Jul 29 2008
Random Encounters with Woo
Yesterday was my daughter’s birthday and today is my birthday. If my wife had not had such a quick labor we might have shared a birthday, but Julia, my daughter, now nine, has declared that she is happy to have her own birthday that she doesn’t have to share with anyone else. I am bothering to tell you this as an explanation for the short and light entry today. Birthdays take precedence over blogging.
Chakras
Our present to Julia was a weekend at a water park resort, and as an added treat she had the full manicure/pedicure at the kid’s spa – complete with a cup of ice cream while they worked on her. While waiting in line to pay (her sister and cousin joined her in the spa as well) my brother and fellow SGU host Bob and I noticed a sign advertising their chakra-aligning massage. Chakras are part of Eastern mysticism – centers of life energy in the body that control different aspects of life, such as consciousness or digestion. It’s pure, pre-scientific, magical thinking woo – but to Westeners has the exotic feel of another culture. It is otherwise no different than the belief that there is a small elf or goblin living in your stomach.
While Bob and I shared a snigger at the chakra massage, the attendant noticed we were looking at it and she gave us a serious dead-pan, “Oh, if your chakras are out of alignment then nothing will go right in your life.” I’m still not sure if this was a sales pitch or if she was a true-believe, but my sense is the latter, based upon her demeanor.
She then told me the total I owed for the three kiddie spa treatments, and as I handed over my plastic I declared, “My chakras are definitely out of alignment.”
Moon Hoax
On the way home I stopped in a mini-mart to get some milk so we would have it for breakfast the next morning. As I was paying for it the attendant was staring at my SGU T-shirt. After a perplexed moment he said, “I don’t understand your T-shirt.” I explained to him that The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe is a science podcast. After explaining to him what a podcast was we chatted briefly about content – science news, etc., and he asked if I did the show, which I do.
He then thought for a moment (all the while pausing before ringing up my milk), I suppose he was thinking something along the lines of – hey, I have a scientist here, what question do I really want to ask him. He then looked at me and said, “So, did we go to the moon?”
I have been doing the skeptical thing long enough to know that the average citizen, when given the opportunity to ask a science question, will typically focus on something pseudoscientific – a legacy, in my opinion, of mainstream media. I enjoy talking about real science and pseudoscience – both fascinate me – so it’s a fun conversation for me either way. I told him there was no question we went to the moon, and gave him the short version of how we know. He then came back with – but what about the fact that there are no stars in the pictures. So I explained to him some basic principles of photography, such as exposure, and that stars have very little light and need prolonged exposures. We ended with a discussion of the moon rocks, which have characteristics, such as zap pits from micro-meteors, that would have been harder to fake than to just go to the moon and get them.
By coincidence we just talked about this topic on SGU 5×5. We were joined by Phil Plait and indulged in a quick debunking of the moon hoax claims. I referred the attendant to Phil’s Bad Astronomy for more information if he was interested.
To the attendant’s credit (and perhaps to mine) he said as he finally rang up my milk that I had given him something to think about, and he seemed sincere. Perhaps that was his introduction to actual critical thinking and the notion that perhaps everything he sees on TV is not true – and may even be completely full of crap.
I can always be hopeful, especially on my birthday.
41 Responses to “Random Encounters with Woo”
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what a great birthday story
the first was funny, the second hopeful.
im so inspired, i think ill get a SGU shirt for myself and see where it takes me.
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT a minute here…..
…. so you’re telling me that water parks have “kid’s spas” now, that offer mani/pedicures to 8 year olds?
Now THAT’S the most outrageous thing in your whole post, i think
And here I thought the only point to wearing an SGU shirt was to pick up chicks. Turns out it has other uses!
Thanks, Steve. I just ordered my very own SGU T-shirt (x-large, military green).
Happy Birthday! And if I may say so, judging from your pictures, you’re looking amazing for 106. (Blame Rebecca.)
Happy Birthday! What a nice story.
Happy birthday Steven. You’re a legend.
A pedicure for a 9 year old… some things are beyond reason.
Happy birthday, Steve.
