5 ms·

> 28% of 18-24 y.o.s believe that humans originally got coronavirus from eating bats Doesn't that simply mean they are a few months behind on the news of the o

by ulucs 6y ago

> 28% of 18-24 y.o.s believe that humans originally got coronavirus from eating bats Doesn't that simply mean they are a few months behind on the news of the origins of coronavirus? The main theory used to be that, and the topic is irrelevant enough to people that it's unrealistic to expect them to be updated all the time.

philwelch 6y ago
What is the official theory now?
- beervirus 6y ago
  > official theory What a sad time we live in that this is actually a reasonable thing to ask.
  - emiliobumachar 6y ago
    Could you elaborate on why it's sad? I'd like to know the answer. I always knew the bat-soup hypothesis was little more than guesswork, but I never got the news of a more recent, more accepted hypothesis with solid evidence. Is there one? Maybe we're interpreting "official" differently.
    - freetime2 6y ago
      I think the parent was saying it’s a reasonable thing to ask. What’s sad is that there is so much misinformation out there, and most of us are only familiar with the speculations of politicians and pundits with no scientific basis. And “official” seems to have lost a lot of its meaning in recent times.
    - georgeecollins 6y ago
      I am not the original poster, but I think the problem is "official theory" implies that a theory from experts is one to be skeptical of. When I was a kid, lots of people had bumper stickers that said "Question Authority." That makes sense in a free society. But we have learned that in matters of public safety, everyone coming up with their own idea of what is safe and healthy is probably not as good of an idea as everyone doing what experts recommend, even knowing that the experts or the consensus is sometimes wrong or partly wrong. People ask me, if there is a vaccine for COVID-19 would you take it right away, or wait, or not take it? My answer is that I am going to do what my doctor recommends. I still question authority. But I have learned that there are limits to my knowledge and judgement that aren't always obvious to me.
      - philwelch 6y ago
        The problem is when both real and self-appointed experts combine the following behaviors: 1. Going out of their way to promote the narrative that we should listen to the “experts”. 2. Lying to us for our own good—for instance, about masks early on. “Question authority” sounds a lot more appealing when the alternative is, “shut up and do as you’re told, dummy”.
    - philwelch 6y ago
      The context of the NYT article seems to be that the bat-eating theory is now classified as “misinformation” by the NYT. This is confusing to me because that theory was widely discussed in the early months of the pandemic; implicitly classifying it as “misinformation” implies that it’s been discredited. That alone is news to me. The primary alternative to this theory, which I’ve definitely seen classified as “misinformation”, would be that the virus somehow escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. By “official theory” I meant the narrative that NYT and similar establishments are going with now. Infer from that what you will.
  - Igelau 6y ago
    In any other time we wait in the dark huddled around our AM radios to hear if they've figured this thing out. Or we close the city gates and start burning witches. Or we burn animals on the altar to Yahweh and Ashera. It's unusual that we get to see the bleeding edge science before it's all figured out, and it's definitely making things confusing, but it isn't sad.
- tootie 6y ago
  There isn't one. It's still believed to come from an animal host and there's a strain of bat coronavirus that is very close and bats are eaten in parts of China. The notion that bats harvested for food lead to human infection is unproven, but still plausible. And we don't really have a better story yet.
computator 6y ago
> 28% of 18-24 y.o.s believe that humans originally got coronavirus from eating bats In fact, bats are still the leading theory. According to Wikipedia: While there is scientific consensus that bats are the ultimate source of coronaviruses, it is hypothesized that a SARS-CoV-2-like coronavirus originated in pangolins, jumped back to bats, and then jumped to humans, resulting in SARS-CoV-2. [...] Therefore, based on maximum parsimony, a specific population of bats is more likely to have directly transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to humans than a pangolin. Though it doesn't mention "eating" specifically, I imagine that transmission could happen from butchering a bat in preparation for consumption, handling of bat remains, or being bitten by a bat. So what's up with the New York Times[2] and that study[3]? Are they really picking bones over the word "eating"? Is there a new leading theory that no one bothered to add to Wikipedia? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_coronavirus_2#Reservoir_and_zoonotic_origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndr... [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/technology/young-people-more-likely-to-believe-virus-misinformation-study-says.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/technology/young-people-m... [3] http://www.kateto.net/covid19/COVID19%20CONSORTIUM%20REPORT%2014%20MISINFO%20SEP%202020.pdf http://www.kateto.net/covid19/COVID19%20CONSORTIUM%20REPORT%...

