Blog Post #3: Mozart Effect, Graphology and the Negative Consequences of Pseudoscience

   

  In my Spare Time, I often frequent an Internet Forum that often at times focuses on cultural critiques. Around a week ago a poster stated that his future hypothetical child will be of above-average intelligence because he plans to expose them to high culture such as the Classical works of Bach, Wagner and the like. Though there was no explicit mention of the main character of the 1984 film Amadeus, the post author esssentially offered a qualifed endorsement of the "Mozart Effect" as mentioned in the lectures. The post was received negatively with many other users stating how this child will be sentenced to a childhood that bares the brutal marks of bullying (Despite hoping otherwise, children can and will be cruel). Many other posters mentioned how this child will be destined to become a social outcast due to their supposed high brow media consumption as opposed to indulging in standard fare for young children such as cartoons. 

   Frankly, there is credence to the notion. I remember growing up how many of my peers who never watched Spongebob were often times left out of certain jokes, which can be isolating frankly. If i can speak openly, though this aforementioned may seem honest in reality it show's how pseudoscientific belief (such as this parent-to-be's belief in the Mozart effect) can have a detrimental impact on people's lives. With all this being said, I am reminded of the Graphology video where the Detective has stated that Graphology would be harmless if It was just a Parlor trick but it  becomes reckless and dangerous when people lose jobs and opportunities on the part of a practice that can't be proven by the scientific method. 

  Wherever it leads to a life of trauma that stems from childhood bullying to people losing job offers, Psuedoscience must be properly scrutinzed because of the detrimental impacts it can have  on society. We may think it's all fun and games but in reality this is serious. After all, Science is a serious field of inquiry and Pseudoscience is nothing more but fiction that seeks to unjustly approproriate the mantle of legitimacy from the mantle of Scientific inquiry.