“Classics of pseudoscientific demagoguery”. The organizer of the VRAL prize explained the awarding of the prize for pseudoscience to Kurpatov

Science journalist and one of the organizers of the anti-award “Honorary Academician of VRAL” for achievements in the field of pseudoscience, Alexander Sokolov, explained the presentation of the award to Andrei Kurpatov. About this Sokolov reported in an interview with Znak.

“Kurpatov is a complex figure. Of course, if we compare it with the more obvious obscurantists, the same channel “Kramola”, which was also in the final, then there the anti-scientific focus is more pronounced and does not raise questions. There are more complex, more borderline cases. Perhaps they are more dangerous, therefore, it is difficult to say.

It is clear that Kurpatov himself will say what kind of science and scientific approach he is. I think he will even be sincere about it. Another thing is what happens at the output. We had other examples of this kind, when representatives of the academic community reached the finals. Let’s say Sergei Savelyev, Doctor of Biological Sciences, head of the department, and so on. Kurpatov, on the other hand, broadcasts to an audience of millions as a guru, neglecting scientific for the sake of dramatic effects.

For example, in a scientific article it is written that scientists have found, under certain conditions, a correlation between the time spent by a person on a mobile phone and some depressive tendencies. The authors write: in addition, there is a correlation between depressive mood and a decrease in the amount of time devoted to physical education, time devoted to religion, reading the media, and so on. Next, you need to figure out what kind of causal relationship there is. It turns out, let’s say, that the indicators of depression increased only in men, but not in women. We discard all this and leave only the loud phrase: the longer a person sits in a mobile phone, the more likely he will commit suicide. This is a flawed approach to interpretation. With Mr. Kurpatov, everything is basically in this spirit. It looks scientifically, it also sounds performed by a guru. Who will check it? This is a distortion, a manipulation of the results. A classic of pseudoscientific demagogy, ”Sokolov explained.

We will remind, last week psychologist and TV presenter Andrey Kurpatov became a laureate Prize for pseudoscience “Honorary Academician VRAL”. The award was presented for the active use of the terms “digital autism” and “informational pseudo-weakness”. In addition, Kurpatov stated that the use of smartphones increases the risk of suicide.

In 2019, “Doctor Kurpatov” (the common noun “stuck” to the psychologist because of his TV show of the same name) became the scientific director of the newly created Laboratory of Neurosciences and Human Behavior of Sberbank. Then it was announced that the Laboratory would conduct scientific research in the field of neurophysiology, social psychology and cognitive science and introduce the results of scientific developments into the daily practice of Sberbank Group companies. In 2020, Kurpatov spoke at the request of German Gref at the economic forum in Davos, spoke about digital addiction and “digital autism”, predicted the imminent death of Facebook.

In the fall of 2021, it became known about a criminal case involving Kurpatov. He was accused of slander by his assistant Aleksey Ievsky, who is in jail at the request of a psychologist. Ievsky believes that Kurpatov achieved his arrest because of their breakup after the betrayal of a pseudo-scientist.

The award “Honorary Academician of VRAL” (Vrunichesky Academy of Pseudosciences) was established by the portal Antropogenesis.ru and the Evolution Foundation. The winner will be awarded the “Sad Reptilian” statuette.