Is there a set of questions we can ask of any questionable health pseudoscience to better form a science based opinion? Turns out there is and it’s been developed by Michael Shermer, publisher of ‘Skeptic Magazine’.
Next time you meet a questionable claim – ask yourself these questions…
- How reliable is the source of the claim?
- Does the source make similar claims?
- Have the claims been verified by somebody else?
- Does this fit with the way the world works?
- Has anyone tried to disprove the claim?
- Where does the preponderance of evidence point?
- Is the claimant playing by the rules of science?
- Is the claimant providing positive evidence?
- Does the new theory account for as many phenomena as the old theory?
- Are personal beliefs driving the claim?
