Definition
Plain language
An organism's tendency to grow or move in response to heat.
As stated in the literature
Directional growth or movement response to a thermal gradient; invoked in the herbal 'hot and cold' probe as a pseudo-mechanistic bridge.
Why it matters: Borrowing a real biological term to bridge an unsupported claim is exactly the move that makes pseudoscience read as legitimate.
For example, a paper might argue that a herb classified as 'warming' works because plants grow toward heat sources.
Heard on the show
“The same model then fully engages with a study on hot and cold herbs and thermotropism in mice, and with a gold-nanoparticle assay for herbal Qi that runs on numerology.”Episode 240 — Frontier Models Designed Follow-Ups To Fraudulent Papers 93% Of The Time