5 ms·

Fair enough. Who/what organizations do you trust then for public health and covid related recommendations?

pdonis 6y ago
My short answer: there aren't any. Every source has shown itself willing to set truth aside in the interest of some political or ideological agenda. If your response is "well, that sucks", yes, I agree. It sucks to live in a world where people and institutions whose sole job is supposed to be making sure true information gets to the public, every time, no exceptions, are either unwilling or unable to do that job right.
- BalinKing 6y ago
  This is where I also stand. I don't (a prior) trust the WHO, I don't (a priori) trust the CDC, I don't (a priori) trust the talk show hosts. (To be fair, I think this principle applies much more generally than public health matters.) That's not to say I behave irresponsibly: I wear a mask in public (because "better safe than sorry"), my family self-quarantined for two weeks when one of us got sick, etc. I just don't assume what "experts" say is necessarily the truth. (To be fair, I also don't trust myself to reach correct conclusions—hence my personal policy of "better safe than sorry.") I personally feel like too much of modern society involves idolizing experts and institutions—after all, it's nothing more than the argument-to-authority logical fallacy (admittedly, even if it's often a useful heuristic)... but that's a discussion for another time :-P
  - pdonis 6y ago
    > That's not to say I behave irresponsibly: I wear a mask in public (because "better safe than sorry") Same here. My wife and I were wearing masks, social distancing, not going to public places like restaurants where there was a high risk of catching something, weeks before any public health authorities were recommending such measures, and before the case rate in our area started to spike. To us it was obvious common sense.
  - BalinKing 6y ago
    To clarify: I am by no means "anti-science"—exactly the opposite! Obviously, science is an unspeakably valuable epistemological tool and process (and, as I see it, the inarguable best way to reach correct conclusions about the world). I'm no crackpot or conspiracy theorist who thinks vaccines don't work or the earth is flat or climate change isn't real. All I'm saying is that, as I see it, society's idea of "science" often conflates it with scientists and/or institutions themselves (hence the "argument to authority" part of my comment above). This is, of course, the opposite of what science means, which is why it bothers me enough to have written these comments :-P
  - antonvs 6y ago
    > I wear a mask in public (because "better safe than sorry") Saying "better safe than sorry" makes it sound as though you're not sure about this, but this one isn't in doubt - masks reduce the spread of the virus, and that's their primary purpose. Here's an article about it: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-abou... See the section titled "What evidence do we have that wearing a mask is effective in preventing COVID-19?"

My short answer: there aren't any. Every source has shown itself willing to set truth aside in the interest of some political or ideological agenda. If your response is "well, that sucks", yes, I agree. It sucks to live in a world where people and institutions whose sole job is supposed to be making sure true information gets to the public, every time, no exceptions, are either unwilling or unable to do that job right.

BalinKing 6y ago
This is where I also stand. I don't (a prior) trust the WHO, I don't (a priori) trust the CDC, I don't (a priori) trust the talk show hosts. (To be fair, I think this principle applies much more generally than public health matters.) That's not to say I behave irresponsibly: I wear a mask in public (because "better safe than sorry"), my family self-quarantined for two weeks when one of us got sick, etc. I just don't assume what "experts" say is necessarily the truth. (To be fair, I also don't trust myself to reach correct conclusions—hence my personal policy of "better safe than sorry.") I personally feel like too much of modern society involves idolizing experts and institutions—after all, it's nothing more than the argument-to-authority logical fallacy (admittedly, even if it's often a useful heuristic)... but that's a discussion for another time :-P
- pdonis 6y ago
  > That's not to say I behave irresponsibly: I wear a mask in public (because "better safe than sorry") Same here. My wife and I were wearing masks, social distancing, not going to public places like restaurants where there was a high risk of catching something, weeks before any public health authorities were recommending such measures, and before the case rate in our area started to spike. To us it was obvious common sense.
- BalinKing 6y ago
  To clarify: I am by no means "anti-science"—exactly the opposite! Obviously, science is an unspeakably valuable epistemological tool and process (and, as I see it, the inarguable best way to reach correct conclusions about the world). I'm no crackpot or conspiracy theorist who thinks vaccines don't work or the earth is flat or climate change isn't real. All I'm saying is that, as I see it, society's idea of "science" often conflates it with scientists and/or institutions themselves (hence the "argument to authority" part of my comment above). This is, of course, the opposite of what science means, which is why it bothers me enough to have written these comments :-P
- antonvs 6y ago
  > I wear a mask in public (because "better safe than sorry") Saying "better safe than sorry" makes it sound as though you're not sure about this, but this one isn't in doubt - masks reduce the spread of the virus, and that's their primary purpose. Here's an article about it: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-abou... See the section titled "What evidence do we have that wearing a mask is effective in preventing COVID-19?"