Woo
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Woo is a term used among skeptical writers for pseudosciences with certain common characteristics. It is sometimes synonymous with bullshit. Woo is generally defined by some of the following characteristics:
- A simple idea that purports to be the one answer to many diseases or problems
- A "scientific-sounding" reason for how it works, but no actual science behind it (or, sometimes, claims of a paranormal nature)
- A claim of persecution, usually perpetrated by the pharmaceutical, medical, or scientific community
- An invocation of a scientific authority.
- Lack of scientific research, but abundant testimonials.
- A claim that science is blind to the discovery, despite attempts to alert them
- A disdain for objective, randomized experimental controls, especially double-blind testing
- And, usually, an offer to share the knowledge for a price.
Usually, woo is not a description of an effect, but of the explanation behind the effect. For example, homeopathy does actually work, it works as a placebo - the explanations behind it, like water memory are woo. Woo is used to blind or distract an audience from a real explanation or to discourage people from delving deeper into the subject to find a more realistic explanation. The term comes from "woo-woo", an epithet used in the 1990s by science and skeptical writers to ridicule people who believe or promote such things. This is in turn believed to have come from the use of "woooooo!" as a reaction to dimmed lights or magic tricks, and generally implies a lack of either intelligence or sincerity on the part of the person or concepts so described.
[edit] Examples of woo
- Automotive woo
- Audio woo
- Bee venom therapy
- Cell phones can cause some crazy shit with your natural energy flow. (video PROOF!)
- Crank
- Crystals
- De-tox
- Food woo
- Gaia hypothesis
- Homeopathy
- Jesus cures all diseases
- Kevin Trudeau cures all diseases
- Lemonade cures all diseases
- Morgellons disease
- Patent medicine
- Satan is in your body
- Satan is in your music collection
- Satan is everywhere!
- Science woo
- Thee and Thou have mystical significance that You doesn't
- Top Secret bible messages
- Send the angels...send the angels...send the angels...angels, angels, angels, angels, ANGELS, ANGELS, ANGELS, ANGELS, ANGEEEELLLSSS!
- What the Bleep Do We Know? is a well-known crap film full of bozos making bullshit claims[1].
- When there is nothing to get, you've got it
- You can predict the future from cycles in the past
- Woo cures Autism
- World politics is secretly guided by ascended masters
- Y2K
[edit] External links
- ScienceBlogger Orac uses the term prominently in his weekly "Your Friday Dose of Woo", a review of pseudoscience that has recently interested the author.
- James Randi Educational Foundation is an organization developed to publicly debunk "the paranormal, pseudoscientific, and the supernatural," often collectively referred to by Randi as "woo-woo."
- 125 Fake cancer cures (FDA)
- "Kooks in the wild", including kook ratings.
- 2009 Golden Woo Awards
