Are "woo" researchers ever fully discredited?

[hipparchia]

Biorhythms rubbish is still around.

I once saw a "lady" mobile phone which had a strange feature- you plugged in your birthday and it gave you a score on how good your day would be. The phone was also pinkish...

 

[hipparchia]

I dare say he did. What I wonder about is- if phrenology is really dead as I think it is (apparently, unlike alchemy); what killed it? I like to give Mark Twain credit for ridiculing it. Can we find another "Mark Twain" to take on today's woo?

Please find a new Mark Twain and ship him to Bulgaria. We had a phrenologist on a morning show on Bulgarian national television. I am starting to get the pessimistic idea that whatever woo has been discredited in the last 50 years in other countries seems to pop up in this little part of the globe.

Now, phrenology is a tad popular in relation to Petar Deunov. He is something of a sacred cow, a teacher of theosphy and/or anthroposophy in the first half of the 20th century. I am sad to say he was rated among the top 10 greatest Bulgarians (a competition based on the BBC model). His books are still printed. It's terrifying that there is a separate section for young learners. In kid-oriented books, young "occult students" are urged to study astrology and phrenology. It's presented uncritically as a science. In fact, criticism and asking questions is greatly discouraged by Mr. Deunov. "We are not here to find faults, we are here to learn," he says.

So, because Deunov is in the top 10, he will get the reputation of an irreproachable historical figure. His writings will keep poisoning young minds, especially in families who are hereditary followers and indoctrinate their children. The smarter ones will be in for a nasty disillusionment.

Back to the topic of woo still around: Von Danicken is still in print. Muldashev as well. We have the Bible Code fresh on the bookshelves. We have Sylvia Browne translated in Bulgarian, with more than 10 books. Carl Sagan: 3 books, at most.

Sai Baba, Osho are revered and printed. Edgar Cayce is being recycled all the time.

There, ranted and vented. And once again: Giving Deunov the reputation of Levski is horrible. It demeans the real heroes by including in their midst the author of a vacuous and unoriginal teaching.

 

[desertyeti]

Yes they do get discredited. It just takes a looong time.

Met any alchemists lately?

You can get an idea how long it takes by looking at a real example. For instance a century ago a big thing was sightings of fairies. There were sightings. There were pictures. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the author of the Sherlock Holmes series) was a very prominent supporter.

While there are still people around who believe in fairies, it isn't a particularly popular belief. Eventually it is likely to descend to alchemy levels. But it will take a long while. (And new ideas will inevitably come along.)

Cheers,
Ben

I know the ideas persist (my mother-in-law's a fairy-fan), but I'm not sure she could name the girls who took the photos of the cur-outs in the garden, nor any of the fairy "researchers" from the past. If she knew the root of all this nonsense, I doubt it would change her mind overnight, but it might get her thinking.

I guess it all boils down to if the idea's "cool" enough, then no matter what nonsense or forgery is used to promote it, and no matter how many phoney "researchers" get caught pulling hoakes (like ol' Gellar and his spoons), there's every reason to suggest that the idea or legend will continue. Sad really. Thankfully, no one has yet disproven the Easter Bunny.