credulous person will believe it without good evidence.
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that is also known as a fool's errand, is a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task. The origin of the term is a practical joke where inexperienced campers are told about a bird or animal called the
179:, a magic trick that gives the appearance of a psychic experience, relies on the credulous belief of an audience that something psychic is occurring. Hence the audience fits the utterances of the cold reader to be consistent with psychic abilities, while
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believe impossible things.' 'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
190:
or confidence game is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. Confidence artists exploit human characteristics such as greed and dishonesty, and have victimized individuals from all walks of life.
249:." It is also commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the irrational belief that future events can be influenced or foretold by specific unrelated prior events.
72:
states the difference is a matter of degree: the gullible are "the easiest to deceive", while the credulous are "a little too quick to believe something, but they usually aren't stupid enough to act on it."
445:. The Stanford article states: "Many writers on pseudoscience have emphasized that pseudoscience is non-science posing as science. The foremost modern classic on the subject (Gardner 1957) bears the title
276:'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. '
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A pretended or spurious science; a collection of related beliefs about the world mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method or as having the status that scientific truths now have.
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in addition to a belief, and there is a cause-effect relationship between the two states: "gullible outcomes typically come about through the exploitation of a victim's credulity.
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state that while both words mean "unduly trusting or confiding", gullibility stresses being duped or made a fool of, suggesting a lack of
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Hansson, Sven Ove (1996). "Defining
Pseudoscience," Philosophia Naturalis, 33: 169–176, cited in "Science and Pseudo-science" (2008) in
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as well as a usually preposterous method of catching it, such as running around the woods carrying a bag or making strange noises.
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is a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge. The word "superstition" is often used pejoratively to refer to
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Merriam-Webster's
Dictionary of Synonyms: A Dictionary of Discriminated Synonyms with Antonyms and Analogous and Contrasted Words
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is "being able to distinguish science from pseudo-science such as astrology, quackery, the occult, and superstition".
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and aimed at building a testable body of knowledge open to rejection or confirmation" (Shermer 1997, p. 17).
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of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on a
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Why People
Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
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211:, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, or otherwise lacks scientific status. Professor
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524:(official report) (2006). "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding".
339:"credulity | meaning of credulity in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE"
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Pseudoscientific - pretending to be scientific, falsely represented as being scientific
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or All Fools' Day on April 1 each year. The day features the commission of
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Hurd, P.D. (1998). "Scientific literacy: New minds for a changing world".
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622:. London: Macmillan and Company Limited (published 1872). p. 100.
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Goepp, Philip H.; Kay, Mairé Weir (June 1984), Gove, Philip B. (ed.),
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deemed irrational. This leads to some superstitions being called "
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Yamagishi, Toshio; Kikuchi, Masako; Kosugi, Motoko (April 1999),
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characterize a gullible person as one who is both credulous and
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Annals of gullibility: why we get duped and how to avoid it
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www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/32148/ABSTRACT
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Willingness or ability to believe that a statement is true
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Credulity, Merriam-Webster, Inc., retrieved June 24, 2020
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Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said, 'one
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Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said, 'one
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stresses the distinction that gullibility involves an
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Through the
Looking-glass: And what Alice Found There
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A philosophical essay on credulity and superstition
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173:, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible.
737:"Trust, gullibility, and social intelligence"
474:3e Addison Wesley; 3 edition (July 25, 2003)
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462:Addison Wesley; 3 edition (July 18, 2003)
447:Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science
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145:Learn how and when to remove this message
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709:Pocket Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus
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568:Memorial Resolution: Paul DeHart Hurd.
527:Science and engineering indicators 2006
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517:. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.
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77:Yamagishi, Kikuchi & Kosugi (1999)
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397:Yamagishi, Kikuchi & Kosugi 1999
266:provides a discussion of credulity:
215:argued that a large part of gaining
127:adding citations to reliable sources
443:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
744:Asian Journal of Social Psychology
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705:Jewell, Elizabeth, ed. (2006),
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201:are also related to credulity.
114:needs additional citations for
181:ignoring any contrary evidence
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616:(1871). "5: Wool and water".
495:Scientific Method in Practice
592:; retrieved 6 November. 2006
303:Moon is made of green cheese
255:is the fictitious mining of
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522:National Science Foundation
508:National Science Foundation
460:Conceptual Physical Science
458:For example, Hewitt et al.
274:believe impossible things.'
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719:Oxford University Press US
426:Oxford American Dictionary
793:D. Appleton & Company
713:(2nd American ed.),
557:Oxford English Dictionary
430:Oxford English Dictionary
785:Blakeman, Rufus (1849),
756:10.1111/1467-839X.00030
602:Etymonline.com - snipe
571:retrieved 8 April 2009
472:The Cosmic Perspective
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209:scientific methodology
58:Goepp & Kay (1984)
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52:are commonly used as
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373:Goepp & Kay 1984
157:Many societies mark
123:improve this article
513:Shermer M. (1997).
428:, published by the
343:www.ldoceonline.com
217:scientific literacy
689:Praeger Publishers
698:978-0-313-36216-3
582:Science Education
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243:folk beliefs
239:Superstition
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177:Cold reading
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121:Please help
116:verification
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62:intelligence
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385:Jewell 2006
635:2017-04-30
538:2018-04-06
348:2020-06-24
325:References
313:Scepticism
224:snipe hunt
165:and other
135:April 2011
66:skepticism
42:The words
519:cited by
318:Stupidity
308:Noble lie
50:credulous
31:Credulity
18:Credulous
808:Category
715:New York
491:See also
288:Delusion
281:See also
195:Politics
95:Examples
54:synonyms
45:gullible
769:3 April
298:Fallacy
257:treacle
38:Meaning
814:Belief
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497:(2003)
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163:hoaxes
89:action
763:(PDF)
740:(PDF)
642:can't
293:Faith
272:can't
233:snipe
81:naïve
771:2011
723:ISBN
693:ISBN
671:ISBN
624:ISBN
506:The
476:ISBN
464:ISBN
197:and
48:and
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125:by
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