Wikipedia:WikiProject Skepticism/List

WikiProject Skepticism
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This is a partial list of articles related to scientific skepticism. To explore all articles that have been tagged into this project, use the cleanup tool, or see the articles sorted by importance and quality.

• Scientific method
• Scientific theory
• Theory
• Falsifiability
• Peer review
• Blinded experiment
• Randomized controlled trial

• List of books about skepticism
• List of notable skeptics
• List of notable debunkers
• List of prizes for evidence of the paranormal
• List of skeptical conferences
• List of skeptical magazines
• List of skeptical organizations (see also Skeptical organisations in Europe)
• List of skeptical podcasts
• List of superstitions

• List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
• List of fallacies
• List of hoaxes
• List of cryptids
• List of reported UFO sightings
• Anecdotal evidence
• Ideomotor effect
• Pareidolia
• Placebo

This list includes promoters of any non-scientific claims, including those within the realms of pseudohistory, pseudomathetics, etc.

• Robert Root-Bernstein - Michigan State University professor of physiology and former AIDS denialist.

• Eliza Jane Scovill - daughter of HIV-positive AIDS denialist Christine Maggiore, who died of AIDS at age 3, following a pregnancy in which her mother refused to take antiretroviral drugs or other measures which reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

• Betty and Barney Hill abduction
• Roswell incident
• Tunguska event

• 9/11 Truth Movement
• Ancient astronauts
• Archaeoastronomy
• Atlantis location hypotheses
• Death of Adolf Hitler
• Fomenko's chronology
• Holocaust denial
• The Illuminati
• John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories
• Lost lands
• Masonic conspiracy theories
• Moon landing conspiracy theories
• Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge conspiracy theory
• The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

• Logic
• Critical thinking
• Skepticism
• Scientific skepticism
• Occam's Razor

• Apocalypticism
• Esotericism
• Mysticism
• New Age
• Occult
• Theosophy

• Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
• Life University
• Scientology
  • Church of Scientology

