One of the key features of science is the ability to revise its own conclusion in light of new evidence and research; every proven scientific statement is always assumed true until contrary proof; the failure of one specific theory is never a failure of science itself; on the contrary is a success because it allows to correct its path toward the truth and avoid falling it into the abyss of an enforced delusion.
State Pseudoscience knows this ever-changing nature is a hallmark of science, and so tries to appropriate it in order to keep its mask; the theories promoted by State Pseudoscience, in fact, did and will inevitably fail and periodically need to be replaced, and paradoxically this gives this religion and their clergy the perfect opportunity to give themselves an appearance of honesty and objectivity, and to retain their prestige untouched. But the fundamental difference lies in the reason that triggered these paradigm-shifts: in the case of science it is objectivity; in the case of State Pseudoscience it is convenience: old theories are discarded NOT when they are conclusively proven wrong, but only when keeping supporting them would not bring them any further profit or power anymore, or would even become counterproductive because of a shift in the political climate or the emergence of new opportunities for profit.
The examples are countless:
- The post-WW2 shift from the doctrine of the so-called "scientific racism" to an equally pseudoscientific denial of racial differences.
- The shift from the classification of homosexuality and other paraphilias as "perversions"/"mental illnesses" to their acceptance as normal sexual orientations.
- The shift from the obstinate denial of the damage caused by cigarette smoke to the wide acceptance of their reality.
In all of these cases what we have is not proper scientific theories, but religious doctrines, who are not being discarded after being proved wrong by evidence, but a reaction/backlash in public perception which forced their peddlers to change narrative.