While the burden of proof in our legal system rests on the accuser, an opposite of sorts is in play for new ideas – even a modicum of credibility is often enough to give wings to a novel suggestion.  This worldview is exemplified by a quote from John Lennon – “I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?”

The whole idea of non-mainstream ideas that have little scientific support, especially those involving spirituality or mysticism, even has a name – they are known as “woo-woo.”  If you or someone you know has ever carried around a crystal, worn a therapeutic copper bracelet, or placed magnets in your underwear then yes, we may be talking about you.  Smart people smugly proclaim they would never be wooed by any of this stuff, immediately recognizing it as non-sense.  Or would they…

There was a time when advanced means of transportation were considered woo-woo.  In 1825, The Quarterly Review of London wrote “What can be more palpably absurd than the prospect held out of locomotives traveling twice as fast as stagecoaches?”  Similarly, in 1895 Lord Kelvin – distinguished British mathematician, physicist, and president of the British Royal Society – claimed that “Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.”  The woo-woo label was soon vanquished by a dose of engineered reality, ultimately leading to bullet trains and A380’s. <continue reading>