Editing Pseudoscience (section)

==Etymology==
The word ''pseudoscience'' is derived from the Greek root ''pseudo'' meaning "false"<ref name="WYabu">{{citation|title=The Free Dictionary|chapter=pseudo|publisher=Farlex, Inc.|year=2015|chapter-url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pseudo|access-date=17 November 2015|archive-date=18 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118155910/http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pseudo|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ipDIt">{{cite web|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=pseudo|year=2015|publisher=Douglas Harper|access-date=12 April 2018|archive-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510075346/https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=pseudo|url-status=live}}</ref> and the English word ''science'', from the Latin word ''scientia'', meaning "knowledge". Although the term has been in use since at least the late 18th century (e.g., in 1796 by [[James Pettit Andrews]] in reference to [[alchemy]]<ref name="BocQl">{{OED|pseudoscience}}</ref>{{sfnp|Andrews|Henry|1796|p=87}}), the concept of pseudoscience as distinct from real or proper science seems to have become more widespread during the mid-19th century. Among the earliest uses of "pseudo-science" was in an 1844 article in the ''Northern Journal of Medicine'', issue 387:
{{Blockquote|text=That opposite kind of innovation which pronounces what has been recognized as a branch of science, to have been a pseudo-science, composed merely of so-called facts, connected together by misapprehensions under the disguise of principles.}}

An earlier use of the term was in 1843 by the French physiologist [[François Magendie]], that refers to [[phrenology]] as "''a pseudo-science of the present day''".<ref name="Magendie1843">{{cite book|title=An Elementary Treatise on Human Physiology|vauthors=Magendie F|publisher=Harper|others=John Revere|year=1843|edition=5th|location=New York|page=150}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgkgeQl9wN8C|title=Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem|last=Lamont|first=Peter|year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01933-1|page=58|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716200304/https://books.google.com/books?id=wgkgeQl9wN8C|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="u5Ez4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgkgeQl9wN8C|title=Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem|last=Lamont|first=Peter|year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01933-1|pages=58|quote=When the eminent French physiologist, François Magendie, first coined the term 'pseudo-science' in 1843, he was referring to phrenology.|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716200304/https://books.google.com/books?id=wgkgeQl9wN8C|url-status=live}}</ref> During the 20th century, the word was used pejoratively to describe explanations of phenomena which were claimed to be scientific, but which were not in fact supported by reliable experimental evidence.<!-- <ref name="Still"/> -->
::Dismissing the separate issue of intentional fraud{{snd}}such as the [[Fox sisters]]' "rappings" in the 1850s{{sfnp|Abbott|2012}}{{snd}}the pejorative label pseudoscience distinguishes the scientific {{'}}'''''us'''''{{'}}, at one extreme, from the pseudo-scientific {{'}}'''''them'''''{{'}}, at the other, and asserts that {{'}}'''''our'''''{{'}} beliefs, practices, theories, etc., by contrast with that of {{'}}'''''the others'''''{{'}}, are scientific. There are four criteria:<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(a) the ''''''pseudoscientific'''''' group asserts that its beliefs, practices, theories, etc., are {{'}}'''''scientific'''''{{'}};<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(b) the {{'}}'''''pseudoscientific'''''{{'}} group claims that its allegedly established facts are justified true beliefs;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(c) the {{'}}'''''pseudoscientific'''''{{'}} group asserts that its {{'}}'''''established facts'''''{{'}} have been justified by genuine, rigorous, scientific method; and<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(d) this assertion is false or deceptive: "it is not simply that subsequent evidence overturns established conclusions, but rather that '''''the conclusions were never warranted in the first place'''''"{{refn|group=Note|{{harvp|Blum|1978|p=12}} [Yeates' emphasis]; also, see {{harvp|Moll|1902|pp=44–47}}{{sfnp|Yeates|2018|p=42}}}}

From time to time, however, the usage of the word occurred in a more formal, technical manner in response to a perceived threat to individual and institutional security in a social and cultural setting.<ref name="Still">{{cite journal|journal=J Theory Soc Behav|year=2004|volume=34|issue=3|pages=265–290|title=The Social Psychology of "Pseudoscience": A Brief History|vauthors=Still A, Dryden W|doi=10.1111/j.0021-8308.2004.00248.x}}</ref>