Lunar Effect (pseudoscience/science)

* Introduction
* what pseudoscientific topic are you researching?
* Why did you choose this subject?
* How did you do your research?

* A Description of the topic in detail
* B What is the evidence used by believers in this topic ?
* C Evidence of scientific validity
* Description of the scientific method
* What valid scientific research has been done about the topic.?
* What are the conclusions of the scientific research?
* D Analysis-
* Use the information you gathered during this course to analyze in detail why your topic is a pseudoscience In this area you will need to analyze the “evidence” used by believers in this topic, described in section B
* Include references to logical fallacies, scientific error, bias etc
* Conclusion

*OUTLINE EXAMPLE*

I. Introductory Paragraph
A. Topic Sentence: (Probably an anecdote)
B. Introduce my topic: Holocaust denial (Define it)
C. Reason for choosing this topic: As a Muslim, a woman and a person of color–groups that have been marginalized some time or another– I empathize with Jews. I also find it intriguing that people would dispel such a well documented historical event.
D. Tentative thesis: This paper will explore Holocaust denial and how deniers perpetuate their beliefs under the guise of the scientific method. Classic pseudoscientific features and the scientific method will also be used to analyze the invalidity of their claims.
E. How did you do the research? (Not sure what you mean by this, Professor H).
II. Body Paragraph 1: Arguments for and against Holocaust denial
A. Famous Holocaust Deniers
1. Fred Leuchter (Leuchter Report)
2. David Irving
B. Those that condemn Holocaust denial: Deborah Lipstadt
1. Wrote a book called Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory where she accuses Irving of being “most dangerous spokesperson for Holocaust denial”.
2. Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt
A. David Irving sues Lipstadt and the publishing company, Penguin Books, claiming that she made libelous statements about him in her Denying the Holocaust book.
B. English libel laws places the burden of proof on defendants so Penguin Books and Lipstadt had to prove that Irving’s writings and ideas about the Holocaust were false.
C. Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books were successful as they won the case.
III. Body Paragraph 2: Scientific Method and Can it Prove Validity of Deniers’ Claim
A. In 1988, Leuchter allegedly scraped the walls of gas chambers in Auschwitz, Birkenau and Lublin. According to him, cyanide traces was not found in any of the walls. David Irving uses this as evidence to deny the existence of gas chambers in concentration camps.
1. Lipstadt and Penguin Books provide camp blueprints, eyewitness accounts, documents relating to the capacity of the crematoria, the amount of cyanide gas delivered to the camp in order to dispel this claim and prove that gas chambers did, in fact, exist.
B. Deniers also argue that the death toll of Jews during the Holocaust is far lower than 6 million and the Holocaust was created in order to garner financial support for Israel (Professor H, does it makes sense to have this in this paragraph? Not sure if I can relate this to the scientific method. I’ll keep researching.)
IV. Body Paragraph 3: Analysis (Will add more to this list as I do more research)
A. Cherry picking /Confirmation bias
1. Irving using Leuchter to confirm his own beliefs
2. Irving also seems to be a Hitler apologist so he supports anything that furthers that agenda.
B. Fallacies in deniers’ arguments
1. Ad hominem: attacking the character of Jews by arguing the Holocaust is for financial gain.
C. False memories of eyewitness accounts?
V. Conclusion
A. Restate thesis
B. Concluding Statements and final thoughts