Formerly a descriptor for practices claiming to be scientific with no evidence in favor of the practice, the term "Pseudoscience" has unfortunately devolved into a catch-all pejorative term for anything that doesn't align with the majority
opinion of self-proclaimed "intellectuals" who will create 1500+ word essays on why you're wrong and why you should "TRUST THE SCIENCE". Because of the modern redefinition of the term, several harmless beliefs and hobbies (eg. Cryptozoology, Astrology, Ufology) have been lumped into the same category as absolutely braindead theories that
even fetuses would be able to identify as
bullshit (eg. Flat earth), or genuinely dangerous beliefs and practices (eg. Horse Dewormer and
Bleach as "cures" for COVID and other related quackery). Science actually sometimes relies on "Pseudoscientific" practices to make new breakthroughs. For example,
Plate tectonics used to be given no credibility, but are now generally accepted.
The term is now systemically abused heavily on Wikipedia due to
said site'
s high reliance on secondary sources.
Said secondary sources (mostly editorials on
popular news magazine websites) heavily abuse the term "pseudoscience", especially when talking about those who are politically right-wing (while ignoring left-wing pseudoscientific, or at least denialist movements such as the anti-
GMO or anti-nuclear energy movements).
Person 1: Hey, check out this cool cryptid book i got!
Person 2: Aww sweet! My favorite is the Bunyip, i wonder what it'll look li-
"Expert": ACKSHUALLY CRYPTOZOOLOGY IS PSEUDOSCIENCE AND IF YOU FOLLOW IT YOU ARE A RIGHT
WING ANTI-MASK NAZI WHO THINKS THE EARTH IS FLAT
Persons 1 and 2: Dude wtf