Just to be clear:
Moon landing conspiracy theorist = Mini Mart Clerk
Skeptic and debunker = Medical Doctor
Thank you, come again!
Well… I also had daughter’s birthday this past week. Our daughters are 3 days apart in age. I totally understand the Chakra alignment problem you had at the moment of paying. We took my daughter to the American Girl store in Chicago.
For those who don’t know, American Girl is a company that markets historically accurate dolls from a variety of different eras. The dolls come with back stories, accessories, books and some have movies about them. Generally these are of good quality, they are reasonably accurate as historical fiction, and don’t have the unrealistic body image of Barbie.
The downside is that American Girl has figured out how to pull money from your wallet as you walk around their establishment. If I’d walked around the store that day while constantly throwing $100 bills I think the workers would have been instructed to ignore the money since they make more than that from just offering me their various services.
They have a hair salon for your dolls. Seriously, I could have paid $10 to stand in line and wait for my daughter’s doll’s hair to be combed. So don’t be shocked that Steve’s daughter got a pedicure, at least he wasn’t as much of a sucker as I was.
In all actuality, I don’t begrudge my daughter this luxury, we keep it to special occasions and it doesn’t get out of hand, but man, American Girl has something serious against my Chakra.
Back in the day our moms used to just paint our toenails for us… After we’d walked 10 miles uphill backwards to rub the callouses off our feet, of course!
The science behind it is that little girls are practicing to be like their moms and everyone loves shiny things! Sparkly is beautiful is one of the fundamental laws of nature
Happy birthday.
Happy Birthday, Steve! With any luck in the field of anti-aging research, you’ll still be alive way past 106.
Sorry…distracted by sparkly things! Happy birthday Steven and thanks for sharing your brilliance with us via this blog.
Oh it must be so neat to be so smart and have ignorant non-scientists look up to you!
But could you explain exactly how science has demonstrated that chakras are mere hallucinations and delusions?
I can’t believe no one has done this yet…
Woo Random Encounter Table
d% Encounter
1-10 Roll on Con-Artist Table
11-14 1 Sylvia Browne
15-17 1 Dean Radin
18-20 1 Discovery Institute Fellow
21-23 1d2 Dowsers
24-26 1d2 Scientologists
27-29 1d2+1 Acupuncturists
30-32 1d2+1 Homeopaths
33-35 1d3 Conspriracy theorists
36-37 1 Ghost hunter + 1 EM Field detector
38-41 1 Past-life regression therapist
42-44 1 John Edward
45-47 1d3 Anti-Vaccinationists + 1 Jenny McCarthy
48-50 1 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
51-54 1 Kevin Trudeau + 1d6 “They”
55-57 1d3 Phone Psychics
58-60 1 Lake Monster + 1 Cryptozoologist
61-64 1 Creationist + 1d3 PYGMIES + 1d3 DWARFS
65-67 1 Global Warming Skeptic
68-70 1 Virgin Mary on food item
71-73 1 Perpetual Motion Machine
74-76 1 AIDS denialist
77-80 1 Crop Circle + 1 Cerealogist
81-83 1 Geographical Feature + 1 Richard Hoagland
84-86 1d2 Alien abductees + 1d2+1 UFO true believers
87-88 1 Moon Hoaxer
89 1 Deepak Chopra
90 1 Time Cube
91-00 Roll on Religious leader table
Oh, and Pec:
How’s that midget porn collection of yours doing?
Happy birthday, Dr. Novella. Many happy returns.
I have a daughter, now 13, with a birthday one day before mine. Which is to say that for the last 13 years I haven’t had a birthday:
Happy birthday to yoooooou
Happy birthday to yoooou
Happy birthday dear Lauren
Happy birthday to yooou!
(Followed by multiple mumbling voices, out of unison, ‘oh, um, and daddy too…’)
*sigh*
Then again, this makes me 39, not 52, so I’ll take it.
Pec,
would you care for defecating on the floor, before leaving the party?
Happy Birthday, Dr. Novella! Just imagine how you would have felt if your daughter insisted that you share her happy experience and get your nails painted all pretty and sparkling too?
