Woo

[[File:thewoo.jpg|right|thumb|165px|It's everywhere!!!]]{{skepnav}}[[File:Woo Detox and Shape.png|thumb|right|165px|At least they're honest about it.]]{{hatnote|Not to be confused with the polygon [[sex]] act, [http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/WooHoo WooHoo], or the WooHoo ice-cream, 
or the signature shout of professional wrestler {{wpl|Ric Flair||.}}}}
'''Woo''', also called '''woo-woo''', is a pejorative term for [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] explanations that share certain common characteristics, often being [[Bullshit|too good to be true]] (aside from being unscientific). The term is common among skeptical writers. Woo is understood specifically as [[Pseudoscience|dressing itself in the trappings of science (but not the substance)]] while involving unscientific concepts, such as [[anecdotal evidence]] and [[Technobabble|sciencey-sounding words]].

Woo is a very effective selling point, as it usually ignores an effect of a complex phenomenon, instead putting focus on the [[Appeal to ignorance|complexity and "unexplained nature"]] of the phenomenon, and providing an alleged, embellished, easy to grasp, yet fallacious "explanation" as to why it occurs. For example: "[[Homeopathy]] is effective (even when no molecule of the active ingredient remains in the final product) because the solution retains a ''memory'' of the solute." &mdash; the explanation for these results, ''e.g.'' [[water memory]], is 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. You can't make money if nobody buys your [[bullshit]]. (As such, "woo" that has zero paying customers is more like just ordinary [[Insanity|batshit crazy]].)

Despite the terrible name, it has become quite a popular term within the skeptical movement &mdash; probably because it's fun to say.

==Origins==
The term comes from "woo-woo", an epithet used in the 1990s by [[science]] and [[skeptic]]al writers to ridicule people who believe or promote such things.<ref>[http://skepdic.com/woowoo.html "Woo," Skeptic's Dictionary]</ref><ref>https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/woo_woo#Etymology_1</ref><ref>[http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/woo-woo.html What is "Woo"?]</ref><ref>[http://www.skepticreport.com/sr/?p=582 Skeptic Report: The Woo-Woo Credo]</ref><ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2006/08/01/reader-mailbag-what-is-woo-1/ Reader Mailbag: What is woo?]</ref> This is in turn believed to have come from the onomatopoeia "woooooo!" as a reaction to dimmed lights or [[magic]] tricks, [[Didit fallacy|putting emphasis on the lack of an obvious explanation]] in favor of chalking it up to what appears to be {{wpl|sorcery||.}} The term implies a lack of either [[intelligence]] or [[intellectual honesty|sincerity]] (if not [[not even wrong|both]]) on the part of the person or concepts so described.

As a [[coincidence]], the Chinese word 巫 (pronounced in {{wpl|Standard Mandarin}} as ''Wū'') means a shaman, usually with magic powers.<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25221997?uid=3739560&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104465229173 The Shaman or Chinese Wu: His inspired Dancing and Versatile Character]</ref> Also coincidentally, the Chinese word 無/无 (pronounced ''Wú'' in Standard Mandarin) means "nothing," "lacking," or "negation."<ref>{{cite book|last= Fazzioli |first= Edoardo |others= calligraphy by Rebecca Hon Ko |title= Chinese calligraphy : from pictograph to ideogram : the history of 214 essential Chinese/Japanese characters |year= 1987 |publisher=Abbeville Press |location= New York |isbn= 0-89659-774-1 }}</ref> Another Chinese word 误 (pronounced in Standard Mandarin as ''Wù'') means "mistake" or "incorrect".<ref>"[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%AF%AF 误] entry on {{wpl|Wiktionary}}</ref> There is also the English verb "woo", which means to seek someone's love; it can also be considered appropriate, because [[woo-meister]]s seek people's admiration, falsely promising them miraculous and easily understandable knowledge.<ref>https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/woo#Etymology_1</ref>. A homonym of woo-woo, since at least the 1970s, is as a slang term for female genitalia <ref>https://www.definition-of.com/woo-woo</ref>. This is a notable convergence, given associations (often misogynistic) of the irrational or non-scientific with the feminine.

