Sat Jun 16, 2012, 10:52 PM

Odin2005 (53,521 posts)

New Agers bashing "Materialism" get on my nerves.

On a current events & history message board I post on the resident New Ager & Astrologer started this thread and is driving me and several other posters crazy with his repetitive rants equating philosophical "Materialism" (Naturalism) with Economic "Materialism" (Consumerism and Corporate Capitalism). And he also spews a lot of "Quantum Theory disproves materialism" nonsense.

I can't believe perfectly intelligent people can believe such nonsense.

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8 replies	Author	Time	Post
New Agers bashing "Materialism" get on my nerves. (Original post)	Odin2005	Jun 2012	OP
any "New Ager" using the word quantum	intaglio	Jun 2012	#1
I have a quantum rule	dmallind	Jun 2012	#5
Plus those barely visible objects are probably Bose-Einstein condensates	longship	Jun 2012	#7
Oh yeah. I'm a transplant -->	daaron	Jun 2012	#2
There is a link to homeopathy-video here on DU:	DetlefK	Jun 2012	#3
No I didn't know that!	daaron	Jun 2012	#4
equating philosophical "Materialism" (Naturalism) with Economic "Materialism"	AlbertCat	Jun 2012	#6
I get tired of New Agers who use physics to promote woowoo.	Manifestor_of_Light	Jul 2012	#8

Response to Odin2005 (Original post)

Sun Jun 17, 2012, 05:18 AM

intaglio (8,170 posts)

1. any "New Ager" using the word quantum

deserves to be the victim of a Gilbert and Sullivan patter song. Definitely on the "Little List"

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Response to intaglio (Reply #1)

Mon Jun 18, 2012, 09:23 AM

dmallind (10,437 posts)

5. I have a quantum rule

If you are using the term in a discussion about any visible system, you are dealing in science fiction guesswork, and more than likely woo-woo.

Yes I am aware quantum effects have been shown in a - barely - visible object, but neither in the manner nor with the effects that are normally posited when an "enlightened" person is speaking of quantum souls or quantum thinking yadda yadda....

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Response to dmallind (Reply #5)

Thu Jun 28, 2012, 01:33 AM

longship (40,416 posts)

7. Plus those barely visible objects are probably Bose-Einstein condensates

And the woo-woo promoters don't even know what that means.

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Response to Odin2005 (Original post)

Sun Jun 17, 2012, 07:40 PM

daaron (763 posts)

2. Oh yeah. I'm a transplant -->

from http://randi.org skeptic site. Basically it's that movie "Dinner for Schmucks" online with real schmucks (lured by Randi's promise of a million bucks) but instead of rich snobs, it's a bunch of geeks playing with their prey. The science & math forums are lively, but the politics and religion forums are way better here.

We get the QM abusers all the time over there. Usually New Agers, but not always. There's a brand of fundie who like to try to use QM or relativity (or both) to prove who-knows-what (never can get a straight answer).

I recommend the firm application of Rule #14 of the internet.

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Response to daaron (Reply #2)

Mon Jun 18, 2012, 05:19 AM

DetlefK (16,324 posts)

3. There is a link to homeopathy-video here on DU:

Did you know that homeopathy is connected to the vibrations of string-theory?

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Response to DetlefK (Reply #3)

Mon Jun 18, 2012, 08:12 AM

daaron (763 posts)

4. No I didn't know that!

How fascinating ... that someone would believe that!

Gotta love the quantum woo. Right? Right? (Kind of a strange thing.)

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Response to Odin2005 (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 03:21 PM

AlbertCat (17,505 posts)

6. equating philosophical "Materialism" (Naturalism) with Economic "Materialism"

Like equating Natural Selection with social natural selection or economic natural selection.

Natural Selection is the means of evolution in nature. It is indifferent to the point of seeming cruel. It is nothing you want to base a society, an economy or any other human activity upon, that's for sure.

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Response to Odin2005 (Original post)

Wed Jul 4, 2012, 12:39 AM

Manifestor_of_Light (21,046 posts)

8. I get tired of New Agers who use physics to promote woowoo.

It started with The Tao of Physics and just degenerated.

I think they don't understand physics (they could ask hubby, he has two degrees in math and physics, he explains relativity and differential equations to me--sounds like he knows what he's talking about

) but they take broad concepts like "everything in the universe is connected" and run with it.

They are nice people but after a while they get tiresome. Unfortunately I have two degrees that require logic and scientific thinking (biology and law) and that kinda makes me skeptical.

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