Why do we so eagerly take to woo?

[Scootaloo]

23. That's not the point

No one is forcing you to utilize any therapy or treatment you do not want to.

Do you think aromatherapy can cure cancer?
Do you think magnets on a necklace will "awaken your throat chakra" and prevent your acid reflux?
Do you think that gluing oxidizing pads to your feet will "cleanse your body of toxins"?
Do you think that ultra-dilute chemicals in a water solution are more potent than undiluted chemicals?
Do you believe that crystals produce a harmonic energy wave that can help wounds heal faster?
Do you think that thinking happy thoughts will call quantum particls to relieve your arthritis and reverse aging?
Do you believe depression can be treated by listening to whale song and seeking your totem animal in the stars?
Do you believe tiger penis soup will cure impotence?
Do you think that prayer is a better way of handling an allergic reaction than epinephrine?
Do you believe that goats should be sacrificed and the woman anointed with hteir blood before childbirth so that evil spirits don't steal the newborn?
Is schizophrenia best handled by calling in a priest to beat the hell (litrally!) out of someone during exorcism?
Was your fibromyalgia caused by fluoridated water and / or exposure to UFO radiation?
Do you believe that mixing water and beads will create infinite amounts of free electricity?
Do you believe firing a cannon at a clear sky will make it rain?

People do hold these beliefs. And each of these beliefs is just fucking wrong. The problem isn't that you're "forced" into it, the problem is that the promotion and acceptance of this dark age, snake oil bullshit, reduces and occludes scientific literacy among the public. In other words, it makes people stupid just by existing. Maybe that doesn't bother you. But it bothers me because it leads to a world where schools teach our kids that prayer and biology are interchangeable, it opens the gates for our government officials to insist a woman's body "shuts down rape," and it leads to public health risks when vaccines are avoided because a porn star tells you they're made of demon cum or something.

Nobody's forcing me to undergo acupuncture, no. But every idiot who does so has the net effect of making my community that much more stupid and enriching a charlatan to do it again.