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It's fine if you disagree, but it would be constructive if you can at least disagree with what was actually written instead of your interpretation of it. Also,

It's fine if you disagree, but it would be constructive if you can at least disagree with what was actually written instead of your interpretation of it. Also, please keep in mind that "that tweeter", as you call him, taught bioinformatics at Stanford, has published papers in the field of clinical/microbial genomics and founded a biotech startup that sold for 375M. He's considerably more informed about the topic than any of the reporters sparring with him. https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1228752554022068226 https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1228752554022068226 And yes, he does have an axe to grind with Vox: https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1228447944287932416 https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1228447944287932416 As someone watching the whole thing unfold for months, from far away in Taiwan, I think he's completely right on this one.

Traster 7y ago
You want me to be fastidious in my representation of his tweets, but you're okay citing this guy who is literally arguing literally just about headlines of articles. He's not linking to the articles and talking about them - he's literally taking headlines and even then he's misrepresenting them. I'm fine talking about his qualifications, but I think it's unfair for you to talk about his biotech start up without talking about the fact that we're talking about a guy that basically wants to gut FDA regulations - regulations that, if they were in place in China, would have prevented this outbreak. And of course the fact that he was called out on that bullshit by... Vox media!
- AlchemistCamp 7y ago
  > You want me to be fastidious in my representation of his tweets I want you to be honest in addressing what you disagree with. That's it. > this guy who is literally arguing literally just about headlines of articles. That's just not true. He's dug into the contents of the articles both in podcasts and threads like this one (very near what I just shared): https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1228447960008183808 https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1228447960008183808
  - Traster 7y ago
    I think I gave a fair representation of what he was saying, if you disagree, you're welcome to actually point at something specific I said that you think doesn't represent him fairly but I can't address just general gripes. So let's take your specific tweet here: He claims recode said : > "cases...have been contained to those who have recently traveled to Wuhan and their direct family members" What recode actually said: > "Public Health officials in the area have said there's currently a low risk to public health; the cases they say, have been contained to those who have recently traveled to Wuhan and their direct family members" I don't want to accuse you of being disingenuous or what-not,but really? Pretending something is a direct claim of Vox, when actually it's a claim that they're reporting from public health officials in Silicon Valley is a dramatic mis-representation. Ok, so let's lay aside what I think is mis-representation. The things that this tweeter seems to be claiming are counter points: >"We're probably going to see human-to-human cases within the united states" Dr Robert Redfield said in an interview with stat. A claim about the current situation within Silicon Valley cannot be countered with a forward looking statement about the entire US. It just can't. I just don't think this criticism is serious.
    - read_if_gay_ 7y ago
      You can’t be serious claiming you are fairly representing his tweets. Your representation of what he said is a very poor strawman at best. Just as an example, you say Vox is reporting “factually” when the headline literally says “the tech industry is terrified of the coronavirus”. That’s very obviously not factual reporting. That you’re accusing GP of being disingenuous and claiming the tweeter is strawmanning Vox while you’re strawmanning him to prove that point is just the cherry on top.
      - fzeroracer 7y ago
        The tweeter is quite literally strawmanning Vox as he claims Vox is responsible for the coronavirus. That's a textbook definition of a strawman. And now you appear to be strawmanning him in attempt to defend strawmanning.
- philwelch 7y ago
  It was also FDA regulations that made it impossible for the US to perform comprehensive testing early on.
andrepd 7y ago
>any of the reporters sparring with him This is rather telling of the way you view things; perhaps it may be part of the problem? "Sparring"?

Traster 7y ago

You want me to be fastidious in my representation of his tweets, but you're okay citing this guy who is literally arguing literally just about headlines of articles. He's not linking to the articles and talking about them - he's literally taking headlines and even then he's misrepresenting them. I'm fine talking about his qualifications, but I think it's unfair for you to talk about his biotech start up without talking about the fact that we're talking about a guy that basically wants to gut FDA regulations - regulations that, if they were in place in China, would have prevented this outbreak. And of course the fact that he was called out on that bullshit by... Vox media!

AlchemistCamp 7y ago
> You want me to be fastidious in my representation of his tweets I want you to be honest in addressing what you disagree with. That's it. > this guy who is literally arguing literally just about headlines of articles. That's just not true. He's dug into the contents of the articles both in podcasts and threads like this one (very near what I just shared): https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1228447960008183808 https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1228447960008183808
- Traster 7y ago
  I think I gave a fair representation of what he was saying, if you disagree, you're welcome to actually point at something specific I said that you think doesn't represent him fairly but I can't address just general gripes. So let's take your specific tweet here: He claims recode said : > "cases...have been contained to those who have recently traveled to Wuhan and their direct family members" What recode actually said: > "Public Health officials in the area have said there's currently a low risk to public health; the cases they say, have been contained to those who have recently traveled to Wuhan and their direct family members" I don't want to accuse you of being disingenuous or what-not,but really? Pretending something is a direct claim of Vox, when actually it's a claim that they're reporting from public health officials in Silicon Valley is a dramatic mis-representation. Ok, so let's lay aside what I think is mis-representation. The things that this tweeter seems to be claiming are counter points: >"We're probably going to see human-to-human cases within the united states" Dr Robert Redfield said in an interview with stat. A claim about the current situation within Silicon Valley cannot be countered with a forward looking statement about the entire US. It just can't. I just don't think this criticism is serious.
  - read_if_gay_ 7y ago
    You can’t be serious claiming you are fairly representing his tweets. Your representation of what he said is a very poor strawman at best. Just as an example, you say Vox is reporting “factually” when the headline literally says “the tech industry is terrified of the coronavirus”. That’s very obviously not factual reporting. That you’re accusing GP of being disingenuous and claiming the tweeter is strawmanning Vox while you’re strawmanning him to prove that point is just the cherry on top.
    - fzeroracer 7y ago
      The tweeter is quite literally strawmanning Vox as he claims Vox is responsible for the coronavirus. That's a textbook definition of a strawman. And now you appear to be strawmanning him in attempt to defend strawmanning.
philwelch 7y ago
It was also FDA regulations that made it impossible for the US to perform comprehensive testing early on.

andrepd 7y ago

>any of the reporters sparring with him This is rather telling of the way you view things; perhaps it may be part of the problem? "Sparring"?