"Woo Wars" - What is "Woo"?

[mathematic]

47. I don't think that's a good definition of woo

The key characteristic of woo is that it's based on a non-scientific model of reality. This usually means their methods are unable to pass the scientific criteria you describe.

Let's take a look at some examples/hypotheticals:

-A bracelet is marketed as spiritual healing. Wearing it is said to improve you body's spiritual energy. This is woo. Neither the existence of spiritual energy nor a specific mechanism by which the bracelet affects spiritual energy can be shown to exist.

-You have had symptoms of a cold for two weeks and go to see a doctor. The doctor runs some tests and is unsure of what you have before all the results are in. He or she sends you home with a script for antibiotics. (Note: I don't know that a doctor would actually do this, I'm just trying to come up with an example). This is NOT woo. The doctor is relying on the scientific understanding of the germ theory of disease and is treating you based on his or her best judgement. The particular treatment may not been rigorously scientific studied (yet). The doctor will modify his or her treatment practices as new scientific research becomes available.

-Chiropractic is a good example of why people end up on the "wrong" side of the debate. Most people know chiropractors by the basic physical therapy they do. These treatments are what they have in common with science based physical therapists and have passed scientific muster. The problem with chiropractics is that they arrive at their treatments in a completely non-scientific way and therefore generalize their treatments in illegitimate ways. Traditional chiropractics assert that diseases in general are caused by misalignments of the spine. This is woo.

We all see a lot of chest-thumping about how liberals are "reality-based" and "math" becomes a rallying call and that's why you see such insistent pushback on woo around here. Woo puts the lie to the idea that liberals are inherently more reality-based or math supporting than conservatives and a lot of people, myself included, don't like that idea.