4 ms·

and you can't say there isn't an invisible pink unicorn standing next to me.

by ZenPsycho 7y ago

monadic2 7y ago
Sure, but you can say so with near certainty.
- ZenPsycho 7y ago
  and I can also say with the exact same near certainty this virus isn't dangerous to humans. You can prove me wrong by showing only one human getting sick from the virus. However, there's no way to prove it is not dangerous to any humans. there's no possible proof for that, same as there's no possible proof that there's no invisible pink unicorn. I can say nobody has gotten sick from this virus, so far, but that doesn't preclude the possibility of one of the 7 billion humans on the planet possibly having a weirdly specific allergy to this particular virus, nor that it isn't possible for a human to be born with a mutation that makes them vulnerable to this virus. Goal posts can always shift further and further away. and same as the pink unicorn, I don't need to take the concern seriously. Both are unfalsifiable claims. in the strictest logical sense, they're not false. but there's no way to prove they are false either, so worrying about a potentially dangerous virus is just as reasonable as worrying about dangerous invisible pink unicorns, menacing orbital teapots, flying spaghetti monsters or the vengeful diety of your choice. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but if we ran in a panic at every unfalsifiable claim, nobody would ever leave their beds.
  - monadic2 7y ago
    Sure, I am aware of the lack of existence of no black swan proofs, I am simply pointing out the outbreak coverage seems more comparable to say the ebola outbreak than coverage the virality and fatality should imply, ie that of a seasonal flu.
    - ZenPsycho 7y ago
      you literally did not do that. If you need to explain that you were being ironic on the internet, you might need to consider the possibility that you are bad at it and you shouldn't do it. And if you're making a comparison between this random virus and coronavirus, that's still a terrible and bad argument. If you don't like sensational news stories get off whatever platform is promoting them.

and you can't say there isn't an invisible pink unicorn standing next to me.

monadic2 7y ago

Sure, but you can say so with near certainty.

ZenPsycho 7y ago
and I can also say with the exact same near certainty this virus isn't dangerous to humans. You can prove me wrong by showing only one human getting sick from the virus. However, there's no way to prove it is not dangerous to any humans. there's no possible proof for that, same as there's no possible proof that there's no invisible pink unicorn. I can say nobody has gotten sick from this virus, so far, but that doesn't preclude the possibility of one of the 7 billion humans on the planet possibly having a weirdly specific allergy to this particular virus, nor that it isn't possible for a human to be born with a mutation that makes them vulnerable to this virus. Goal posts can always shift further and further away. and same as the pink unicorn, I don't need to take the concern seriously. Both are unfalsifiable claims. in the strictest logical sense, they're not false. but there's no way to prove they are false either, so worrying about a potentially dangerous virus is just as reasonable as worrying about dangerous invisible pink unicorns, menacing orbital teapots, flying spaghetti monsters or the vengeful diety of your choice. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but if we ran in a panic at every unfalsifiable claim, nobody would ever leave their beds.
- monadic2 7y ago
  Sure, I am aware of the lack of existence of no black swan proofs, I am simply pointing out the outbreak coverage seems more comparable to say the ebola outbreak than coverage the virality and fatality should imply, ie that of a seasonal flu.
  - ZenPsycho 7y ago
    you literally did not do that. If you need to explain that you were being ironic on the internet, you might need to consider the possibility that you are bad at it and you shouldn't do it. And if you're making a comparison between this random virus and coronavirus, that's still a terrible and bad argument. If you don't like sensational news stories get off whatever platform is promoting them.