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> even people like Fauci or the CDC head are just completely crazy I realize this is an appeal to authority, but when you say things like this, it makes it har

> even people like Fauci or the CDC head are just completely crazy I realize this is an appeal to authority, but when you say things like this, it makes it hard to take you seriously. "Completely crazy," really? Just read this guy's biography and tell me he's not qualified: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Fauci https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Fauci Meanwhile, what we have on this forum is a bunch of 20-something tech kids throwing around research paper fragments that they've vacuumed up in their spare time. Gee, which of the two should I trust more?

__blockcipher__ 6y ago
The policies they advocate (lockdown specifically, but also universal masking) are completely crazy. The policies that the CDC head is recommending for schools are completely crazy. The fact that Fauci has had such a long and successful and relevant career makes his failure here all the more painful. I think he’s a smart guy. But he was put in a highly stressful position, barely sleeping for months on end...I can’t fault someone in that type of situation for being unable to snap out of collective delusion. But yes, he’s still deluded. I understand why that statement of mine causes strong reactions. Indeed I considered omitting it because I know how many people reflexively downvote the moment they see that. But for better or worse I decided not to pull punches.
- archagon 6y ago
  "Completely crazy" is a strong choice of words for a policy that has been independently enacted in practically every country around the world, often from the bottom up (people isolating en masse after death starts to encroach on their social circles) and sometimes very successfully (China). You say people have collectively gone mad; I say that the policy makers have access to more facts, better contextualized research, and a more holistic assessment of the situation than any armchair scientist. (Caveat: I don't know anything about the head of the CDC, so I'm only speaking for Fauci.) To be clear, continued lockdown absolutely sucks, and we should be doing something like this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhRQxk9QA-o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhRQxk9QA-o. (A brief period of lockdown, mass testing, contact tracing, supported isolation, and gradual reopening.) But hey, America. As for masks, they're a) cheap and trivial to implement, b) have been in use for decades in countries around the world, and c) seem to prevent spread by a non-trivial amount (according to recent articles I've come across). It's downright absurd to call such a policy any kind of crazy in the middle of a pandemic.

__blockcipher__ 6y ago

The policies they advocate (lockdown specifically, but also universal masking) are completely crazy. The policies that the CDC head is recommending for schools are completely crazy. The fact that Fauci has had such a long and successful and relevant career makes his failure here all the more painful. I think he’s a smart guy. But he was put in a highly stressful position, barely sleeping for months on end...I can’t fault someone in that type of situation for being unable to snap out of collective delusion. But yes, he’s still deluded. I understand why that statement of mine causes strong reactions. Indeed I considered omitting it because I know how many people reflexively downvote the moment they see that. But for better or worse I decided not to pull punches.

archagon 6y ago
"Completely crazy" is a strong choice of words for a policy that has been independently enacted in practically every country around the world, often from the bottom up (people isolating en masse after death starts to encroach on their social circles) and sometimes very successfully (China). You say people have collectively gone mad; I say that the policy makers have access to more facts, better contextualized research, and a more holistic assessment of the situation than any armchair scientist. (Caveat: I don't know anything about the head of the CDC, so I'm only speaking for Fauci.) To be clear, continued lockdown absolutely sucks, and we should be doing something like this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhRQxk9QA-o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhRQxk9QA-o. (A brief period of lockdown, mass testing, contact tracing, supported isolation, and gradual reopening.) But hey, America. As for masks, they're a) cheap and trivial to implement, b) have been in use for decades in countries around the world, and c) seem to prevent spread by a non-trivial amount (according to recent articles I've come across). It's downright absurd to call such a policy any kind of crazy in the middle of a pandemic.