==Characteristics==
Woo generally contains most of the following characteristics:

#[[Anecdotal evidence]]: Prefers to use [[testimonial]]s over actual studies. (Much less likely to go wrong — or prove ''you'' wrong.)
#[[Panacea]]: Is a simple idea that purports to be [[Silver bullet|the one answer to many problems]] (often including many {{wpl|disease|diseases|).}}
#[[Pseudoscience]]: Has a "scientific-sounding" reason for how it works, but little to no actual [[science]] behind it; especially:
##[[Science woo]]: Uses words that sound scientific but make no sense in their context, such as [[quantum woo|"quantum"]].
##[[Quote mining|Quote-mined]] studies that, if bent properly, appear to support the woo.
##[[Appeal to authority]]: Claims that a [[scientific]] authority supports the woo; this is usually combined with a quote mine.
##[[Ultracrepidarianism|Studies from different, unrelated fields.]]
##Disdain for objective, randomized [[experimental control]]s, especially [[double-blind testing]] (which is kind of what makes epidemiology actually, y'know, work. And maybe one or two other obscure corners of the field of scientific endeavor…)
#A [[supernatural]] and/or [[paranormal]] involvement; failing that, the {{wpl|preternatural||.}}
#[[Persecution complex]]: Claims to be persecuted, usually perpetrated by the [[conspiracy theory|government]], "[[Big Pharma]]", or the entire worldwide scientific community (see [[Galileo gambit]]). Usually accompanied by a claim that the public and/or scientists are blind to the discovery, despite attempts to alert them.
#A hypothesis that remains virtually unchanged for years or decades, [[Scientific method|despite changes in the evidence for the woo]]. This is sometimes [[appeal to tradition|presented as a strength]].
#And, ''almost always'', a willingness to share the woo-peddlers' precious knowledge/insight/revelation… for a price. And repeatedly. (Because if it didn't take the first time around, then [[The Secret|the victims didn't believe sincerely enough]].)

Not every characteristic need be present for something to be woo. Woo manifests itself as a gradient, rather than a binary: the more of these tactics that are used, the more likely it is that the idea is woo.

==Not to be confused with==
WoO (''Werke ohne Opuszahl'', "works without opus number") is the classification given to any originally unpublished compositions by Ludwig Van Beethoven ({{web|2=http://imslp.org/wiki/F%C3%BCr_Elise,_WoO_59_(Beethoven,_Ludwig_van)|1=Für Elise}} being the most famous example) or other composers of classical music.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20090829135857/http://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=1502&template=einstieg_digitales_archiv_de&_mid=Werke%20Ludwig%20van%20Beethovens Werke Ludwig van Beethovens]" - Note the source link is in [[German]].</ref>

However, unlike woo, WoO always describes something which demonstrably exists.

Bernie Worrell, the keyboardist for Parliament/Funkadelic, Talking Heads, and Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, was often known as the "Wizard of Woo";<ref>"[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/24/482486305/bernie-worrell-wizard-of-woo-dies-at-72 Bernie Worrel, the "Wizard of Woo," dies at 72]" - NPR. Published June 24, 2016.</ref> however, the "woo" in this case is an onomatopoeic representation of his distinct synthesizer sounds, and ''not'' an indication that he ever dabbled in pseudoscience.

==Types of woo==
[[File:Woo-shall-not-pass.jpg|thumb|right|[[James Randi]] is not pleased with your woo.<ref>http://www.archipelagofiles.com/2014/06/james-randi-to-deepak-chopra-woo-shall.html</ref>]]
{{collist|4|
*[[Audio woo]]
*[[Automotive woo]]
*[[Bodybuilding woo]]
*[[Brainwave woo]]
*[[Cancer woo]]
*[[Comet woo]]
*[[Computer woo]]
*[[Crime woo]]
*[[Crystal woo]]
*[[Dental woo]]
*[[Food woo]]
*[[Fusion woo]]
*[[Language woo]]
*[[Light woo]]
*[[Martial arts]]
*[[Math woo]]
*[[Native American#Woo|Native American woo]]
*[[Nature woo]]
*[[Paramilitary woo]]
*[[pH woo]]
*[[History woo]]
*[[Quantum woo]]
*[[Salt woo]]
*[[Science woo]]
*[[Water woo]]
*[[Woo energy]]}}

==See also==

*[[Logical fallacy]]
*[[Style over substance]]
*[[Crank]]
*[[Charlatan]]
*[[Fractal wrongness]]
*[[Placebo effect]]
*[[Conspiracy theory]]

{{otherlang
|pt=Baboseira}}

==External links==
*[http://www.scienceblogs.com/insolence ScienceBlogger Orac] uses the term prominently in his weekly "Your Friday Dose of Woo", a review of recent pseudoscience
*[http://www.randi.org/ James Randi Educational Foundation] is an organization developed to publicly debunk "the paranormal, pseudoscientific, and the supernatural," often collectively referred to by [[James Randi|Randi]] as "woo-woo."
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20100323212745/http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/kookparade.html "Kooks in the wild"], including kook ratings.
*[http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2010/01/the-golden-woos-2.html 2009 Golden Woo Awards]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160407030931/http://lawrencehyde.com/ The Woo-Woo Stuff:Musings on the Metaphysical]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Neologisms]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Woo| ]]

Categories: Neologisms, Pseudoscience, Woo