The argument for ignorance

[Jocky]

Scientists love a good argument..... 8)

a five minute argument, or the full half hour?

An argument isn't just the automatic gainsaying of anything the other person says ...

[Dr B]

Indeed

Argument = reasons + conlcusion

The providing of a reasoned case for a particular conclusion

[Cuddles]

If god had meant us to use reason he wouldn't have given us imaginations.

[Outsider]

If god had meant us to use reason he wouldn't have given us imaginations.

Imagination + talent = HHGTTG:

"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," say Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that" and promply vanishes in a puff of logic."

Thank you Douglas Adams.

[Hazen]

Going back to the OP,

Why oh why do woo-woos argue for being thick over being educated?

This is what all religions/faiths/beliefs rely upon, the triumph of stupidity over reason/the evidence of your own eyes.

Second-hand car salesmen have wet dreams about encountering such people.

When so many people 'believe', in... well, be it this or that; belief, of any kind is touted as a positive attribute by those who are trying to sell.

Hard physical facts just get in the way. Destroy/discredit them.

When English kings wanted to stake their claim to French/German/Dutch/Spanish/Italian lands & titles, they had to squeeze their loyal followers with promises of the spoils of victory to raise an army. Throw religion in and you get yourself an army of willing slaves who will work, kill and die for no payment at all.
The basic mechanics of these situations has not changed.

Snake oil anyone?

[Dr B]

I really feel that it is the inability to evaluate and construct sound arguments that lies at the heart of so many problems with pseudoscience and the paranormal

[Dene]

The over education = closed minds view, suggesting that it is better to remain ignorant and ill educated is of course ridiculous.

What can be said however is that we have two hemispheres to the brain. The left logical side dealing with deductive reasoning and the right side dealing with the intuitive and inspirational.

Meditation and similar disciplines can help us to engage the under used right hemisphere to use in conjuction with the fact filled left side.

To be excessively reliant on one side rather than using both is to reduce our thinking capacity.

p.s. what's a WOO-WOOS?

[Dr B]

I am not sure modern neuroscience supports a simplistic left / right distinction in the way you mention.

Practicing and learning logic, science, and critical thinking will be far more productive for expanding your mind and concepts than anything else.

A woo or woowoo is a shorthand (usually used on the web and in forums) term for a die hard believer or pseudoscience babble. Someone, or some groups of people, that avoid real truth seeking for delusion in nonsense.

I prefer terms like paranormalist or myseterian - but they are longer to write :D