WHENCE PSEUDOSCIENCE?AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL APPROACH

In this paper, we develop an epidemiological approach to account for thetypical features and persistent popularity of pseudoscience. Anepidemiology of pseudoscience aims at explaining why some beliefsbecome widely distributed whereas others do not and hence seeks to identifythe factors that exert a causal effect on this distribution. We pinpoint anddiscuss several factors that promote the dissemination of pseudoscientificbeliefs. In particular, we argue that such beliefs manage to spread widelybecause they are intuitively appealing, manage to hitchhike on the authorityof science, and successfully immunize themselves from criticism