Video: “How I Learned to Love Pseudoscience” (Sabine Hossenfelder)

I thought this was an interesting video from the YouTube channel of German physicist Sabine Hossenfelder. She discusses the issue of what is ‘pseudoscience’ and explains why she thinks it is important and useful, and how she believes it helps scientific progress.

She says that sometimes, theories that are accused of being pseudoscientific turn out to be correct. As an example, she states that the theory of atoms was once decried as pseudoscience because atoms could not be observed at the time.

“Pseudoscience is actually a byproduct of normal science, you can’t have one without the other”

She states that the fight against pseudoscience improves science because it forces scientists to update their methods and cites as examples the development of the single-blind studies to debunk the practice of mesmerism.

In my mind, you have to have an open mind and good judgment when it comes to science (and other areas of life). I think it’s important to human progress that there are those who work in areas that go beyond the accepted consensus, for sometimes they make beneficial breakthroughs. It’s those who work on the edges that propel science forward, even if they may be considered pseudoscientists for a time.