Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit can be used to assess arguments to determine whether they are deceptive or misleading. In my search for a bogus analysis that uses quasi-scientific jargon but with little or no objectivity, I came across a scientific definition that defines Dark Matter.
The definition proceeds as ‘The gravitational constant that reflects an implied resonance featuring an internal symmetry, creating an imposed reflection into the mass structure of the nucleonic forces.’ At a glance, this statement seems to have a profound definition and sounds impressive. However, a closer look reveals that it only consists of quasi-scientific that has no concrete meaning and is complete nonsense.
Baloney’s Detection Kit requires that when possible, the facts presented should be confirmed independently. There is no substantial evidence for the proof of the assertions presented in the above definition for Dark Matter.
For instance, it mentions that dark matter is a gravitational constant. If this is accurate, perhaps the figure should have been given. Occam’s razor posits that if two theories explain the idea more clearly, the more straightforward option should be used. In this case, the author uses a complex definition, employing scientific terms to make it sound right. The definition also relies on several unsupported assertions.
Another tool in the Kit is that every section of the argument must be right if there is a series of arguments. The Dark Matter definition does not have any flow sequence whatsoever. For instance, he mentions that Dark Matter is ‘a gravitational constant that features an internal symmetry,’ internal symmetry is a property of scientific quantities that do not involve space and time. However, a gravitational constant would have to involve place since gravitational force is directed towards the Earth’s center. Following these arguments, the definition of Dark Matter is rendered meaningless using the Baloney Detection Kit.