What is the Difference Between Science and Pseudoscience?

Science and pseudoscience are often confused due to their similar appearance, but they have distinct characteristics that set them apart. The main differences between science and pseudoscience include:

1. Attitude: Science is set up to challenge its claims and look for evidence that might prove it false, while pseudoscience seeks confirmations and focuses on evidence that supports its claims.
2. Evidence: Science uses careful observation and experimentation to confirm or reject a hypothesis, while pseudoscience often starts with a hypothesis and looks only for evidence to support it, ignoring conflicting evidence.
3. Skepticism: Science is skeptical, allowing for the evidence to dictate beliefs, whereas pseudoscience may not be open to questioning or critical evaluation.
4. Openess: Science is open, with methods and techniques shared and publicized to the wider community, while pseudoscience may not be transparent about its methods or findings.
5. Progress: Science progresses over time, with more and more knowledge being gained. In contrast, pseudoscience may not lead to any real progress or new discoveries, often relying on a succession of unproven claims.
6. Peer Review: Science submits its findings to peer review, where fellow scientists who are specialists and experts evaluate the work. Pseudoscience may not undergo such scrutiny and may be written for the general public without checks or verification.
7. Ethics: Science operates within the realm of the natural universe and does not deal with supernatural phenomena. Scientific conduct must be ethical, while pseudoscience may not adhere to these standards.

In summary, science is a systematic and skeptical process of acquiring knowledge through observation, experimentation, and the use of empirical evidence, while pseudoscience is a practice that superficially resembles science but lacks the same underlying principles, rigor, and transparency.

Comparative Table: Science vs Pseudoscience

Here is a table highlighting the differences between science and pseudoscience:

Science is characterized by its willingness to challenge claims and look for evidence that might disprove a hypothesis, while pseudoscience seeks confirmations of its claims and often ignores or excuses conflicting evidence. Science is based on well-established patterns and regularities in nature, whereas pseudoscience focuses on alleged exceptions, errors, anomalies, and strange events without skepticism. Finally, science requires reproducible results and does not accept excuses for failures, while pseudoscience often cannot reproduce results and invents excuses to explain failures.