Pseudoscience - The Bermuda Triangle

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm


The Bermuda Triangle is an example of pseudoscience because it is this somewhat supernatural phenomenon that occurs, that is debated whether is credible or not. There is some weak evidence behind the myth of the Bermuda Triangle. Most of the ships have never been found, but some debris has been recovered. They say that it could be caused by illegitimate things such as aliens or supernatural forces. These claims are not possible to support, because there is no evidence. The ships have disappeared, but there is no scientifically possible cause proposed. The claim is easily fallen for because of the strange reoccurrence of the disappearing ships. Because it didn't just happen once, but numerous times, makes the claim seem believable.

Paradigm Shift

A common paradigm of the past involved the idea of organisms generating spontaneously from thin air. This idea came about when food would spoil and small organisms such as bacteria or flies would infest it. People thought that these organisms came from the meat, and just generated because the meat was getting rotten. This paradigm had to shift when Redi conducted an experiment that disproved spontaneous generation. Redi experimented with meat by leaving one piece of meat in the open, and one meet covered with a screen. The results showed that if the meat was covered, no bugs would be on it, whereas if it were not covered, the meat would be infested with flies. This showed that the bugs did not spontaneously generate, and had to have come from another source. The population at first had a hard time accepting this new idea. The paradigm had to shift, however to disprove spontaneous generation. This lead to the discovery of much more new information about how organisms reproduce and are formed.

Summer Experience

Sometimes memory can fail us, and lead to arguments. This summer, I called my boss up to ask her if I could switch a shift. I needed to go away for a day with my family. Angered, she allowed me to. However, when it came to the day before my day off, she called me and told me that I was supposed to be n work that day, and that i told her that i needed a different day off. I was furious, i had specifically told her that i needed that friday off ! She somehow thought i said Thursday. Obviously she had just forgotten because i needed a specific day off, and she was angry and upset, but not connected to the word friday in any way. That friday had a significant importance to me, so I know that i said Friday, but to her it was just an annoyance, so she had no remembered it.

1.My boss and I remembered a discussion in a different way, causing problems.
2. Perception, language, emotion
3. False memory, emotional memory
4. Memory can serve us incorrectly.
5. When people remember the same thing differently, problems arise.