Debunkology

The study of debunking as a cultural phenomenon—focusing on the culture of debunking, debunkism, and debunking as a form of social control and as an organized secular religion. Debunkology examines the rituals of debunking (fact‑checking threads, calling out “pseudoscience”), its priesthood (professional skeptics, science communicators), its dogmas (methodological naturalism, evidentialism), and its excommunication mechanisms (labeling critics as “conspiracy theorists”). It treats debunking not as a neutral pursuit of truth but as a social practice that reinforces institutional authority, polices intellectual boundaries, and often operates with the same certainty and moral fervor as the religions it opposes.

Example: “His debunkology of online skeptic communities revealed that they had their own saints (Carl Sagan), heretics (anyone questioning consensus), and rituals (daily mocking of ‘woo’)—a secular religion organized around debunking.”

Debunkology by Abzugal April 2, 2026