RationalWiki

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Can I just say that as a science reader and lover with "leftist" tendencies, RationalWiki bugs me as much as any comment board trolls? I mean, for a site calling itself rational, there's a lot of emotions and snark and hatred. And on some of the talk pages (I forget which ones except I think the one on VHEM) they go on about rationality in a manner almost, well, worshipful. And intolerance, I've noticed that somewhat, for example on the pages about nanotechnology, it's pretty much no debate on any aspect, just thrashing of anyone suggesting it with just such sheer hatred, and if you bring up something like "maybe we could look into molecular assemblers", you automatically get branded a "science woo-ster peddling science fiction." And the words "woo" and "woo woo", I don't get it, how is it you use words that sounds like euphemisms for a woman's, uh you know parts, to describe everything form crystal hucksters to science you hate? And it's not really as informative, it's basically just Wikipedia articles with the judgments and stuff one probably would want to write in but can't (like how I once rewrote an article on Wikipedia about a neo-Nazi Russian guy to read that's he's f***king crazy, it got removed). And there's the hypocrisy, for example the bashing of Islamophobic sites like WikiIslam, but then on articles about how Islam is bad, they use sources like, the Islamophobic WikiIslam! That's my complaining for the night.

The phrase "woo-woo" is not sexual. I think it supposed to sound like a spooky ghosty noise.

Originally it was used to denigrate parapsychology, and New Age beliefs: "Oh, you're into that New Age woo-woo about crystals".

Not to take sides. Just thats how it was used.

But I guess some folks are now using it to smear anything they disagree with.

Before concluding that lots of people mean something unconscionable, it's often wise to check around to see if they really mean what you think they mean.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/woo-woo

For the rest, zealots of any stripe can be tiresome.

This seems to be more a PPR topic than one concerning, computers, math, science or technology. Perhaps if psychology were more of science, we could explore why people tend to adopt various kinds of fundamentalist and extremist attitudes like the people who have annoyed you over there.

I've heard "woo-woo" used in a sort of "cat-call" sexual context--meaning...."What have we got here? Wow!"

Woo is a homonym.

"I wooed her for seven years, and then that curly-haired son-of-a-barrister came calling and they were wed in a week."



There are many homonyms in English such as the bear in the woods and the right to bear arms, etc.

Unfortunately, after they got married, both RUED their decision!

That woo-woo prolly comes from the sound of a steam train (the speaker says it to let off emotional "steam" caused by the hottie walking by the construction site that he is working at).

A lady who used to be active on WP had "not a believer in New Age Woo Woo" in her profile signature. Thats the "voice from beyond" spooky kind of "woo-woo". Different point of origin.

Well "woo woo" isn't the point of my rant, I'd just like to point out. The point was a website that calls itself rational being intolerant of a lot of others to an irrational extent.