Anomalous
Anomalism is the application of scientific methods to study phenomena beyond our current understanding with the aim of finding a reasonable explanation for them.
The term itself was coined in 1973 by the anthropologist Robert W. Wescott, who defined it as a “serious and systematic investigation of all phenomena” “which do not fit into our picture of reality, as common sense or the known sciences convey . "Wescott ties in with Thomas Kuhn with such considerations , who under anomalies " [understands] observational results that seem to contradict previous theoretical ideas and assumptions about the world, for which there seems to be no explanation within the framework of conventional theories. “Wescott himself referred to the journalist and researcher Charles Fort as the actual creator of anomalism as a separate field of research. The physicist William R. Corliss published from 1974 numerous handbooks on anomalous phenomena in various fields of science.
Research area
According to Marcello Truzzi , anomalies assumes that “inexplicable phenomena” exist up to now, but that most of these can be explained through the use of more precise scientific investigation methods.
Observation results or reports on unusual phenomena are initially treated as credible until conclusively proven that they are not credible or even impossible. Truzzi wrote in 2000 that anomalies have four basic functions:
- Anomalous Sciences aids the study of a variety of anomalous claims made by protoscientists .
- The anomalist aims to gain a better understanding of how scientific decisions are made, and to help make this process fairer and more reasonable.
- The anomalist seeks to provide a reasonable conceptual framework for categorizing and understanding anomalous claims.
- The anomalous takes on the role of an adviser or lawyer in the context of scientific decision-making processes, so that the path to new knowledge is not hindered by prejudices or one-sided views.
scope of application
Anomalistics has two core principles that determine its scope:
- Research must move within the conventional limits of scientific work.
- The research deals exclusively with “empirical claims of the extraordinary” and not with claims of a “metaphysical, theological or supernatural” nature.
The consequence of these principles is that the anomalist turns primarily to physical phenomena and traditionally rather avoids research into phenomena that are purely paranormal in nature, such as ghost apparitions.
validity
According to Truzzi, a declaration can only be considered valid if it meets four criteria in the context of anomalies:
- It must be based on conventional knowledge and thought
- it must be simple and unencumbered by speculation or hypercomplexity,
- the burden of proof rests on whoever makes an anomalous claim, not the researcher who verifies it, and
- the more unusual an assertion, the higher the requirements for a proof.
literature
- Gerd Hövelmann: Deviance and Anomalies: Science's Test - Prof. Dr. Marcello Truzzi (1935-2003) (PDF; 1.6 MB) , Zeitschrift für Anomalistik, 5, 5–30. 2005, ISBN 3-937361-05-7 .
- Gerhard Mayer, Michael Schetsche , Ina Schmied-Knittel, Dieter Vaitl (eds.): At the limits of knowledge. Manual of Scientific Anomalies. Schattauer, Stuttgart 2015.
- Marcello Truzzi: The Perspective of Anomalistics , Chapter in Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience , Fitzroy Dearborn, 2002, ISBN 1-57958-207-9 .
- Marcello Truzzi: What is anomalous science? German translation of the English article in William F. Williams (2000): Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience , 2000, ISBN 978-1-57958-207-4 .
- Marcello Truzzi: Anomalistics: The Perspective of Anomalistics , Center for Scientific Anomalies Research. 1998.
- Robert W. Wescott: Introducing anomalistics: A new field of interdisciplinary study. Kronos 1980, 5, pp. 36-50