Are you a Deepak Chopra fan? What a pity! Then I feel sorry for you.

If you are fond of Deepak Chopra-like quotes, or ditto articles, then you probably are a real woo. (And I’m pretty sure you are going to hate not only this blog post but ALL that is written on my blog.)

In the following article you can read, and find out, why you deserve feeling sorry for. 

 

Let’s start by having a look at: http://deadstate.org/science-confirms-it-your-friends-who-find-meaning-in-pseudo-profound-bullsht-have-lower-iqs/ . 

 

The article is entitled: “Science confirms it: Your friends who find meaning in ‘pseudo-profound bullsh*t’ have lower IQs”

The conclusion is that people who are impressed by wise-sounding but at the same time more or less meaningless – or at least mundane and truistic – New Age-like quotes tend to have a lower IQ.

 

Mr Gordon Pennycook, a PhD student who led and conducted  the research, writes in the cited paper:

“Our results support the idea that some people are more receptive to this type of bulls**t and that detecting it is not merely a matter of indiscriminate skepticism but rather a discernment of deceptive vagueness in otherwise impressive sounding claims.”

In other words: It’s not only about intellectual vices (read: laziness) but also a fondness of vague and generalized statements.

Both these characteristics are typical of those who indulge in magical woo-ish bullshit thinking. 

 

But wait, don’t leave yet, there is more to come. 

 

In fact, this fondness of vague and general (and sometimes ambiguous and/or dubious) statements also means that woos seem to like to impress on others – OR to become, themselves, impressed by their peers. 

 

Such statements, often spread between members on woo-ish (New Age-) forums, seldom (almost never) contain any groundbreaking or new information. It’s rather like saying that if you are rich and healthy, you’ll probably feel much better than those do who are poor and sick. 

 

Who can argue against that sort of statements? Who will be awarded a Nobel Prize for that discocery? 

Here are three of the quotes the respondents in the experiment were asked to ponder and value:

 

1) Imagination is inside exponential space time events; 

 

2)  Nature is a self-regulating ecosystem of awareness; and

 

3) In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.

All three were liked abd appreciated by sursprisingly many of those who were classified as believers in magical woo beliefs. 

Gordon Pennycook concludes, in his paper: Those more receptive to bulls**t are less reflective, lower in cognitive ability – numeracy, verbal and fluid intelligence, are more prone to ontological [ontology = the nature of being] confusions and conspiratorial ideation, are more likely to hold religious and paranormal beliefs, and are more likely to endorse complementary and alternative medicine.”

 

So I doubt it’s funny to be a woo. 

 

Or, who knows, maybe woos suffer from the Dunning-Kruger syndrome? Read more about the Dunning-Kruger Effect here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-macaray/the-dunningkruger-effect_b_4476166.html and, if you want more serious information, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect .

If so, then they don’t realize or understand the message from Gordon Pennycook (or me).

In a way, that’s a win/win situation. Cf the saying: “All is well that ends well.”

Anyhow. There is a New Age Bullshit Generator available on the web. You can find it here: http://sebpearce.com/bullshit/ .

 

With the help of that generator you can reionize all the electrons in your brain. And become your own Deepak Chopra, and spit out woo bullshit statements both by wholesale and by retail. 

 

When I pressed the “Reionize electrons” button, I received the following “unique” Deepak Chopra-like message:

Joy is the richness of truth, and of us.

The goal of bio-feedback is to plant the seeds of wonder rather than turbulence. Ecstasy is the driver of chi.

Our conversations with other travellers have led to a condensing of hyper-astral consciousness.

Materialism is the antithesis of love. Yes, it is possible to disrupt the things that can eliminate us, but not without passion on our side. You must take a stand against suffering.

We can no longer afford to live with desire. You may be ruled by yearning without realizing it. Do not let it eliminate the healing of your circuit. Only a being of the stratosphere may rediscover this fusion of guidance.

Humankind has nothing to lose. Reality has always been full of seekers whose dreams are transformed into ecstasy. We are in the midst of an ever-present blossoming of love that will give us access to the quantum soup itself.

Illusion is born in the gap where spacetime has been excluded.

By blossoming, we self-actualize. To roam the vision quest is to become one with it. We grow, we live, we are reborn.

Without wellbeing, one cannot heal. The complexity of the present time seems to demand a refining of our essences if we are going to survive. Where there is materialism, being cannot thrive.

 

I JUST SAY: Beat that if you can!