Science vs. Pseudoscience — What's the Difference?

The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

The study or a system of thought that lacks empirical support and cannot be tested or falsified.

A systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

A methodology, belief, or practice that pretends to be scientific in nature but does not adhere to the scientific method.

A branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.

A collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method.

The discipline dealing with the principles of reasoning, especially with the structure of propositions as distinguished from their content.

An approach that attempts to gain legitimacy by wearing the trappings of science without the substance.

The collective disciplines of study or learning acquired through the scientific method.

Practices or beliefs that claim to be scientific but lack the standards of evidence-based science.

Science (from Latin scientia 'knowledge') is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.The earliest roots of science can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in around 3000 to 1200 BCE. Their contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine entered and shaped Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity, whereby formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the physical world based on natural causes. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, knowledge of Greek conceptions of the world deteriorated in Western Europe during the early centuries (400 to 1000 CE) of the Middle Ages, but was preserved in the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age.

Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claims; reliance on confirmation bias rather than rigorous attempts at refutation; lack of openness to evaluation by other experts; absence of systematic practices when developing hypotheses; and continued adherence long after the pseudoscientific hypotheses have been experimentally discredited.The demarcation between science and pseudoscience has philosophical, political, and scientific implications.

The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena

A theory, methodology, or practice that is considered to be without scientific foundation.

Such activities restricted to a class of natural phenomena

Any body of knowledge that purports to be scientific or to be supported by science but which fails to comply with the scientific method.

A systematic method or body of knowledge in a given area

Fictitious science as portrayed in science fiction.

(Archaic) Knowledge, especially that gained through experience.

An activity resembling science but based on fallacious assumptions

(countable) A particular discipline or branch of learning, especially one dealing with measurable or systematic principles rather than intuition or natural ability.

Specifically the natural sciences.

Knowledge gained through study or practice; mastery of a particular discipline or area.

The fact of knowing something; knowledge or understanding of a truth.

(uncountable) The collective discipline of study or learning acquired through the scientific method; the sum of knowledge gained from such methods and discipline.

(uncountable) Knowledge derived from scientific disciplines, scientific method, or any systematic effort.

The scientific community.

Synonym of sweet science

Obsolete spelling of scion

To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct.

To use science to solve a problem.

Knowledge; knowledge of principles and causes; ascertained truth of facts.

Accumulated and established knowledge, which has been systematized and formulated with reference to the discovery of general truths or the operation of general laws; knowledge classified and made available in work, life, or the search for truth; comprehensive, profound, or philosophical knowledge.

Especially, such knowledge when it relates to the physical world and its phenomena, the nature, constitution, and forces of matter, the qualities and functions of living tissues, etc.; - called also natural science, and physical science.

Any branch or department of systematized knowledge considered as a distinct field of investigation or object of study; as, the science of astronomy, of chemistry, or of mind.

Art, skill, or expertness, regarded as the result of knowledge of laws and principles.

To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct.

A particular branch of scientific knowledge;

Ability to produce solutions in some problem domain;

Science is defined by its use of empirical evidence, the scientific method, and its ability to be tested and falsified.

If a pseudoscientific field adopts empirical methods, becomes testable, and undergoes peer review, it can evolve into a scientific discipline.

Pseudoscience consists of beliefs or practices that attempt to claim scientific credibility without adhering to scientific standards of evidence and falsifiability.

Falsifiability allows for the testing of hypotheses and theories, ensuring that they can be proven wrong if incorrect.

Peer review ensures the validity, reliability, and credibility of scientific findings by subjecting them to the scrutiny of other experts in the field.

Yes, by promoting untested and potentially dangerous treatments or by spreading misinformation.

By evaluating the use of the scientific method, the ability to test and falsify hypotheses, and the presence of peer review.

Through the development of new knowledge, innovations, and applications that solve real-world problems.

Reliance on anecdotal evidence, lack of peer review, and untestable claims.

A theory cannot be both; it's either based on scientific evidence and methodology or it lacks these and is considered pseudoscientific.

Through the accumulation of new evidence, testing, and the refinement of hypotheses and theories.

Due to a variety of factors, including cognitive biases, lack of scientific literacy, and the appeal of easy answers to complex questions.

Science revises theories and understands based on new, contradictory evidence, demonstrating its adaptability.

Empirical evidence is information acquired by observation or experimentation, crucial for testing hypotheses in science.

It has led to misinformation, mistrust in scientific findings, and in some cases, harm to individuals' health or wellbeing.