"Newage" or "Woo"?

[kentauros]

Not necessarily a "nice" topic, but is something we all have to endure mostly around DU and sometimes elsewhere online. I haven't yet been subjected to "woo" in person, though.

I bring this up, however, because "woo" seems like a really, really lame insult. If fact, it's so bad, it really doesn't register anymore. I've seen some of the popular spiritual people out there try to 'own' it to reduce its affect (I think I saw Doreen Virtue use it as an 'owned' label for us) so maybe we have done that. But it's a made-up word that is onomatopoeia, I assume derived from ghostly sounds. It also has far too many real-word definitions to truly be effective, and more apt to cause confusion than the intended insult.

Whereas "newage" is simply what we are, shoved together into a true made-up word, and one I once heard used by a comedian. "It rhymes with sewage." Yes, that's insulting. Yet at the same time, it still makes me laugh! :D I accept that much of the New Age stuff out there is quite flaky, and I believe some of it. So, I'm a newage flake! :P

"Woo" just makes me groan every time I see (or hear it) in use. I'm always thinking, "Couldn't y'all have come up with something better? Use that 'superior intellect' and make a real insult." But, we have to leave it to the comedians to make the satisfying insults that are also funny


"I can't prove it, but I can say it." Stephen Colbert

[mysticalchick]

1. I like "woo-woo" because it's fun to say ...

... and (I feel) makes it less intimidating to others. I always call it "The Woo" but that's just my preference. New Age also has a bad rap - face it, anything that is different than what we're comfortable can be scary. If I add humor in a bit, I think it make it less intimidating and easier for people to open up to. Again, just my feeling. My friend (who started as a skeptic has learned and grown along with me) calls me "The High Priestess of the Woo" and I like that. (But then I have a royalty fixation so I'd love anything like that! Queen o'da Woo, perhaps?? heh)

:loveya:

[kentauros]

2. If it still works for you, keep it!

:D

I don't think I've ever seen the "double woo" used around DU, except maybe here. Like you say, humor is the way to disarm it ;)

[get the red out]

3. I say "I'm really kind of New Agey"

when people wonder what I "am" (ugh, besides HUMAN I guess). Seeker is a better term for what I consider myself, but people always want something they can identify with. People off the beaten path in any way spiritually are easy targets. So many progressive blogs seem to lend themselves to an Atheist perspective, and if they are polite, casual acceptance of major religions, but anyone without their own shock troops to back their perspective up is screwed.

People are SOOO in love with their neat little packages to sort people by, ignoring the fact that human consciousness is a lot more than a box.

The great thing though is that "New Agey" to a lot of people in my area would probably just conjure images of someone that watches Ghost Hunters and shops at the Co-op. If they knew some of the books I'd read it would really scare them.

[PADemD]

4. I prefer Theosophist

http://www.theosophical.org/about-us/theosophy/theosophy-what-is-it

[kentauros]

5. Sure, that's a positive self-label :)

I was thinking more along the lines of those labels given to us by people wanting something a little more derogatory. And thus, why using humor to disarm the insulting part while simultaneously 'owning' the intended derogatory words might work best :)

[PADemD]

7. Yes, but I don't need to use someone's derogatory term for myself.

"Modern Theosophy, however, presents ideas like the following for our consideration, and many Theosophists hold these ideas, not as fixed beliefs, but as a way of looking at life that explains the world as they experience it:

* reincarnation,
* karma (or moral justice),
* the existence of worlds of experience beyond the physical,
* the presence of life and consciousness in all matter,
* the evolution of spirit and intelligence as well as of physical matter,
* the possibility of our conscious participation in evolution,
* the power of thought to affect one’s self and surroundings,
* the reality of free will and self-responsibility,
* the duty of altruism, a concern for the welfare of others, and
* the ultimate perfection of human nature, society, and life."


http://www.theosophical.org/about-us/theosophy/theosophy-what-is-it

[NuttyFluffers]

6. i keep thinking of "Woo Girls" whenever i hear "woo"

How I Met Your Mother - Woo Girls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNaUJfyVzRU&feature=related

hey, if people conflate woo with jell-o shots and partying hard then i'm completely OK with it. in fact, insults rarely did anything before, but this one sounds downright complimentary.

[OneGrassRoot]

8. I love "woo-woo"....

So much so that I created this:

http://worldofwoowoo.ning.com/

But, of course, as with nearly everything else, it's not been developed beyond the initial stage and intent.

;)

:hi:

[Myrina]

9. I'm a mix ....

I refer to myself as "a little bit o'Pagan, a little bit o'New Age". Confuses the heck out of just about anyone who asks because very few in the 'mainstream' know anything about either, so they just give me a quizzical "oh, ohhkaay ..." and change the subject.

