Tag Archives: Bad arguments

The Value of Carefully Controlled Studies: A Thought Experiment

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Fallacy Man

Amusingly, anti-scientists (such as anti-vaccers) always claim to have the upper hand on scientific knowledge. I have yet to meet one who hasn’t claimed to be “well-informed” or to have “done their research.” Yet when you ask anti-vaccers for their … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science, Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Can Science Tell Us What Happened in the Past? Historical vs. Observational Science

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Fallacy Man

It is fairly common knowledge that science requires observations and repeatability, but at a quick glance, many fields of science seem to lack those criteria. For example, forensic science, archaeology, and paleontology all deal entirely with past events that can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science, Science of Evolution | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“But scientists have been wrong in the past…”

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Fallacy Man

I’m sure that we have all seen it happen at one point or another. Two people are debating about some scientific topic and the person who is opposed to the mainstream scientific view gets backed into a corner by an … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Nature of Science | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Science and the Public Part 3: A Scientific Consensus is Based on Evidence, not Peer Pressure and Adherence to Dogma

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Fallacy Man

In this post, I am going to debunk an argument that is very commonly used by the anti-science movement. Namely, the argument that scientists merely go along with the accepted dogma of their field and either refuse to consider contrary … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , | Comments Off on Science and the Public Part 3: A Scientific Consensus is Based on Evidence, not Peer Pressure and Adherence to Dogma

Science and the Public Part 2: Scientific Results Are Facts, Not Conspiracies

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Fallacy Man

As I explained in the first post of this series, there is widespread and unfounded disagreement between what scientists know to be true and what the general public chooses to believe. Many people choose to blindly reject the science behind … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged | 1 Comment