Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience has been defined as "[t]heories, ideas, explanations that are represented as scientific but that are not derived from science or the scientific method."

Examples
Typical examples of pseudoscience are:
 * Astrology:
 * The belief that the positions of stars and planets can be used to predict human affairs and events on Earth


 * Neurolinguistic programming (NLP)


 * Numerology:
 * The study of numbers connected to a person, such as the numbers that form their date of birth or numbers derived from the letters of their name, have an important influence on the person's life and their future.

Origins
Pseudoscientific theories often have origins in folk lore or "ancient" wisdom, or in selective reading without any data collection or validation to establish whether a theory is accurate.

Pseudoscience often uses statements that are "vague and variable", and unlike scientific statements they are not given in a way that allows them to be falsifiable (meaning, there is no clear observation or experiment that could be used to disprove it).

Contradictory evidence
Pseudoscience provides no room for challenge typically dismisses any contradictory evidence - rather than either investigating it, considering alternative theories, or adapting the original theory.

While pseudoscience often uses scientific terms it is not based on a clear foundation of existing scientific knowledge. Pseudoscience often involves falsely presenting "a claim, belief, or opinion" as if is falsely presented as a valid scientific theory or fact.