What's a Woo?

[edhopper]

I've been part of the skeptics movement for 25 years and I have never heard this term.
What's a woo (yeah I get that it's something loony)

[TZ]

1. Its woo-woo actually

Here's the definition
http://skepdic.com/woowoo.html

You know when you say someone's crazy and you make the circular hand motion around your head? Sort of like that...

[trotsky]

2. Skepdic to the rescue!

http://skepdic.com/woowoo.html

[TZ]

3. lol.

I just posted the exact same link! Great minds Trotsky!:D

[trotsky]

5. Great minds perhaps, but someone has the greater click speed.

;-)

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[varkam]

8. Well, speak of the devil...

[PVnRT]

11. Purple monkey elephant football

[edhopper]

4. Thanks.

I wonder why I never heard this phrase? I will start using it.

[TZ]

7. See post #6 for a perfect example...n/t

[edhopper]

9. I actually think

that is a Tibetan Kroan and it tells us to purge our minds of unnecessary thoughts.
In other words it is sometimes good to be an empty vessel. So it is not the slight the poster thinks it is.
Letting go of all the pseudo-science, mystical mumbo-jumbo in their heads to see reality clearly, might be a good start for the woo crowd.
(There, my first use of the term:-)

[onager]

10. Congratulations on the first use! You win my free Bonus...

...H.L. Mencken quote of the day:

Metaphysics is the child of theology, and shows all the family stigmata. Both are based upon the theory that there is some mysterious magic in the unintelligible.

Believing in it is thus an act of faith, lying precisely within the definition of faith by Paul in Hebrews 11:1. This idea that there is something creditable about embracing nonsense is at the bottom of the vulgar idea that religion is a necessary part of the outfit of a decent man.

[CanSocDem]

12. A woo...

...believes that mankind, as of today, hasn't reached its' intellectual peak.

Most skeptics I know, agree.

.

[cosmik debris]

13. Did you just make that up?

Or do you have some source that you can cite?

[CanSocDem]

14. I rest my case.(eom)

[cosmik debris]

15. We can only hope! n/t

[cosmik debris]

26. I knew that was too good to be true.

You couldn't really just make one statement and rest your case. NOOOO!

You have to have an argument or you are not happy.

[semillama]

16. Of course we haven't reached our intellectual peak

I mean, we still have people who insist that you can literally create things by just thinking about them.

[TZ]

17. !

:rofl: :patriot:

[trotsky]

19. *SNORT*

:spray:

Well played.

[CanSocDem]

21. OK...what does 'science' have to say about thoughts?

Lot's of things...at last look, back in the last century.

And like most things 'science' muses on, they ignore the hard questions.

For example:

Posters keep reminding me that "thoughts" can't affect the body and all of my claims otherwise are bunk....

Have you never had a shudder, a shiver or even a boner....because of a thought? That little twitch is the key. If you didn't have a fundamental belief in its' unimportance, you might ask yourself where does THAT come from.

Once you begin to understand the power of thought then you see how it can affect everything. So, you go from the 'nature of a thought' to the nature of consciousness; and then to the nature of reality.

SCIENCE INC. wants no part of this discussion because it clearly spells out their demise.

However, as science now serves 'the market' rather than the good of mankind....as long as the market is strong, the charade can be continued. And , you all can go on defending it.

.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CanSocDem]

23. You are really struggling...

...to demonize me aren't you. Now you are accusing me of drug use....WTF!!!

"...is quite different from thinking that you can influence the external environment with a simple thought directly."

Either you didn't read my post or you don't understand concepts like 'progression'. Which is it??

How you can talk about "Africa" and the glorious success of 'science' allowing people to live "healthy longer..." is completely beyond me. I think it is you having trouble with your med's....

In closing, what public good is the Hubble space Telescope serving...

Please don't say it helps us understand the origins of the universe. I already know that. I'll tell you for a fraction of what it cost to launch and maintain the hubble...

BTW...are you semilama's steno...????


.

[TZ]

24. I believe you once told us how using hallucinogens allowed you

to "See reality better". Better living through chemistry.....
And actually its the LACK of access to medical technology that is the problem in Africa..but that is changing. As I know from my work at NIH on African Clinical Trials...An international cooperative project.
The Hubble has taught us about the universe around us, which I guess is "useless" in your book.
Which is funny--you rage about science and profit but then complain that Hubble is a waste of money? I thought money wasn't important?

And no, I know exactly what you are claiming with your make your own reality bullshit. I haven't misunderstood you.
And as for your accusation about me being semillama's steno...I had some extra time on my hands and thought I would do him a favor. As a married man with a baby on the way, he has more important things to do.
In other words, arguing with you is better than being bored I guess.....

[CanSocDem]

25. ...sigh

"...I know exactly what you are claiming with your make your own reality bullshit."

No you don't.

Don't pretend that you do.


.

[Orrex]

27. But if she *believes* that she knows, then she knows.

Gosh! This create-your-own-reality stuff is great!

[greyl]

28. Have you ever tried to get a friend to borrow your copy of The Secret?

(book or DVD)

[CanSocDem]

29. No, I don't have a copy. (book OR DVD)

Have you...???

.

