Reddit user, AndiMalvinex, wanted to know what fake science gets under your skin the most when they asked:
What pseudoscience annoys you the most?
In case you weren't sure what we were talking about in regards to "pseudosciences"...
...Here's A Bunch Of Them!
"Psychics and mediums who prey upon the gullible, the mentally-ill, the desperate and the
vulnerable and claim they can speak to people who are dead. Sh*t should be illegal."
"Also things like hypnosis, parapsychology, body-language 'experts', psychoanalysis, lie-detection, all grifts."
MyDogsCalledClarence
The Stars Have Zero Impact On Your...Well, Anything
"astrology. i'm totally down to learn what my chart is and such, but the second you start to tell me that it influences my personality and that "we aren't compatible" i'm done."
OfficialBandKid
"The best part about astrology is that the basics are so old that the Earth has moved quite a bit since, meaning the astrological dates no longer correspond to the constellations."
toyota_gorilla
And Now We All Play It For Our Babies...
"The Mozart Effect"
"A UC Irvine study claims that diving deep into the world of Mozart can actually make you smarter."
"The study took 36 participants and found that those who listened to Mozart before a task did much better than those who only heard silence. The study concluded that Mozart could actually increase your IQ by eight or nine points."
"However, the results of that study have been widely criticized by the academic and scientific community as a whole."
"Many claim the results were misleading and that researchers didn't examine what role the participants' diets, posture or the time of day they took the tests played in the results."
Back2Bach
Real medicine takes time to work, as the science that's been backed up by hard evidence and proven data, works its way through your body. This, of course, attracts all kinds of seedy individuals who think they can sell a "fix-all-pill" and make it seem like you're better when, really, nothing is happening.
Can't Remove What's Already Being Removed
"Literally anything that claims to "remove toxins" from your body."
BlCa314
"I love it when folks just throw out the word "toxins" and never actually define what, specifically, qualifies as a toxin and how, specifically, their product actually removes or expels it from a person's body."
j_grouchy
"Yes, this annoys me too. The legitimate exceptions are chelation therapy for heavy metal poisoning and activated charcoal for other poisoning. Those require medical attention, though. Not as simple as a smoothie."
BlueComet24
"I Just Think It Raises Some Questions." - People Who Don't Understand Science
"Proofs" to the flat earth theory"
Fi11a
"It started off as humor. Scientists from different disciplines would take turns trolling each other, presenting bullsh*t "proofs" of the flat earth for everyone's entertainment. Geologists, astronomers, people like that. They did it for the lolz, nobody actually believed it."
"Unfortunately, some dummy somehow found their jokes and took them seriously."
"Still, some people in the flat earth "movement" are doing it strictly for fun. They know the score, they're just having a laugh."
OhYeahThrowItAway
Not So Funny When People Have Died
"Homeopathy. I mean, everyone is welcome to a nice placebo now and then (even though I prefer the band, har har) but it makes people refuse life saving medicine. And, even worse: makes people stop giving life saving medicine to their children."
"Looks like COVID didn't give a crap about little sugar balls and pendulums. People are dead now."
raxeira-etterath
Use your critical thinking skills to see through some of these charades, and don't let the pretty man with the nice, white smile lure you in either.
All The World's A Stage When You're Lying
"Lie detectors. Why does anyone anywhere still use them?..."
JhymnMusic
"A lie detector is a prop in a play. The play is being performed by the interrogators; the audience is the person being interrogated. The subject matter of the play is 'we can read your mind; don't bother lying to us.'"
"The prop "works" by making different readings in response to the audience's physiological changes. This helps give the audience the impression that the performers can read their emotions."
"Again: The goal of hooking you up to a lie detector is not to detect lies. It is to convince you not to lie, by giving you the false impression that the performers will be able to tell if you do. It is to make you feel vulnerable and exposed, such that your very thoughts are on display."
"Moreover, it is to give you the false impression that the interrogation is a scientific endeavor, rather than a juridical one. You're supposed to think that you're being evaluated by a scientific instrument. In fact, you are being evaluated by the interrogators; or perhaps by whoever reads the transcript of the interrogation. They are deciding whether they believe you, and what to do with you, based on your answers and your behavior."
fubo
But Hey, "Top Gun: Maverick" Was A Lot Of Fun, Right?
"Scientology. It's tearing my wife's family apart."
"EDIT: Looking over the top comments on this thread, it's amazing what a blend of them Scientology is. Lie detectors? That's two more components than an E-meter has. Psychics taking advantage of gullible people? That's a lot of the backstory of Scientology, along with hypnotism. Essential oils and Herbalife? Scientology is huge into dietary supplements that don't really do anything, "purification" and is sometimes structured like a pyramid scheme. Homeopathy? Scientologists are taught to distrust the medical field and that they "pull in" diseases and illnesses, but can also will them away."
MarshallApplewhiteDo
"That Scientology exists - a cult sponsored by organized crime and legally dressed as a religion - does not surprise me. I’m surprised there aren’t more, with a better backstory. Hubbard was a crackpot, certainly somebody could come up with better mythos."
Renaissance_Slacker
Can't Be Anxious If I'm Dead
"Essential oils. Stop trying to put that smelling crap on me for my migraines, I just told you the smell is a trigger!"
builder-barbie
"I've told the story here before, but my favorite interaction related to essential oils was when someone suggested I use lavender oil for anxiety. I'm deathly allergic to lavender. They told me I couldn't be allergic to lavender essential oil because it's 'essential.'"
"Guess I can't be anxious if I'm dead!"
PM-ME-UR-CLOUD-PICS
"I feel like a lot of it is based on using the wrong definition of the key word "essential"; it's not "essential" in the sense of "you need this", more in the sense of "it's the essence of <thing>"."
neohylanmay
Keep your money where it belongs and maybe talk to a doctor now and then.
What other "pseudosciences" do you hate the most? Tell us about it in the comments!
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