full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Siska De Baerdemaeker: Science vs. Pseudoscience

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Another key marker of science is overall consistency. snicece relies on a nrwtoek of srhead information that ongoing research develops across disciplines. But pseudoscience often ignores or denies this shared pool of data. For example, csoaerntitis claim that animals didn’t evolve from a common ancestor, and that Earth is less than 20,000 years old. But these claims contradict huge amounts of evidence across multiple scientific disciplines, inundlicg geology, paleontology, and biology.

While the scientific motehd is our most reiballe tool to analyze empirical evidence from the world around us, it certainly doesn't reveal everything about the human condition. Faith-based beliefs can play an ioatpnrmt role in our leivs and cultural todiatinrs. But the reason it’s so important to draw a line is that people often dress up belief systems as science in efforts to manipulate others or udrnnmeie legitimate scientific discoveries. And even in cases where this might seem harmless, legitimizing pseudoscience can impede genuine scientific prrgeoss. In a world where it's increasingly diiffulct to tell fact from foctiin, it's essential to keep your critical thinking skills sharp.

Open Cloze


Another key marker of science is overall consistency. _______ relies on a _______ of ______ information that ongoing research develops across disciplines. But pseudoscience often ignores or denies this shared pool of data. For example, ____________ claim that animals didn’t evolve from a common ancestor, and that Earth is less than 20,000 years old. But these claims contradict huge amounts of evidence across multiple scientific disciplines, _________ geology, paleontology, and biology.

While the scientific ______ is our most ________ tool to analyze empirical evidence from the world around us, it certainly doesn't reveal everything about the human condition. Faith-based beliefs can play an _________ role in our _____ and cultural __________. But the reason it’s so important to draw a line is that people often dress up belief systems as science in efforts to manipulate others or _________ legitimate scientific discoveries. And even in cases where this might seem harmless, legitimizing pseudoscience can impede genuine scientific ________. In a world where it's increasingly _________ to tell fact from _______, it's essential to keep your critical thinking skills sharp.

Solution


  1. lives
  2. including
  3. progress
  4. creationists
  5. reliable
  6. science
  7. fiction
  8. difficult
  9. important
  10. method
  11. traditions
  12. network
  13. shared
  14. undermine

Original Text


Another key marker of science is overall consistency. Science relies on a network of shared information that ongoing research develops across disciplines. But pseudoscience often ignores or denies this shared pool of data. For example, creationists claim that animals didn’t evolve from a common ancestor, and that Earth is less than 20,000 years old. But these claims contradict huge amounts of evidence across multiple scientific disciplines, including geology, paleontology, and biology.

While the scientific method is our most reliable tool to analyze empirical evidence from the world around us, it certainly doesn't reveal everything about the human condition. Faith-based beliefs can play an important role in our lives and cultural traditions. But the reason it’s so important to draw a line is that people often dress up belief systems as science in efforts to manipulate others or undermine legitimate scientific discoveries. And even in cases where this might seem harmless, legitimizing pseudoscience can impede genuine scientific progress. In a world where it's increasingly difficult to tell fact from fiction, it's essential to keep your critical thinking skills sharp.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
homeopathic treatments 2
empirical evidence 2
pseudoscientific fields 2


Important Words


  1. amounts
  2. analyze
  3. ancestor
  4. animals
  5. belief
  6. beliefs
  7. biology
  8. cases
  9. claim
  10. claims
  11. common
  12. condition
  13. consistency
  14. contradict
  15. creationists
  16. critical
  17. cultural
  18. data
  19. denies
  20. develops
  21. difficult
  22. disciplines
  23. discoveries
  24. draw
  25. dress
  26. earth
  27. efforts
  28. empirical
  29. essential
  30. evidence
  31. evolve
  32. fact
  33. fiction
  34. genuine
  35. geology
  36. harmless
  37. huge
  38. human
  39. ignores
  40. impede
  41. important
  42. including
  43. increasingly
  44. information
  45. key
  46. legitimate
  47. legitimizing
  48. line
  49. lives
  50. manipulate
  51. marker
  52. method
  53. multiple
  54. network
  55. ongoing
  56. paleontology
  57. people
  58. play
  59. pool
  60. progress
  61. pseudoscience
  62. reason
  63. reliable
  64. relies
  65. research
  66. reveal
  67. role
  68. science
  69. scientific
  70. shared
  71. sharp
  72. skills
  73. systems
  74. thinking
  75. tool
  76. traditions
  77. undermine
  78. world
  79. years