Term
Definition
Note
Pseudo science
A collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method
Can become disinformation when the receiver of the information doesn’t notice or isn’t aware of the error and as a result believes something in a wrong way
Phrenology
The rise and fall of the phrenology in the 19th tells the story of a pseudoscience which claimed that measuring the contour of the skull can predict personality traits. It was developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall in 1796. During the first half of the 19th century, and arguably beyond, it offered a clear-cut explanation for why people behaved the way they did. And it was hailed by many as an extraordinarily effective explanatory tool. Read an intriguing article on the history of phrenology in The Conversation.
Interestingly, phrenology was expected, albeit for a short period of time, with great expectations with regard to its impact on education, criminology, psychiatry, and even became a trigger for more humane treatment of the mentally ill.
See a list of what is currently recognised as pseudoscience
A list with examples from the domain of physical, applied and social sciences, which are currently classified as pseudoscience, are available from Wikipedia.
Why people believe in weird things?
Vaccination bias
Americans who don’t want to vaccinate are increasingly getting their way: A June study found that, over the past decade, the number of philosophical vaccine exemptions rose in two-thirds of the states that allow them.
What drives these wrongheaded decisions is fear — fear that vaccines are somehow dangerous, even though research shows the opposite. And these choices have consequences.