Although gisho are apt to be misunderstood as being of no use, there are a few that are meaningless from an academic standpoint except for examples that involve the occult or are fraudulent.
字面から「偽り」すなわち無用と誤解されがちであるが、完全に学問にとって無意味とされる物は後述のオカルト的・詐欺的な例外を除けば少ない。