3 ms·

About those hundreds of academics: about 90% seem to be mathematicians. I checked two at random and none of their top publications were about epidemiology. You

by dash2 7y ago

About those hundreds of academics: about 90% seem to be mathematicians. I checked two at random and none of their top publications were about epidemiology. You can be a scientist, yet know effectively nothing on a specific topic.

knzhou 7y ago
In the UK, "maths" is a very broad category. It includes my field of theoretical particle physics, as well as mathematical disease modelling. All of us would be called mathematicians. Yes, not everybody signing is a specialist in epidemiology, but so what? The point is that a good number are -- there is no clear consensus among UK experts for the UK government's position. And among global experts, there is a clear consensus against their position.
- poka 7y ago
  Keep signing petitions from ivory towers. That's not where political pressure on decision makers comes from.
  - _puk 7y ago
    Just in case you were not aware, in the UK any official petition with more than 100,000 signatures gets discussed in parliament [0]. 0: https://petition.parliament.uk/help https://petition.parliament.uk/help
  - starfallg 7y ago
    The plan is supposed to be based on science, not politics, yet here you are telling me this isn't the case? On a more serious note, petitions and other methods by experts to publicly state a position isn't just about influencing government policy. It's also a political tool in the aftermath of failed policy. Just like the current panel of experts is a political tool employed by the government to justify the biases in its policy.
- starfallg 7y ago
  >there is no clear consensus among UK experts for the UK government's position Well there is a huge government drive to portray that this is the case right now. Whenever that happens, it always arouses suspicion that something is not quite right. As a group, it's hard to imagine that UK experts in Epidemiology and related fields deviates significantly from their peers globally.
1_over_n 7y ago
https://www.immunology.org/news/bsi-open-letter-government-sars-cov-2-outbreak-response https://www.immunology.org/news/bsi-open-letter-government-s... The British Society for Immunology have also wrote an open letter of concern. They are immunologists and know about immunity.

by dash2 7y ago

knzhou 7y ago

In the UK, "maths" is a very broad category. It includes my field of theoretical particle physics, as well as mathematical disease modelling. All of us would be called mathematicians. Yes, not everybody signing is a specialist in epidemiology, but so what? The point is that a good number are -- there is no clear consensus among UK experts for the UK government's position. And among global experts, there is a clear consensus against their position.

poka 7y ago
Keep signing petitions from ivory towers. That's not where political pressure on decision makers comes from.
- _puk 7y ago
  Just in case you were not aware, in the UK any official petition with more than 100,000 signatures gets discussed in parliament [0]. 0: https://petition.parliament.uk/help https://petition.parliament.uk/help
- starfallg 7y ago
  The plan is supposed to be based on science, not politics, yet here you are telling me this isn't the case? On a more serious note, petitions and other methods by experts to publicly state a position isn't just about influencing government policy. It's also a political tool in the aftermath of failed policy. Just like the current panel of experts is a political tool employed by the government to justify the biases in its policy.
starfallg 7y ago
>there is no clear consensus among UK experts for the UK government's position Well there is a huge government drive to portray that this is the case right now. Whenever that happens, it always arouses suspicion that something is not quite right. As a group, it's hard to imagine that UK experts in Epidemiology and related fields deviates significantly from their peers globally.

1_over_n 7y ago

https://www.immunology.org/news/bsi-open-letter-government-sars-cov-2-outbreak-response https://www.immunology.org/news/bsi-open-letter-government-s... The British Society for Immunology have also wrote an open letter of concern. They are immunologists and know about immunity.