Science VS Pseudoscience

"The early 1900s was an amazing time for Western science, as Albert Einstein was developing his theories of relativity and psychology was born, as Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis took over the scientific mainstream. Karl Popper observed these developments firsthand and came to draw a distinction between what he referred to as science and pseudoscience, which might best be summarized as science disconfirms, while pseudoscience confirms. While the way we describe these disciplines has changed in the intervening years, Popper’s ideas speak to the heart of how we arrive at knowledge."

• "The traditional understanding of the Scientific Method: To look at the world with a scientific eye is to observe with no preconceived notions."
• "Popper thought that we all have preconceived notions."
• "Methods like Freud's that only served to confirm beliefs were pseudo-science and could be used to prove anything."
• "It's easy to find confirmation of a theory if you are looking for it."
• "Every false belief that we discover is actually good because it gets us that much closer to believing only true things."
• "The only genuine test of a theory is one that's attempting to falsify it."
• "Irrefutable (non-falsifiable) theories are not scientific."
• "Once a theory has been disproven (falsified), time to give it up, let your beliefs go, accept the evidence, and move on."
• "This is the modern scientific thinking that we accept today: testable; refutable; falsifiable. You don't seek to prove theories right, you only seek to prove them wrong."
• "knowledge is about probability and contingency. We always should be ready to revise beliefs in the face of new evidence if superior. Belief should be contingent on the data themselves. Certainty is impossible. Certainty causes you to close your mind."
• "You have to be open to the idea that your beliefs may be false - because that's the only way that holding onto them can really mean anything."
• "You only get to believe things you have reasons for."

Karl Popper, Science, & Pseudoscience