Information-Psychological Security and Near-Scientific Activity

• Main Authors: A. I. Afonin, M. P. Sychev, Yu. I. Kholodny
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: MGTU im. N.È. Baumana 2017-01-01
• Series: Nauka i Obrazovanie
• Subjects: information-psychological security; near-scientific activity; pseudoscience; quasiscience; parascience
• Online Access: http://technomag.edu.ru/jour/article/view/1272

<p>In accordance with the new version of the “Information Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation (adopted in December 2016), in information security agenda its information-psychological component was selected for further study. Attention is drawn to the need to ensure the information-psychological security of certain categories of citizens, social groups and society in general, taking into account a differentiated approach to assessing threats that arise in the course of their life.</p><p> The article briefly considers the science rank among the forms of the human activities and notes that when involving in science-based and science-applied activities the near-scientific activity, which is often briefly referred to as pseudoscience, shows up as one of the threats.</p><p>The article presents main forms to show of the near-scientific (pseudoscientific) activity, namely parascience, quasi-science, pseudoscience, and monetary scientism.</p><p>Drawing on the example of one of the near-scientific activity products, called "psychotronic weapon", the article clearly shows the emergence and evolution of this pseudoscientific product, the attempts of its implementation in practice, and the subsequent negative consequences of these attempts for society.</p><p>Taking into account the survivability of the near-scientific activity, it is proposed to include lectures in the curricula of technical universities to introduce threats from pseudoscience to graduates of higher educational institutions who may face them both in their employment activity and in everyday life.</p>