mississippichem Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 What is everyone's favorite psuedoscientific/quack/scam claim? My favorite would have to be the work of "Dr." Masaru Emoto. Claims that prayer and music imparts unique structures to the old classic...water clusters. This one just cracks me up. He takes pictures of snowflakes and writes a book about his proof of the power of prayer to influence our biochemistry. http://www.spiritofmaat.com/archive/nov1/cwater.htm Lets try and find the craziest psuedoscience we can. It sure beats the hell out of watching TV sitcoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 It's still tough to beat the claims of perpetual motion involving a few simple procedures and materials that no one else in all of history has ever thought of. After all, only multi-million dollar ideas are the ones being tried these days. The answer to unlimited power must be so simple no one would ever consider it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Homeopathy is fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Homeopathy is fun. Technically, it isn't. It has been diluted and deluded to the point where none of the fun remains, but the water remembers the fun. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 is one of my favorites. The idea that toxins can be drawn out of the skin, which possesses no such ability, through a low-voltage salt water foot bath is one that still fools a lot of people. Some units sold cost $1000, and the therapies can run $100 for a 40 minute session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mississippichem Posted June 28, 2010 Author Share Posted June 28, 2010 Naturopathy is also a good one: "natural remedies are good medicine because they are not nasty synthetic chemicals." Based on the super-assumption that substances made in nature are somehow intrinsically better than substances made in the lab. I'd like to challenge nature to an analytical purity contest. Hundred bucks says I can make anything in the lab more "pure" than it would be in nature. Look at a bottle of ACS reagent grade glucose, guaranteed to 99.999%, the 0.0001% is water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 Look at a bottle of ACS reagent grade glucose, guaranteed to 99.999%, the 0.0001% is water! Reverse homeopathy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted June 29, 2010 Share Posted June 29, 2010 Three letters... UFO .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Three letters... UFO .... I doubt this is an original idea, but... in order to maximise our chances of detecting evidence of a UFO (and related things) should we not be looking into the past? I mean, archaeological evidence that we have been visited. Something "out of place" in our history. Maybe a cave painting, some technology or similar. Further back than this what about fossilised alien remains? What if they were visiting in say the time of the dinosaurs? Maybe they buried their dead here? Sort of "maximising the cross section" rather than looking for UFO's right now. Enough of sounding like a Quack, don't quote me on any of this (As a disclaimer, I am not claiming that there is any evidence) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I doubt this is an original idea, but... in order to maximise our chances of detecting evidence of a UFO (and related things) should we not be looking into the past? I mean, archaeological evidence that we have been visited. Something "out of place" in our history. Maybe a cave painting, some technology or similar. Further back than this what about fossilised alien remains? What if they were visiting in say the time of the dinosaurs? Maybe they buried their dead here? Sort of "maximising the cross section" rather than looking for UFO's right now. Enough of sounding like a Quack, don't quote me on any of this (As a disclaimer, I am not claiming that there is any evidence) Bagdad battery. nazca lines. pyramids. velcro. medieval artwork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Bagdad battery. nazca lines. pyramids. velcro. medieval artwork. Thank you for backing me up. ..................................................... Please direct all further questions and comments on this topic to ydoaPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Thank you for backing me up. ..................................................... Please direct all further questions and comments on this topic to ydoaPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mississippichem Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Yeah, come on guys, everyone knows the aliens from Nibiru built the pyramids. There's no way the ancient egyptians could've understood trigonometry. No seriously, I like the claim that there is a planet in our solar system called "Nibiru???" that in 2012 will pass by the Earth causing an asteroid to hit, or causing a magnetic pole shift. Oh wait, I thought that was going to be caused by our sun entering the galactic plane, or was it all the planets are going to align? All this to say: Does anyone notice how 2012 mongers will defend the idea that the world is coming to an end in 2 years with whatever "evidence" they can find. They don't know how it could happen, but they are so sure it will happen. Inverse Scientific Method Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBruce Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 I really dislike the conspiracy theories like: -We did not go to the moon. -But, we did do 9/11. -The government is controlled by a secret society of rich Jewish bankers. I also dislike those who claim that Einstein stole all of his ideas from other people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 My favorite quack claim comes from those who like to assert that economics is not a practice based on the principles of science and empiricism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 My favorite quack claim comes from those who like to assert that economics is not a practice based on the principles of science and empiricism. Well, my favorite quack claims all involve disguised appeals to ridicule. boing[/hr] I must also point out Crackpot Bingo: http://www.scienceforums.net/crackpotBingo.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Well, my favorite quack claims all involve disguised appeals to ridicule. I'm okay ridiculing people when the things they say truly are stupid. The best part is how I don't base my argument on the ridicule itself, but actually support it when needed. Gosh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 How come nobody mentioned religion yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 -The government is controlled by a secret society of rich Jewish bankers. Almost right. You can remove the secret and Jewish reference then change the first letter of bankers to a w. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Religion doesn't qualify as a quack claim it has no science in it at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 I'm okay ridiculing people when the things they say truly are stupid. The best part is how I don't base my argument on the ridicule itself, but actually support it when needed. Gosh. Well, my favorite quack claims involve people blatantly ignoring established rules because they believe they are somehow above them. Also, people believing that their theory must be right, and anyone who argues otherwise must be a moron. Very common on SFN, unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Religion doesn't qualify as a quack claim it has no science in it at all... Moonman - You should be ashamed of yourself for appealing to ridicule like that, thinking you're above the rules and that anyone who argues otherwise must be a moron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Religion doesn't qualify as a quack claim it has no science in it at all... This is not what some religious people claim. I was told that the Guru Granth Sahib (holy book of Sikhs, from 1469 to 1708) contains all the cosmology you ever need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoiA Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Religion doesn't qualify as a quack claim it has no science in it at all... Moonman - You should be ashamed of yourself for appealing to ridicule like that, thinking you're above the rules and that anyone who argues otherwise must be a moron. Where's the ridicule? This is the concession I try to make with creationists - that there's no need to be offended by any denials by science. It's simply not science, as per the method. And since they have a hostility toward science, generally anyway, then there's no reason for them to want it to be included in science. There's no ridicule here either. Just a point of observation that carries no value judgment unless one infers it on their own. I'm okay ridiculing people when the things they say truly are stupid. Which becomes an act of cruelty when they are truly stupid. Do you also trip one legged children? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Where's the ridicule? That is exactly what I've been thinking frequently as others accuse me of it. Do you also trip one legged children? No, I just point and laugh. I'm not a monster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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