[Orrex]

32. Do you hear that? That's the sound of you missing the point

:eyes:

[CanSocDem]

34. Oh...'the point' is someones assumption?

Silly me. I forgot that that's how you 'discuss' here....my bad.:dunce:

.

[greyl]

41. What the Bleep?!? nt

[Silent3]

30. Science can't explain how thoughts affect the body?

You mean the science which has mapped a nervous system running throughout the body, connected to the brain, the science that has discovered various hormones released by various mental states, is utterly stumped by the question of how thoughts -- easily viewed as processes going on within that nervous system, which is connected throughout the body -- might cause physiological reactions like shudders, shivers, and boners?

Yeah, right. Totally flummoxed. :eyes:

So, is this where you now act as if each and every electrical impulse and chemical pathway has to be mapped out excruciatingly perfect detail, and the precise sequence of microscopic events for every shudder, shiver, and boner anyone anywhere has ever felt must be specified, and until this deliberately impossible standard of proof is met then you "can't be proven wrong", the scientists are fooling themselves or scamming us for research dollars, and your mind-created reality is therefore the obviously superior explanation?

[Orrex]

31. I knew an anti-evolution woo like that

He actually told me once that he would reject evolution until we can trace a particular modern human back to single-cell life in a complete, uninterrupted chain. In essence, he wants a perfect genealogy for every human back to the time of the first life on Earth.

Clearly what he was doing, and what the woo in this thread is doing, is making a deliberately impossible demand (a la Kent Hovind) so that he can crow about his rhetorical success when no one is able to meet his impossible challenge.

[CanSocDem]

33. Say what, now...?

"So, is this where you now act as if each and every electrical impulse and chemical pathway has to be mapped out excruciatingly perfect detail, and the precise sequence of microscopic events for every shudder, shiver, and boner anyone anywhere has ever felt must be specified, and until this deliberately impossible standard of proof is met then you "can't be proven wrong", the scientists are fooling themselves or scamming us for research dollars, and your mind-created reality is therefore the obviously superior explanation?"

No.


.

[Silent3]

35. Then what's your point? You're either holding out an impossible standard...

...of what it means to "understand" how thoughts effect the body, or you're flat-out wrong about that, because we have quite a bit of good scientific understanding about how thoughts effect the body.

[CanSocDem]

36. The point is...

...thoughts DO have a certain effect on your body. Like I said earlier, science would rather have you believe that only material things can affect your body.

.

[varkam]

38. I don't know if you know this or not, but thoughts come from...

that lump of meat in your skull. They aren't willed into your consciousness or anything.

[Silent3]

40. But science is already fine with the idea that thoughts...

...can affect your body, and you know that it's fine with that idea. At least admit that you way overstated your case.

Like I said earlier, science would rather have you believe that only material things can affect your body.

Of course, the best scientific explanation is that thoughts are physical, a process happening within the physical, material thing that is your body. And that, sadly for you I guess, doesn't lead to full-blown mind-created reality, in leads to the conclusion that there are those pesky things called limits to what the mind can accomplish with the body.

[varkam]

37. Uh...thoughts can have a physical effect.

There's a big difference between saying something like "thoughts can reinforce a fear response" and "thoughts can cure cancer."

[CanSocDem]

39. Why don't you explain the "difference".

:popcorn:




.

[varkam]

42. Hope that popcorn tastes yummy.

If you need me to explain the difference between the idea that thoughts can alter basic physiological activity (such as studies that have shown thoughts of maritial infidelity of one's partner increases heart rate and blood pressure or just the basic premise behind bio-feedback) versus the idea that thoughts can cure cancer, or cause you to grow an extra finger, or allow you to fly, then I'm pretty sure you're going to need a bit more than a passing explanation on a message board.

But, for shits and giggles, where do you think thoughts come from?














:popcorn:

[CanSocDem]

43. Yeh, well....

I didn't think you would know the 'difference' since you are pretty much having a conversation with yourself.

Perhaps, if you used actual quotes from me and spent a little more time formulating an actual question, I'd be able to provide the information you're lacking.

[varkam]

44. Are you going to provide the answer to my question, or are you going to continue to feign...

intellectual prowess? Because if the latter, I feel compelled to let you know it is fucking hilarious.

:rofl:

[CanSocDem]

45. You have a question....???

Give it to me again. Don't ask me about things I never wrote. Don't ask rhetorical questions(the ones you already have an answer for).

If I've already answered the question in another post, don't expect another.

.

[varkam]

46. Lame. I'm done wasting my time with you. Welcome to ignore.

:hi:

[Odin2005]

47. thoughts are loops of activity in the connections between brain cells.

Sorry, but these are simply THE facts. Just because you think you can create your own reality doesn't mean you can.

[moggie]

18. I don't know ANYONE who thinks that we've reached our intellectual peak

So, by your own admission, this is not a distinguishing feature of woos. It's like saying "a woo believes that kittens are cute": true, perhaps, but vacuous.

[mr blur]

20. People who believe we create our own reality, stuff like that -

Alt-Med believers*, UFO nuts, Homeopathy loonies, psychics etc. etc.

These people:





(* Check out the Rules for Debating with "Alt-med" Believers at http://www.geocities.com/healthbase/altmed_debate_laidler.html )