Update on Chopra vs. Shermer debate

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Skeptic » Lectures » Upcoming Caltech Lectures

Deepak Chopra: Woo Woo Is a Step Ahead of (Bad) Science

I had no idea that Shermer was a former Christian Fundie - it all makes sense now.
Deepak Chopra: Woo Woo Is a Step Ahead of (Bad) Science

Woo-Woo vs. Poo Poo

From Dr. Chopra's tweets:

Dear Friends Michael Scermer professional skeptic , king of Poo Poo, has accepted to debate. Looking forward to educating him. Stay tuned

I like the idea of calling the debate Woo Woo Vs Poo Poo ! What do you think? ( Divine vs Diabolical ha ha)

You know that I am very much looking forward to it. :-)

King of Poo Poo came about due to Shermer calling Chopra a Master of Woo Woo. What else would you expect from Shermer?

That settles it!

LesleyinNM@DeepakChopra I very much enjoyed your short debate with Shermer! He is not a skeptic, he is a fundamentalist.

DeepakChopra @lesleyinnm you are right :)

See! If Dr. Chopra agrees with me then I can't possibly be wrong. :-)

BTW, you can read the Larry King Live transcript here.

Woo Begins in the Womb

Woo Begins in the Womb « Bruce M. Hood

While I don't disagree with the scientific findings in this post (that the longer your ring finger the more testosterone you have) I do disagree with Bruce Hood's opinion that more women believe in "woo." That is not my experience with woo-woos.

I don't follow ghost phenomena much, so I won't include that, but certainly in Cryptozooloy and Ufology you will find far more men than women involved.

Now I don't have any scientific methods that lead me to believe there are more male believers than female, but I do know that last time I checked 80% of my facebook friends were men, nearly all of them believers in "woo" and most of the people (easily 95%) that email me about their experiences are men. Needless to say because it is obvious, but most researchers in Cryptozoology and Ufology are men.

If I am out at a party where I don't know many people and it is found out that I write and blog about UFOs it is the men that are most interested, not the women. In fact, the women seem to consider it a "manly" topic, like scifi or rebuilding car engines. The few men that roll their eyes and walk off normally find me when nobody is around and admit that they have seen a UFO or they know someone (that they believe) that saw one.

Even my local UFO group, which is pretty evenly split, normally has at least 60% men.

This is what I think -- high testosterone probably doesn't make anyone less likely to believe in "woo," but it may make them less likely to admit it.

With a rebel yell, they cried Maher, Maher, Maher

Just in case you needed it, Phil Plait gives more proof of the fundamentalism of the debunkie bots. If you dare to go against them on even one point you will be labeled a woo-woo. If you need that kind of treatment -- join a church. At least then you can be labeled something more exciting -- a sinner!
Skepticblog » With a rebel yell, they cried Maher, Maher, Maher

The World's Greatest Hoaxes

In the 1960s, Barney and Betty Hill claimed they were pursued by a glowing UFO through parts of New Hampshire. This first reported incident of an alleged alien abduction in America. Even UFO buffs eventually found their increasingly outlandish claims hard to believe.

The World's Greatest Hoaxes | LiveScience

Does Benjamin Radford even know any "UFO buffs?" I know lots of them, probably hundreds, and I can't think of one that believes the Betty and Barney Hill story to be a hoax nor do I know of any evidence pointing to it being a hoax. Just because someone's story seems outlandish, it doesn't mean they are lying.