One idea that is an obvious piece of pseudoscience is a statement that I have heard from many people: the myth that “a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s.” I looked at this and ten other common myths, such as “chickens can live without their heads” and “it takes seven years to digest gum,” on the following website: http://www.livescience.com. I researched this topic and found it to be totally false; all teeth (and mouths) have the same types of bacteria (or as we usually call it plaque). This means that even though we may try to justify Pluto licking our hands after he has just eaten his own poop because his mouth is “much cleaner than ours,” unfortunately, his mouth is actually pretty disgusting.
One idea that may be pseudoscience but may also be true is global warming. I have read articles for and against global warming in science classes during both high school and college and there seems to be evidence on both sides. My understanding of global warming is somewhat minimal, but I lean towards the side that global warming is not an actual scientific fact. From the articles I have been presented with, the effects of global warming just do not seem to only be tied to global warming but to many different factors. The evidence for global warming just does not seem overly persuasive or convincing.
I think that, as with any lie or myth, that pseudoscience can exist because there is a little bit of truth in it. The effects of global warming do exist and have a cause, but it may not necessarily be global warming. I believe that parties on either side of any debate would focus on whatever truth, however small or major, that is on their side to forward their cause, even if it means ignoring the rest of their case that may be false.
February 08, 2009
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Awww, for some reason, I'm sad to hear that a dogs mouth is just as dirty as a humans. It's not that I was particularly attached to the idea for any reason, but I've just heard that SO MANY times it's almost engrained into my being. I always figured germs had a higher mutation rate due to our proximity with chemicals and human sanitation practices (swear I heard that in my History 17A class a couple semesters back, doubt it's true.)
ReplyDeleteStill, as long as you don't tell me bigfoot is fake, I should be okay.
You have to be VERY careful of sources touting to be from scientific journals before you can come to a conclusion about issues such as global warming. There are NO atmospheric scientists that disagree on this phenomena. The fact of the matter is that the earth has been increasing in temperature rapidly over the past 100 years. What they don't agree on is why....
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