• Ad hominem An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the person", "argument against the man") is a logical fallacy consisting of replying to an argument by attacking or appealing to the person making the argument, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument. It is most commonly used to refer specifically to the ad hominem abusive, or argumentum ad personam, which consists of criticizing or personally attacking an argument's proponent in an attempt to discredit that argument.
• Anecdotal evidence Information passed along by word-of-mouth but not documented scientifically is anecdotal evidence. In science, anecdotal evidence has been defined as: "information that is not based on facts or careful study" or "non-scientific observations or studies, which do not provide proof but may assist research efforts" or "reports or observations of usually unscientific observers" or "casual observations or indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis"
• Anti-intellectualism Anti-intellectualism describes a sentiment of hostility towards, or mistrust of, intellectuals and intellectual pursuits. This may be expressed in various ways, such as an attack on the merits of science, education, or literature. Anti-intellectuals often perceive themselves as champions of the ordinary people and egalitarianism against elitism, especially academic elitism. These critics argue that heavily educated people form an insular social class that tends to dominate political discourse and higher education (academia).
• Antiscience Antiscience is a position critical of science and the scientific method. It has been considered the "self-defeating...essentially anti-intellectual, rhetoric of many activists."
• Charlatan A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage by false pretenses. If the ascription is false, then "charlatan" is derogative; if it is true, then the description "charlatan" is not defamation.
• Confirmation bias In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias (or confirmatory bias) is a tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, leading to statistical errors. Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias and represents an error of inductive inference toward confirmation of the hypothesis under study.
• Consciousness causes collapse Consciousness causes collapse is the theory that observation by a conscious observer is responsible for the wavefunction collapse in quantum mechanics. It is an attempt to solve the Wigner's friend paradox by simply stating that collapse occurs at the first "conscious" observer. Supporters claim this is not a revival of substance dualism, since (in a ramification of this view) consciousness and objects are entangled and cannot be considered as separate. Nevertheless, the doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness turns out to be in conflict with Quantum Mechanics and with facts established by experiment."
• Controversial science The phrase controversial science describes ideas and theories at odds with mainstream science. These ideas have often been advanced by individuals either from outside the field of science, or by scientists outside the mainstream of their own disciplines.
• Crank (person) "Crank" is a pejorative term for a person who holds some belief which the vast majority of his contemporaries would consider false, clings to this belief in the face of all counterarguments or evidence presented to him. The term implies that a "cranky" belief is so wildly at variance with some commonly accepted truth as to be ludicrous, arguing with the crank is useless, because he will invariably dismiss all evidence or arguments which contradict his cranky belief. Common synonyms for "crank" include kook and crackpot.
• Folk science
• Fraud In the broadest sense, a fraud is a deception made for personal gain. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and is also a civil law violation. Many hoaxes are fraudulent, although those not made for personal gain are not technically frauds. Defrauding people of money is presumably the most common type of fraud, but there have also been many fraudulent "discoveries" in art, archaeology, and science.
• Fringe science Fringe science is a phrase used to describe scientific inquiry in an established field that departs significantly from mainstream or orthodox theories.
• Intellectual dishonesty Intellectual dishonesty is the advocacy of a position known to be false. Rhetoric is used to advance an agenda or to reinforce one's deeply held beliefs in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence. If a person is aware of the evidence and the conclusion it portends, yet holds a contradictory view, it is intellectual dishonesty. If the person is unaware of the evidence, their position is ignorance, even if in agreement with the scientific conclusion.
• Junk science
• Logical fallacy
• Pejorative
• Pathological science Pathological science is a neologism that describes the process in science in which people are tricked into false results by subjective effects, wishful thinking or threshold interactions. It found resonance among skeptical scientists, who enjoy debunking recurrent pseudoscientific views and claims.
• Plagiarism Plagiarism is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship, or incorporating material from someone else's written or creative work in whole or in part, into ones own, without adequate acknowledgment. The written or creative work which is plagiarized may be a book, article, musical score, film script, or other work. Unlike cases of forgery, in which the authenticity of the writing, document, or some other kind of object, itself is in question, plagiarism is concerned with the issue of false attribution.
• Pseudoscience Pseudoscience, or junk science, is any body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that claims to be scientific but does not follow the scientific method. Pseudosciences may appear scientific, but they do not adhere to the testability requirement of the scientific method and are often in conflict with current scientific consensus.
• Pseudoskepticism
• Quackery Quackery is a derogatory term that is defined as the "medical practice and advice based on observation and experience in ignorance of scientific findings. The dishonesty of a charlatan." A "quack" is "a fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill. A person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she does not possess; a charlatan." "Health fraud" is often used as a synonym for quackery, but this use can be problematic, since quackery can exist without fraud, a word which always implies deliberate deception. The word "quack" derives from "quacksalver," an archaic word originally of Dutch origin (spelled kwakzalver in contemporary Dutch), meaning "boaster who applies a salve." The correct meaning of the German word "quacksalber" is "questionable salesperson (literal translation: quack salver)." In the Middle Ages the word quack itself meant "shouting. The quacksalvers sold their wares on the market shouting in a loud voice."
• Scientific misconduct
• Self-deception Self-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument. When one can believe their own "lie" (i.e., their presentation that is biased toward their own self-interest), the theory goes, they will consequently be better able to persuade others of its "truth." Self-deception enables someone to believe their distortions, and they will not present such signs of deception and will therefore appear to be telling the truth.
• Self-serving bias A self-serving bias occurs when people are more likely to claim responsibility for successes than failures. It may also manifest itself as a tendency for people to evaluate ambiguous information in a way beneficial to their interests. This happens in a way that could be unknown consciously to the person, flattering their own views.
• Skepticism In ordinary usage, skepticism or scepticism (UK spelling) refers to an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object, the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain, or the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt, or criticism that is characteristic of skeptics (Merriam–Webster). In philosophy, skepticism refers more specifically to any one of several propositions. These include propositions about the limitations of knowledge, a method of obtaining knowledge through systematic doubt and continual testing, the arbitrariness, relativity, or subjectivity of moral values, a method of intellectual caution and suspended judgment, a lack of confidence in positive motives for human conduct or positive outcomes for human enterprises, that is, cynicism and pessimism (Keeton, 1962).
• Straw man
• True-believer syndrome True-believer syndrome is a term used by skeptics to describe an irrational, persistent belief in the paranormal or concepts that have been proven by science to be false and unverified.
• Wishful thinking Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs and making decisions according to what might be pleasing to imagine instead of by appealing to evidence or rationality.

• Ancient Aliens - TV series promoting the idea of ancient astronauts.
• The Oprah Winfrey Show - Show with which Oprah Winfrey has promoted the ideas of Mehmet Oz and Rhonda Byrne.
• Ghost Hunters - Syfy series featuring paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson investigating places that are reported to be haunted.

• Explore: The Journal of Science & Healing
• Neuroquantology

• arn.org from Access Research Network - promotion of ID (mainspace links)
• ideacenter.org from Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Center - promotion of ID (mainspace links)
• evolutionnews.org from Discovery Institute - promotion of ID (mainspace links)