I run across cryptozoology on a regular basis, mostly because I have an interest in provocative ideas, but also because I have an interest in the boundary between "healthy" science and its unhealthy relatives: namely pseudoscience and pathological science, to say nothing of outright hoaxes. Exactly where cryptozoology falls in this range is difficult to say, in no small part because different people mean somewhat different things by the word "cryptozoology", but I think it's a fair assertion that much of what is called cryptozoology is contaminated to a greater or lesser extent with pseudoscience.
Right now I don't have time to go into this in any real detail, but if this interests you at all, please take a look at this recent post at the Tet Zoo. I will return to the subject later.
I followed your link on pathological science and failed to come up with a definition beyond "a pitfall scientists sometimes fall into". Can you provide a more thorough definition.
ReplyDelete