81988 Society for Scientific Exploration Commonalities in Arguments Over Anomalies

Abstract-There are a number of features that seem to be common to controversies about claimed anomalies. Foremost perhaps is the very fact of controversy. Typically, the anomaly runs counter to the expectations of established orthodoxy, and there is often a populist tone to the argument. Questions concerning the demarcation of science from pseudoscience and of epistemology in general are typically raised. It becomes important to distinguish between the pros and cons of a particular claim and what is said by the disputants; an examination of the ways in which belief and disbelief are distributed among various groups can be useful in clarifying the issues. It is also vital that one distinguish between the occurrence and the reporting of events. As with interdisciplinary work, it is problematic to establish what parts of existing knowledge might be relevant; and anomalies bring to attention large and sometimes unsuspected areas of ignorance. There are pitfalls in assuming that anomalies with superficial similarities have any functional or necessary relation to one another. The manner in which anomalies are perceived is clearly influenced by contemporary science and by contemporary societal beliefs. For many reasons that go far beyond the possible reality of any given anomalous claim, then, the study of anomalies can be interesting and enlightening