I no longer have any chakras as I have ate them all in one single gulp:
https://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/yoga_chocolate_chakra_box/corp_gifts_30_50
I was born the day before my father’s B-day and also was glad to not share the day. As I got older, I appreciated having a dual celebration but do not look forward to B-days when he is no longer around. Hopefully that will be a long ways down the road. Happy B-day to you both and thanks for the continual inspiration to politely but critically confront nonsense.
A most excellent happy birthday to you Dr. Novella. May the good times roll.
Hey pec,
Err… Looking around, I can only see one ignorant non-scientist here…
And of course, happy birthday Steve.
Happy Birthday to you and your daughter!
This post was a fun read, have to get one of those t-shirts.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c68/gren_/TROLL.jpg
Happy Birthday, Dr. Novella!
Also, just wait for your daughters’ fourteenth birthday parties.
This is where the basement is taken over by half a dozen young ladies who watch movies, play video games and practice with make-up in their own special version of the salon. The dying of the hair did go upstairs in the laundry room.
Apparently our laundry room has become a favored place for the application of hair dye for some of my daughter’s friends. The reason is that it is has room to move around, a laundry sink with a hose to wash out the hair, and we don’t mind if there are random splatters on the floor or wall of blue, pink, green, magenta or what ever color is going into the hair.
What you have to look forward to:
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=93934
[Just getting in under the wire]
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday, Steve, and happy belated birthday to Julia!
Happy (late) Birthday, Steve!
I have a friend who is very into chakras and all that nonsense — I am trying to persuade her to see the (purely metaphorical) light.
Just to add — I can’t access Science Based Medicine at all for some reason, just now. I’ve tried it on three computers now. Just me?
Happy Birthday Steve,
I love this site. I feel as if I have stumbled into a room full of kindred “spirits”!
Great story.
May you spiral around the sun many, many more times alive and well!
Greg D
Chris – No not just you, there seem to be some technical difficulties since yesterday and sometimes I can access it and sometimes not. I suspect it’s just coincidence but it is worth noting that this happened just after everyone had agreed to just ignore pec (who claims to have a degree in computer science and to write code, though this may be quite untrue). It did provide a nice glimpse into what discussions in these blogs would be like without the trolls – you know, constructive!
Fifi,
I noticed that too. It’s probably just a coincidence, but…
Happy birthday, Doctor.
Oh, and why apologize for this excellent blog post?
Happy Birthday, Ste- Wait, wait wait…
You’re saying there is NOT a small elf or goblin in my stomach???
What is it then, a Gnome?
Happy birthday, Steven.
You have to plant seeds everywhere. I sure as hell use all opportunities I get to spread the skepticism around.
Pec, have you ever heard the poker phrase “If you can’t spot the sucker at the table, you are it.”?… Well Pec, we can sure as heck spot the sucker, can you?
Happy Birthday,
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and I really enjoy it!
Pec’s problem lies is in trying to figure out why the presumed suckers at the table are all having such a streak of luck.
Happy birthdays.
Actually, the town where I live is packed full of woo. There are multiple chiropractors; there’s a “health store” that sells the Kinoki Detox Footpads and many other forms of woo; etc.
In fact, mocking me as I drive to and from work each day is a large and prominent “energy healing center,” as well as a psychic advertising “psychic and angel readings.”
They have a hair salon for your dolls. Seriously, I could have paid $10 to stand in line and wait for my daughter’s doll’s hair to be combed. So don’t be shocked that Steve’s daughter got a pedicure, at least he wasn’t as much of a sucker as I was.
Regarding American Girls dolls, this actually isn’t as silly as it might sound. The American Girls collection are meant to be collector’s items, along the same lines as the Madame Alexander dolls and other high-end dolls. One problem with all of them is the synthetic hair. It gets tangled very easily, especially if a child plays with the doll. Untangling it is a nightmare, and it is very easy to damage it. Hence, the doll hair salon. They’ll undo the horrendous snarls for you. Honestly, having spent hours trying to unsnarl the hair of my Kirstin doll, I’d consider $10 a bargain.
duh