by ulucs 6y ago

philwelch 6y ago

What is the official theory now?

beervirus 6y ago
> official theory What a sad time we live in that this is actually a reasonable thing to ask.
- emiliobumachar 6y ago
  Could you elaborate on why it's sad? I'd like to know the answer. I always knew the bat-soup hypothesis was little more than guesswork, but I never got the news of a more recent, more accepted hypothesis with solid evidence. Is there one? Maybe we're interpreting "official" differently.
  - freetime2 6y ago
    I think the parent was saying it’s a reasonable thing to ask. What’s sad is that there is so much misinformation out there, and most of us are only familiar with the speculations of politicians and pundits with no scientific basis. And “official” seems to have lost a lot of its meaning in recent times.
  - georgeecollins 6y ago
    I am not the original poster, but I think the problem is "official theory" implies that a theory from experts is one to be skeptical of. When I was a kid, lots of people had bumper stickers that said "Question Authority." That makes sense in a free society. But we have learned that in matters of public safety, everyone coming up with their own idea of what is safe and healthy is probably not as good of an idea as everyone doing what experts recommend, even knowing that the experts or the consensus is sometimes wrong or partly wrong. People ask me, if there is a vaccine for COVID-19 would you take it right away, or wait, or not take it? My answer is that I am going to do what my doctor recommends. I still question authority. But I have learned that there are limits to my knowledge and judgement that aren't always obvious to me.
    - philwelch 6y ago
      The problem is when both real and self-appointed experts combine the following behaviors: 1. Going out of their way to promote the narrative that we should listen to the “experts”. 2. Lying to us for our own good—for instance, about masks early on. “Question authority” sounds a lot more appealing when the alternative is, “shut up and do as you’re told, dummy”.
  - philwelch 6y ago
    The context of the NYT article seems to be that the bat-eating theory is now classified as “misinformation” by the NYT. This is confusing to me because that theory was widely discussed in the early months of the pandemic; implicitly classifying it as “misinformation” implies that it’s been discredited. That alone is news to me. The primary alternative to this theory, which I’ve definitely seen classified as “misinformation”, would be that the virus somehow escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. By “official theory” I meant the narrative that NYT and similar establishments are going with now. Infer from that what you will.
- Igelau 6y ago
  In any other time we wait in the dark huddled around our AM radios to hear if they've figured this thing out. Or we close the city gates and start burning witches. Or we burn animals on the altar to Yahweh and Ashera. It's unusual that we get to see the bleeding edge science before it's all figured out, and it's definitely making things confusing, but it isn't sad.
tootie 6y ago
There isn't one. It's still believed to come from an animal host and there's a strain of bat coronavirus that is very close and bats are eaten in parts of China. The notion that bats harvested for food lead to human infection is unproven, but still plausible. And we don't really have a better story yet.

computator 6y ago

> 28% of 18-24 y.o.s believe that humans originally got coronavirus from eating bats In fact, bats are still the leading theory. According to Wikipedia: While there is scientific consensus that bats are the ultimate source of coronaviruses, it is hypothesized that a SARS-CoV-2-like coronavirus originated in pangolins, jumped back to bats, and then jumped to humans, resulting in SARS-CoV-2. [...] Therefore, based on maximum parsimony, a specific population of bats is more likely to have directly transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to humans than a pangolin. Though it doesn't mention "eating" specifically, I imagine that transmission could happen from butchering a bat in preparation for consumption, handling of bat remains, or being bitten by a bat. So what's up with the New York Times[2] and that study[3]? Are they really picking bones over the word "eating"? Is there a new leading theory that no one bothered to add to Wikipedia? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_coronavirus_2#Reservoir_and_zoonotic_origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndr... [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/technology/young-people-more-likely-to-believe-virus-misinformation-study-says.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/technology/young-people-m... [3] http://www.kateto.net/covid19/COVID19%20CONSORTIUM%20REPORT%2014%20MISINFO%20SEP%202020.pdf http://www.kateto.net/covid19/COVID19%20CONSORTIUM%20REPORT%...