PseudoscienceFTL

Pseudo's Userbox

This user's favourite subject is Botany. This user lives for science! This user has been tested and is a Certified Nerd. This user is an American. This user is a participant in WikiProject Plants. Mendel is this user's chromeboy. This user accepts evolution as a biological fact. This user knows the dire side effects of dihydrogen monoxide. Do you? This user understands the science behind climate change and makes efforts to mitigate the problem. This user knows that because English is a living language, grammar and syntax are not fixed. to too twoThis user thinks that too many people have no idea how to use words that they should have learned in grade two. their there they'reThis user thinks that there are too many people who don’t know that they're worse than their own children at spelling!

About Me - Ṗ$eud♠sḉienḉe^ḞṮḶ

I am a botanist and freethinker

My goal in Wikipedia and life is to stop the dissemination of false information. The pseudosciences are a threat to reason, progress, and the mental evolution of mankind - "Pop Science" is a great way to introduce people to the wonders of our universe, but when it is interspersed with information about ghosts and bigfoot, we're sending the wrong message. Sometimes a little bit of knowledge is far mroe dangerous than ignorance. I love (and write) fiction of all types, and am fascinated by the science of ethnobotany; however I recognize that this science is the study of how people use plants not a study of how effective the plants are. I take it upon myself to clarify, for example, the diffence between ethnobotany and alternative medicine and real, empirically proven science.

While many people believe many things, the goal of an encyclopedia is not to misinform. There should be pages about cryptozoology (e.g.) but it should always be clear this is a form of fiction. Alternative medicine has become a real danger to many people - plant and animal extracts have caused many species to become endangered or even extinct, not to mention the millions of people every year that die unnecessarily. Herbs and animal parts are very commonly tainted with poisons including (but not limited to): heavy metals and human waste.

The alternative medicine market is truly a scam (whether or not the practitioners believe they are helping) - and to help stop it we must not present it as scientific information.

I also won't be contributing to discussions on "main pages" such as talk:alternative medicine simply because I didn't come here to argue. I also hope to add as much as I can to WP:PLANTS, and get rid of some of those botany stubs!

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