it sounded too woo

[GoodTaste]

Their analysis leads Conway and Kochen to conclude that the physicists possess free will—and so do the particles they are measuring. “Our provocative ascription of free will to elementary particles is deliberate,” Conway and Kochen write, “since our theorem asserts that if experimenters have a certain freedom, then particles have exactly the same kind of freedom.” That last part, which ascribes free will to particles, threw me at first; it sounded too woo. Then I recalled that prominent
scientists are advocating panpsychism, the idea that consciousness pervades all matter, not just brains. If we grant electrons consciousness, why not give them free will, too?
Source: Scientific American
Quantum Mechanics, Free Will and the Game of Life


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Does "woo" in the phrase "it sounded too woo" mean "woo-woo"?(Oxford dictionaries define "woo-woo" as "(informal, derogatory)
Relating to or holding unconventional beliefs regarded as having little or no scientific basis, especially those relating to spirituality, mysticism, or alternative medicine."

 

[probus]

Your guess seems very plausible. I can't be 100% certain, but at the same time I can't come up with a better hypothesis. It's normally woo woo, but apparently the author decided to make do with just a single woo.

 

[tedmc]

I think the alliteration is deliberate, to make it sound catchy compared to say, "overly woo woo".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

We also use "woo-woo" (and now, apparently, "woo") to mean mystical, metaphysical. Old horror movies often used a woo-woo sound effect made with an interesting musical instrument, a Theremin.

Usage example: Thomas Jefferson thought Jesus's teachings were important but didn't like the supernatural parts of the Christian Bible. So he published his own version, which kept all of Jesus's teachings but got rid of all the woo-woo stuff.

So the writers are saying that it sounded like magic, not physics.