| X… |
Score |
| Sounds too good to be true[1. Cold fusion] |
+1 |
| Competes with an existing theory while offering simpler, more convenient (and often incomplete, less explanatory) explanations[2. Intelligent design] |
+1 |
| Main proponents are willing to test the theory/claim for validity |
-3 |
| Someone directly or indirectly benefits of people accepting it as a truth, as an individual (i.e. someone sells the more books/placebo the more people believe in it)[3. HeadOn, see this][4. Immortality devices by Alex Chiu] |
+2 |
| Existing knowledge undeniably makes it impossible[5. Homeopathy] |
+3 |
| … and the main proponents ignore (and suggest followers to ignore) existing knowledge that clashes with their own ideas[5. The Flat Earth Society] |
+4 |
| Has peer-reviewed research and/or credible evidence in case it is completely new idea |
-2 |
| Is a radically new idea[6. A lot of sound science goes here, including quantum mechanics, relativity and such but they satisfy the peer-reviewed research requirement] |
+1 |
| Main proponents and experts are from the same field (e.g. evolutionary biologists defending natural selection vs. mathematicians defending creationism)[7. Creationism has tons of this, including using them as an authority rather than a guy who knows about things. And tons of Steves disagree.] |
-2 |
| People supporting the claim or theory are more interested of defending their position and/or creating more supporters rather than researching the subject[8. The whole climate change hassle fits here, albeit only because while the supporters probably are right, they use their energy to moan about the subject and boosting their egos instead of doing anything.] |
+1 |