This table contrasts some of the characteristics of science and pseudoscience
Science | Pseudoscience |
Their findings are expressed primarily through scientific journals that are peer-reviewed and maintain rigorous standards for honesty and accuracy. | The literature is aimed at the general public. There is no review, no standards, no pre-publication verification, no demand for accuracy and precision. |
Reproducible results are demanded; experiments must be precisely described so that they can be duplicated exactly or improved upon. | Results cannot be reproduced or verified. Studies, if any, are always so vaguely described that one can't figure out what was done or how it was done. |
Failures are searched for and studied closely, because incorrect theories can often make correct predictions by accident, but no correct theory will make incorrect predictions. | Failures are ignored, excused, hidden, lied about, discounted, explained away, rationalized, forgotten, avoided at all costs. |
As time goes on, more and more is learned about the physical processes under study. | No physical phenomena or processes are ever found or studied. No progress is made; nothing concrete is learned. |
Convinces by appeal to the evidence, by arguments based upon logical and/or mathematical reasoning, by making the best case the data permit. When new evidence contradicts old ideas, they are abandoned. | Convinces by appeal to faith and belief. Pseudoscience has a strong quasi-religious element: it tries to convert, not to convince. You are to believe in spite of the facts, not because of them. The original idea is never abandoned, whatever the evidence. |
Does not advocate or market unproven practices or products. | Generally earns some or all of his living by selling questionable products (such as books, courses, and dietary supplements) and/or pseudoscientific services (such as horoscopes, character readings, spirit messages, and predictions). |
Excellent summary, though I find most junk science appeals more to people's desires to find "easy cures" than to their religious convictions.
Also, omitted from the "earns a living by" list was the "study" that results in sales of biomed stocks and sales of "safe" chemical pesticides, etc.