Maybe I'm Misunderstanding Woo... But... Wasn't There A Time When...

[ElboRuum]

57. Ah, yes, because "anti-woo crowd" is "productive discussion"

Putting aside the defensive and ignorant nature of your post for a moment...

Complementary or alternative medicine is not 'woo' if it is subjected by its proponents to scientific evaluation and peer review. If it subjects itself to such review and is found false, non-correlative to positive health outcomes, or is otherwise found to be lacking in therapeutic value and its proponents continue to insist on its value, then YES. IT IS WOO.

This is PRECISELY the case with the antivax crowd. They base their entire rationale on one debunked study and an irrational mistrust of the scientific community. This is woo incarnate. Continuing to promote this nonsense in light of the damage which can be caused by it is not only ignorant, but unethical and dangerous. So I'm sorry if the antivax crowd has a sad because someone calls them on their bullshit, but I'm not going to stand idly by while they promote hazardous ignorance.

Similarly, just because people don't trust allopathic medicine, citing a profit motive or possibly a general mistrust of science (odd that so called 'educated' people could mistrust science, but whatever, it's not unknown on DU) doesn't mean that their assertions have credence by default. It is still up to those who assert the value of these treatments to prove them out by more than just anecdotal evidence and testimonials from 'cured' individuals. If there is value in a treatment, science can only serve to certify and maybe even expand on what is ostensibly there. If such a treatment exists, it is not 'woo'. If such does not exist or is resistive of attempts at vetting, it is.

There is an anti-woo crowd on DU. This is true. And there should be. Because 'woo' is an unrelenting assertion of truth in the absence of knowledge or in the face of its direct refutation. Another word for this is 'faith'. Faith is fine for a religion, medicine, not so much.