What’s the harm in believing pseudoscientific or non-scientific claims about the world (in general) and the human past/archaeology.
There is extreme harm in believing pseudoscientific or non-scientific claims about the world. Science is a study of proving facts and disproving things that are wrong about the world. Science is constantly evolving and is one of the main things that make us human. Creating the first tools was science. Following weather patterns and migration patterns was science. As science evolves so do we and our understanding of the world. Believing in pseudoscience or non-scientific claims puts a detriment onto real science and actively pushes us backwards in our understanding of the world. Take for example the non-scientific claim of vaccines causing autism. Many uneducated people spout this claim and actively influence more people to believe in it because it would be scary if it were true. This belief in a non-scientific claim puts detriment onto the children that cannot get vaccinated due to medical reasons as they rely on heard immunity. Believing other non-scientific claims may not have as an apparent detriment but it is good to get in the habit of following reason and science to the best of your ability even on things such as sasquach or the loch-ness monster. If we were to believe in pseudoscience then we never would have achieved the feats we now assume are normal. If we believed in magic, we may have never discovered electricity or the internet. Many things about human history is important in understanding where we are today and why we are here today. Having false beliefs about human history can cause a backlash on today’s society. If we believed falsely that every dictatorship in human history was the most successful, peaceful and most beneficial form of government we could try to reinstate one today but would be sorry to realize that this form of government is very oppressive. The most important thing about history is to guide us into the future. One big example of pseudoarcheology is when Ron Wyatt claimed to have discovered Noah’s ark along with the graves of Noah and his wife. This claim backs religion and while backing religion pushes away many modern theories of science such as evolution. Believing any pseudo archeological or pseudoscientific claim just hurts many types of modern science and pushes people in to backwards ways of thinking. Anyone making these claims should be ostracized from the scientific community and given a bad name such as Ron Wyatt for his claims of finding Noah’s ark.
I fully agree with your point on the fact that pseudo archaeology is detrimental because it prevent us from seeking out truth and a better life in the world. The anti- vax movement is a great example of a detrimental idea based entirely on pseudoscience. The anti-vaccination groups highlight that these false facts can actually harm people and that those who believe in them will risk not only their lives but the lives of their children in the confusion. The spread of misinformation like this hurts more than just those who believe it, and not only spreads conspiracy but also fear and in this case diseases to those who are willing to believe. I also think that it reveals an overall inability to see fact from fiction in those who trust in these ideas. The idea that not believing in magic and trusting in science allows us to advance as a society is important and I think is an interesting idea. People should trust in science and facts in order to help us all move forward and invent new ideas into the future. As with your Noah’s Ark example misinformation and bad science perpetuated by pseudoarcheology groups does encourage people to doubt history and the facts put in front of them. The spread of pseudoscience and pseudoarcheology hurt more than just those who spread it and that does make you point of ostracizing them from the scientific community all together sound like a good idea and important to the continuation of science as we know it within society.