There are many results to the belief in pseudoarchaeological topics but they vary greatly in the damage they do to science, people or just society in general. The main problem is that the belief is not necessarily the issue; it is the following actions some people take to protect or prove their beliefs. The main issues that originate from pseudoscientific claims affect the reputation of scientists and archaeologists, money, and targets of nationalist groups around the world.
As pseudoscientists and pseudoarchaeologists work to prove their claims about ancient astronauts or Atlantis they cause a lot of damage especially when it comes to scientists and how they are viewed by the public. These radical groups of believers base all of their “data” on science or scientific figures to make their ideas more believable. However, as these subjects are invalidated or just ignored in general, this could affect the discipline as a whole. The archaeologists that appear on shows like Ancient Aliens help confirm the “truth” of these theories and this could make scientists lose standing in the eyes of the community because they publicly affirmed the beliefs of pseudoarchaeologists to the entire world. Pseudoscience can also tarnish the reputation of science when archaeologists or scientists say that they don’t know what exactly happened when it comes to a certain site or artifact. This makes the public perceive them as ignorant or simpleminded because a non-scientist “knows” more than archaeologists do about their own field and aid the pseudoarchaeologist’s “crusade” to convince the public about their “knowledge”.
This “knowledge” also causes damage to educational institutions and the government. As pseudoarchaeologists build a following of believers, it allows them to be granted research money in search of the truth about their specific idea. However, this is a substantial waste of money that could go toward many other important archaeological topics. These grants of money also help the group of pseudoarchaeologists gain more followers because it is considered validation for the entire concept. This cycle will just continue and swallow money without ever finding anything to support their claims.
Finally, the most common group of pseudoarchaeologists that are most commonly violent or dangerous is nationalist groups like neo-Nazis. These groups and their quest for a “perfect civilization” can lead to mass murder or genocide, as evidenced by the Holocaust. The Nazi’s actions in World War II alone have resulted in the deaths of about 17.5 million people according to United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. More recently, nationalists have been the subject of many news stories for shootings and riots in an attempt to “stand up for what they believe in”. This is one of the most pressing issues in the US right now, as well as around the world as they attempt to recreate Atlantis. However, all nationalists aren’t negative in their beliefs. Nationalism can just be a citizen’s pride in their country which is why issues occur when people act on negative nationalist ideas.
The belief in pseudoarchaeological and pseudoscientific ideas results in harm to the scientific community, “loss” of research funds and even the deaths of different ethnic groups around the world. As time passes, more of these claims are created and considered around the world resulting in more believers. The Holocaust happened with the technology of the 1940s but what could nationalists today do with today’s technology?
Works Cited:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Documenting Numbers of Victims of the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/documenting-numbers-of-victims-of-the-holocaust-and-nazi-persecution. Accessed on 4 September 2019.
While reading this, I enjoyed your notion that it is not necessarily the belief of a pseudoarchaeological idea, as much as it is the action taken by the individual or by a group. There are many people who believe in these ideas are not violent, and are viewed as outcasts in society. However, it is when many believers come together with the violent intention to further these ideas that an imminent danger arises. This is usually when ethnocentric and nationalistic groups form with the objective of making their goals a reality. Along with extremely harmful nationalistic views, the denouncment of scholarly science is harmful because it can deligitamize institutions important to the structure of United States. It had not occurred to me that these ideas had the potential to extensively harm the United States government. Although I would say it would harm the government from the incorrect criticism the government could receive if these beliefs against science became widespread. The institution of the government depends on scholarly educated groups, and if these groups suddenly become criticized, the way the government runs could become compromised. I do agree that this would only happen if the people who believe these ideas decided to act upon the beliefs.