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Trump providing a shining example of this! https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237027356314869761 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/12370273563

by remus 7y ago

Trump providing a shining example of this! https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237027356314869761 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/12370273563148697...

tomp 7y ago
I don't get the criticism for Trump. He's just basically saying "don't panic" in his own way. That also seems to be consensus among the experts and on HN, judging by yesterday's "don't hoard" threads... (I disagree, but it seems I'm the minority.)
- licebmi__at__ 7y ago
  I think the POTUS should be held to a higher standard than this meme tier tweets. But hey, it have been almost 4 years, I guess we should be used to.
  - tomp 7y ago
    Sure, but what higher standard is that? The standard of "don't panic", currently followed by WHO and pretty much all heads of state (with possible exceptions being Putin and possibly Italy & Austria), or the standard of "panic", universally shunned by experts and wanna-be experts alike?
    - remus 7y ago
      You can say "don't panic" without misleading people by using numbers completely out of context. By comparing the number of Corona virus cases and deaths to the annual flu deaths he is implying that the number of deaths from Corona virus in the US is low and the risk is negligible, and while it is currently low this completely misses the point that in other countries it has proven to be extremely contagious and has a much higher mortality rate than flu. In other words, there is a significant risk if adequate steps aren't taken to reduce the risk of transmission. See: Italy, China.
      - BlargMcLarg 7y ago
        Its misuse of the term "don't panic". "Don't panic" should mean "remain calm yet vigilant", not "stop being a crybaby and follow everyday life like a good sheep". Panicking doesn't make sense unless you wish to activate people who wouldn't otherwise, and neither does misleading people with poor, incomplete or flat-out wrong statistics. Pretty sure that's why the term "don't panic" gets a bad rep: one party means to be serious but calm, the other party uses it as means to ridicule those who err on the side of caution.
- downerending 7y ago
  I find it weirdly reassuring--he's not an expert and isn't even trying to look like one. The people that scare the hell out of me are the gaggles of PhDs and other "very smart people" who seem to think that we shouldn't be closing schools and working from home because reasons. Our organization doesn't even have paper towels in the bathrooms (It's bad for the environment!). Actual sanitation is not a priority.
  - greedo 7y ago
    He's said he's smart and understands this because his grandfather went to MIT; said grandfather who died of the Spanish Flu. There's irony in almost everything he tweets or utters...

by remus 7y ago

Trump providing a shining example of this! https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237027356314869761 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/12370273563148697...

tomp 7y ago

I don't get the criticism for Trump. He's just basically saying "don't panic" in his own way. That also seems to be consensus among the experts and on HN, judging by yesterday's "don't hoard" threads... (I disagree, but it seems I'm the minority.)

licebmi__at__ 7y ago
I think the POTUS should be held to a higher standard than this meme tier tweets. But hey, it have been almost 4 years, I guess we should be used to.
- tomp 7y ago
  Sure, but what higher standard is that? The standard of "don't panic", currently followed by WHO and pretty much all heads of state (with possible exceptions being Putin and possibly Italy & Austria), or the standard of "panic", universally shunned by experts and wanna-be experts alike?
  - remus 7y ago
    You can say "don't panic" without misleading people by using numbers completely out of context. By comparing the number of Corona virus cases and deaths to the annual flu deaths he is implying that the number of deaths from Corona virus in the US is low and the risk is negligible, and while it is currently low this completely misses the point that in other countries it has proven to be extremely contagious and has a much higher mortality rate than flu. In other words, there is a significant risk if adequate steps aren't taken to reduce the risk of transmission. See: Italy, China.
    - BlargMcLarg 7y ago
      Its misuse of the term "don't panic". "Don't panic" should mean "remain calm yet vigilant", not "stop being a crybaby and follow everyday life like a good sheep". Panicking doesn't make sense unless you wish to activate people who wouldn't otherwise, and neither does misleading people with poor, incomplete or flat-out wrong statistics. Pretty sure that's why the term "don't panic" gets a bad rep: one party means to be serious but calm, the other party uses it as means to ridicule those who err on the side of caution.
downerending 7y ago
I find it weirdly reassuring--he's not an expert and isn't even trying to look like one. The people that scare the hell out of me are the gaggles of PhDs and other "very smart people" who seem to think that we shouldn't be closing schools and working from home because reasons. Our organization doesn't even have paper towels in the bathrooms (It's bad for the environment!). Actual sanitation is not a priority.
- greedo 7y ago
  He's said he's smart and understands this because his grandfather went to MIT; said grandfather who died of the Spanish Flu. There's irony in almost everything he tweets or utters...