Folk science

{{psychology}}
In [[psychology]] and [[anthropology]], scholars use the term '''folk science''' to characterise systems of knowledge about the workings of the natural world that are not based on the [[scientific method]], often relying instead either on [[intuition]] or on [[empiricism]] in its crudest form. [[Pseudoscience]] is often based on some sort of folk science, and because many scientific findings are counter-intuitive, they may be difficult to grasp, rendered into a folk science form, or flat-out [[denialism|denied]].<ref group=note>E.g. [[quantum mechanics]], which asks us to understand the universe in a very counter-intuitive way, is sometimes used to support pseudoscience (per [[Deepak Chopra]] and other [[quantum woo]]-meisters).</ref>

[[Indigenous science]] is folk science with the additional advantages of indigenous [[woo]], granting respected and traditional indigenous cultures respect for their indigeneity (plus a splash of [[Appeal to ancient wisdom|ancient wisdom]]); and recognition as (perhaps) more grounded and subject to experimental justification.

==Folk biology==
Folk biology refers to common observations made by people about living organisms and how they interact with the natural world. Organisms are classified by a system of [[folk taxonomy]] and all known languages appear to have five (or possibly six) levels of taxa arranged in a hierarchical system (unique beginner, life form, generic, specific, varietal).<ref>Berlin, Breedlove, and Raven. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1973.75.1.02a00140/pdf General Principles of Classification and Nomenclature in Folk Biology.] ''American Anthropologist'', vol. 75, iss. 1</ref><ref>Scott Atran. [http://commonsenseatheism.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Atran-Folk-biology-and-the-anthropology-of-science.pdf Folk Biology and the Anthropology of Science] ''Behavioral and Brain Sciences'' (1998) 21, 547–609</ref> [[Creationism]] and [[biological determinism]] are often based on folk scientific interpretations of real biology.

==Folk medicine==
{{main|Folk remedy}}
Folk medicine includes all pre-modern medicine, including [[traditional Chinese medicine]], [[Ayurveda]], [[heroic medicine]], and some other types of [[alternative medicine]], particularly those that existed prior to the 19<sup>th</sup> century. Folk medicine may also include some types of {{wpl|Culture-bound syndrome|culture-bound syndromes}} that are [[psychosomatic]] and only occur within specific cultures (e.g., {{wpl|Latah|''latah''}} in [[Indonesia]] or {{wpl|Susto|''susto''}} in some indigenous cultures of [[Latin America]]).

==Folk physics==
A common misconception in folk physics (sometimes called "naive physics") is the idea that moving objects have some kind of "impetus", a sort of naive form of momentum in which an object has an internal force moving it forward. Thus, moving objects are conceived of in a pre-[[Isaac Newton|Newtonian]] framework in which objects in motion are not stopped or slowed by an external force, but their internal impetus is "spent" and they stop moving.<ref>[http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/faculty/Markman/PSY394/McCloskey_IntuitivePhysics.pdf Intuitive Physics], Arthur B. Markman, ''Scientific American''</ref> The idea of a "centrifugal force" in which a supposedly "true" force pushes an object traveling in a circle outward rather than the object's movement being a product of inertia is another example of folk physics.<ref>[http://phun.physics.virginia.edu/topics/centrifugal.html Centrifugal force], University of Virginia</ref><ref>[http://xkcd.com/123/ Centrifugal force], xkcd</ref><ref>See also [http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/glossary.htm A Glossary of Frequently Misused or Misunderstood Physics Terms and Concepts.]</ref>

==Folk psychology==
Many commonly held ideas about the mind, such as a "[[ghost in the machine]]"-style [[free will]] and mind-body [[dualism]], are now considered to be folk psychology (sometimes "[[common sense]]" psychology), based on our evolved [[cognitive bias]]es. The idea of a [[soul]] or some kind of disembodied consciousness lies at the heart of various pseudo-psychological theories, e.g. [[non-materialist neuroscience]]. There is some debate in theory and [[philosophy of mind]] as to whether folk psychology holds some use for the psychological sciences or should be totally discarded.<ref>Stich and Nichols. [http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~stich/Publications/Papers/FolkPsychology.pdf Folk Psychology,] in Stephen Stich & Ted A. Warfield, eds., ''The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Mind'', (Oxford: Basil Blackwell) 2003. Pp. 235-255</ref><ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/folkpsych-theory/ Folk Psychology as Theory], Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref>

==See also==
*[[Apophenia]]
*[[Essentialism]]
*[[Folk medicine]]
*[[Magical thinking]]
*[[Nature woo]]
*[[Other ways of knowing]]
*[[Philosophical intuition]]
*[[Science woo]]
*[[Protoscience]]

==External links==
*[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=folk-science Folk Science], [[Michael Shermer]], ''[[Scientific American]]''
*[http://sfmatheson.blogspot.com/2007/12/on-folk-science-and-lies.html On Folk Science and Lies], Quintessence of Dust
*Frank C. Keil. [http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homePage/Class/Psy333N/Legare%20Fall%202008/Articles/Keil%20Folkscience.pdf Folk science: coarse interpretations of a complex reality.] ''Trends in Cognitive Sciences'' Vol.7 No.8 August 2003
*Scott Atran. [http://sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/itzaj_maya_folkbiological_taxonomy.pdf Itzaj Maya Folkbiological Taxonomy: Cognitive Universals and Cultural Particulars.] D. Medin & S. Atran, ''Folkbiology'', MIT Press
*Douglas L. Medin and Scott Atran. [http://hal.inria.fr/docs/00/05/36/12/PDF/ijn_00000565_00.pdf The Native Mind: Biological Categorization and Reasoning in Development and Across Cultures.] ''Psychological Review'' (2004), Volume: 111, Issue: 4, Pages: 960-983

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Anthropology]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Science woo]]
[[Category:Folklore]]

Categories: Anthropology, Psychology, Pseudoscience, Science woo, Folklore