:-)

[silverweb]

10. I like to "own" it and capitalize it: "The Woo."

I call it "The Woo," as a thing of great importance which is, at least for the moment, far beyond our understanding. I like that because it particularly irritates a certain person, who vehemently rails against anything he considers to be "pseudo-science" or "anti-intellectual," calling it "woo-woo garbage."

This, of course, includes anything remotely paranormal (like ESP and astrology), as well as hard and theoretical sciences that his poor little brain just cannot grasp, "wrapped up in scientific jargon to make it sound legitimate," -- like the difference between weather and climate, basic quantum mechanics, and "quack herbal remedies like stevia."

He just throws them all together in the same pot and scoffs, and because I'm just evil that way, I can't help needling him when he's on a tear. Even Einstein quotes about appreciating imagination, mystery, and awe don't slow him down, so I brandish "The Woo" as often as his attitude invites.

Even while declaring that he is "offended" by the idea that there is anything humanity simply cannot understand, he also calls any cutting-edge science, like noetics or 3D printers, "woo-woo" because "they can't be science if they haven't been invented yet." If that makes any sense at all, I'll promise not to needle him ever again. Meanwhile, I'll continue to learn about and appreciate "The Woo" in all its vast wonder.

:evilgrin:

[kentauros]

11. Your "friend" sounds more like a Republican

than any of DU's homegrown septics, especially that head-shaking bit about stevia, or "it can't be science if it hasn't been invented yet." So, I guess the particle physicists looking for the God Particle at CERN aren't doing science at all. What, are they pulling oracle cards instead? :crazy:

[silverweb]

15. He's a hard-core Libertarian...

... a family member who lives very far away. More than 99% of our disagreements have been via email, thank goodness. I try to avoid them altogether by not responding to the bait he sends and by not sending him anything that would allow him to inject his views (harder than it sounds).

He calls himself an "Objectivist" and has no idea why I consider that hilarious. All past attempts on my part to present facts from reputable sources have made no difference whatsoever. He would just reply with some nasty, sarcastic remark, then go silent. He still does that, though now because I refuse to engage.

Back to the point of the OP, I gladly brandish "The Woo" as an honorable name for science that hasn't been discovered or understood yet. I relish it and don't think there's another term that even comes close in its perverse satisfaction.

[MorningGlow]

12. Ew, neither!

To me, "woo" and/or "woo woo" is used with such contempt, implying that every New Ager is insane/a drooling idiot, that it turns me off completely.

I must admit I've never heard of "newager" either, but I don't like it.

I consider myself "spiritual" and "a seeker". In an ideal world, I would prefer to receive polite respect for my views (just good manners, innit?), even from those who don't share them, just as I show others respect (unless/until they reveal themselves to be fucking assholes, and even then I remain polite for the most part, unless I'm having a bad day, or their poking is unusually vigorous enough to piss me off).

[Cleita]

13. I really don't know what I am.

I just have insights come to me from out of nowhere and at no particular time or for no particular reason. I fought it a lot during my lifetime because what I was seeing wasn't cool and happy events. Instead I was predicting deaths, divorces and other such traumatic events. In my old age I am more accepting of this. I recently got interested in palmistry, for my own knowledge only, and find that I have the cross of mysticism on both of my hands so maybe that might explain why this happens to me.

[kentauros]

14. You might want to look into the various mystic sects

and see what they have to offer in the way of insights. I don't have any of my bookmarks on this topic in front of me, but will post them once I get home :)

[kimmerspixelated]

16. It used to insult the hell out of me to see "Woo"

as a label, esp. from all those we have come to run into on the DU! BUUUUT! I've gotten over it. Mostly, I have sympathy for those so limited in their beliefs now, because when it comes to serious illnesses, the people that nix all woo as snake oil or unproven are throwing out what could be the cure they really need.I can't imagine being limited to just Big Pharma. I'll never forget how I got interested in the first place in alt. therapies.. I had a bad chest cold, and was convinced if I didn't have lung cancer then I was doomed to get it(like Dad), so being the hypochondriac I was back then, I started reading everything, and by chance at the library I came across a whole book of herbals and remedies and vit. therapies..., and it was so eye-opening that I was hopeful, and I felt so lucky, and felt gratitude for being able to connect the dots for my own health.

So what I am saying is I feel sorry for the close-minded.

But, Woo, I feel is a terrible insult...but it slides off my back these days...

[davsand]

17. Seems to me the difference between pagan and new age is a few decimal points.

Meaning the new age title usually had a bigger price tag hanging on it--for the same stuff! :evilgrin:

I can't get too worked up about being called woo-woo, new age, pagan, or even a witch. I probably could self define as any one of those or any number of other titles, but does it really matter when it all comes down to it? To quote Popeye, "I yam what I yam." I do joke about the Moonbat title sometimes, but even that is just another bit of silliness to me.

I find joy in being here with you all, and I learn something every time I come here. That seems to be enough for me.


Peace.


Laura