C’mon all you skeptics, fess up. Which “woo” science do you believe in, or at least play around with?
For example, I pay for a Reiki Healing session at least once a month, or whenever I can afford it. Who cares about the “woo” logic – it’s relaxing, akin to a low-contact massage, and I’m sympatico with my energy healer. We even have conversations about confirmation bias and dark energy, before moving on to the Tarot cards. 
What’s your fetish?
Reincarnation. I don’t really believe in it but like the idea.
I like a well told ghost story. A good one plays on the age-old fear of the unknown, the dark, being alone…
It’s hardly a fetish though
Acupuncture. For fertility, specifically. Also, I’m just starting to get in to meditation. I’m not sure if you’d consider these ‘woo’ type things, since they have some scientific backing, but they aren’t really mainstream yet.
My husbands aunt does cranial on me every time I see her (again, for fertility). I don’t really know if I believe in it, but I let her do it anyhow.
Space aliens. While I don’t believe that space aliens are actually visiting us, I WISH they were or would…and I absolutely believe that there are intelligent civilizations out there somewhere. I don’t believe we’ll ever be able to contact them (or vice versa), but I hope I’m wrong, and hope one day we get a Wow! signal that repeats and continues on.
Other than that I really like stuff about lost civilizations and have been playing with the idea of writing some SciFi based on the concept of an advanced civilization 100’s of thousands of years ago who’s technology was based on what would be essentially magic to us (possibly some sort dark energy/dark matter tapping ability since lost to humanity).
Cryptozoology would also be cool and is something I’m always hopeful of (while knowing that it’s a bunch of bullshit, mainly). A giant North American great ape previously undiscovered? Would be way cool…too bad it’s not real. Same goes for some lost population of dinosauria either in some Scottish lake or in the depths of Africa.
I LOVE the woo…I just don’t believe in any of it. But it would be an interesting world if some of the things were real.
-XT
If I tell you it won’t be a secret.
As I have written elsewhere, I have seen a chiropracter every six weeks for about 19 years. And stopped have regular back troubles. Is it the chiro or the stretching exercises he gave me that I do every morning. Damfino, but I’m not about to find out.
Another one for acupuncture. I have a bad shoulder, and I’ve gone to both skilled and crappy acupuncturists. The sensations I felt during the sessions from the good ones are enough to convince me there’s something going on, and the relief from pain was more than enough to convince me that it was helping.
Instead of a bunch of random neurons firing off at the stem of my brain, I wish my dreams was an actual alternate life I live. Because a lot of cool shit goes on there.
Dowsing. I know it’s total bullshit, but…
I agree with Dowsing, I know its a scam but when you are dealing with an issue that can easily cost 10’s of thousands of dollers, like drilling a well. You might as well throw 100 bucks to a guy to walk around with some coat hangers.
I’m the opposite. I’m always a murderer in my dreams and wake up in a cold sweat. Maybe there’s a guy in a cell-block who dreams really boring dreams that he’s me.
Hell, no! Do it yourself!
I’ve never seen or learned of any convincing evidence for alien visits in the remote past. I don’t believe in that, but I enjoy watching shows about it and occasionally reading about it. I could kick myself for having lost my copy of Forgotten Worlds by Robert Charroux.
I think part of the fascination stems from my interest in the belief itself.
I’ll bite on any new supposedly-credible story about telepathy or precognition, though I know it will only end in methodological error and irreproducibility. The anecdotes are just so compelling, y’know, and besides, what with all the quantum stuff going on, what the @#!% do we know, anyway?
I’m a huge fan of the Atkins diet and I think every smoker in the world should be issued Allen Carr’s book. It’s magic I don’t understand, but it seems to help a lot of people quit.
This is the closest I come to woo.
I worked for an acupuncturist/herbalist for several years, and really appreciate those, as well as TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). I’ve seen some amazing results, some darn good results and very few “failures”. (Her no-show or never-come-back percentage was in the single digits, so we kept pretty good track of her patients.)
I sometimes do some energy work for healing, usually when doing massage, but sometimes alone. Damned if I know what I’m really doing, but it feels good to them and to me, so I’ll keep doing it.
Cryptozoology. Is that what it’s called? Where people think there are lake monsters. I know scientists discover new species of beetles, and frogs and stuff in the Amazon all the time, but I’m waiting for a really cool, major discovery. Like a dinosaur island…
…not because I believe it’s going to happen, but because it would be AWESOME if it did. I think the potential payoff, no matter how unlikely, is worth holding out a little hope.
Echinacea. When I feel a cold coming on I take it, and within a week the cold is completely gone. It’s magic!
I like the whole “natural” medicines. I also am a theist, which many Dopers have lumped in with woo.
Every now and then I’ll look up a website to see what my biorythm chart looks like. Occasionally I’ll get some serious confirmation bias out of it.