Overview
Part I:
My name is David and I look forward to learning about physics with all of you.
My family and I live in East Tennessee, which is a beautiful area and state if you have never been. I work for the local Coca-Cola Distributor and my future goals are to first compete my degree that I have been working on for YEARS and YEARS. Then I plan to continue my career and professional credentials and knowledge in the field of Occupational Safety and Health. And like many of you these days, I also have a goal of keeping my head above water with work demands, family life, and school. But, we will keep moving forward, right?
Part II:
This is something that I have never really though about in relation to science, but as the study guide describes, since "Pseudo" is Greek for "false" we can conclude that science is science, and pseudoscience is false science, or not science at all. The study guide states pseudoscience as "pretending to be an actual science" that uses scientific ideas only, but does not use scientific laws to explain them, test them, or verify the ideas. Another description of pseudoscience is having a collection of "beliefs" that someone regards as science and thinks it's based on the scientific method, but it actually is not. Some examples of pseudoscience are the flat earth belief, astrology (when people believe the earth's position around other celestial bodies has an impact on our everyday behaviors), hypnosis and polygraphs, and extra sensory perception (ESP). One method of determining is something is "real science" or not is following the scientific method and holding to the findings.
Forbes list some questions to use when trying to determine if something is real science or pseudoscience. First, what is the source of the claim? What is the agenda of the source? What type of language is in it (is it factual-based or emotional based)? Are the claims exclusive or not? Is there a money trail involved and were there "real" scientific processes involved?
From what I understand about science, it's a process, and a process that is always being tested and analized, so the findings can and do often change as the processes improve and as we learn more about the topic or item.