Post 5

Pseudo archaeology is not inherently a bad thing when it is labeled as such and not used to confuse the masses. However, when it is used to blatantly fool the masses without any regard for the truth it becomes a problem. The biggest issue comes when someone has to disprove the claims of these pseudoarchaeologists. Who should be responsible for the nonsense that is pseudoarcheology and when does it classify as something that needs to be combatted. True archaeologists who put their life into the field of research cannot be responsible for every single claim that comes out, however there are times where they should step away from their own research to disprove the claims of others for the general good of the people. Small issues or blatant lies should not be thrown at the feet of archaeologists as they should have obvious flaws that people themselves can draw out. However, when looking at a big issue such as a new artifact found that is claimed to change the whole perspective of a well researched topic they should step in to either confirm or deny the claims before they get out of hand. If a psuedoarchaeological claim is made and it gains traction despite any inherent flaws in the argument it spreads misinformation to the public. The spreading of this false information could easily be stopped before it gains traffic by the work of archaeologists. Typically pseudo archaeological claims lack the context of the find and any real scientific proof leading to the reasoning behind them. Although it may be a hassle for archaeologists they would be able to easily point out these flaws to the public and explain why they are wrong so it prevents any further spread. The prevention of the spread saves any false information from being spread and actually would make it easier for the truth to surface. If archaeologists removed the threat of false information they would be able to get out their truthful research without worrying about any false claims drowning them out. With this it would be advantageous to archaeologists to combat the problem of pseudoarcheology themselves rather than to let it grow and have bigger problems later. Archeologists do tend to critique and find flaws in each others work as well and by doing this help to strengthen the foundation of the claims being made by one another. In this respect it could be more of a cooperative field where archaeologists not only work to bring their own claims to the table but to strengthen others claims and work together in order to combat any falsehoods. This system would allow for only the best, most researched topics to shine through and give rise to a system where we build up on each other and work together to make the best possible outcome. Overall, the necessity to combat falsehoods from coming to fruition and breeding more and more false information should be a priority for archaeologists who want to spread the truth. Combatting the lies is just one way for them to accomplish this and is almost necessary for the goal of truth prevailing over lies.