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Author is a republican politician with no expertise in epidemiology or virology. Absent evidence, this whole China Lab theory is literally just tinfoil hat spe

Author is a republican politician with no expertise in epidemiology or virology. Absent evidence, this whole China Lab theory is literally just tinfoil hat speculation. As gets repeated ad nauseum every time this comes up, there is absolutely nothing about the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 that is even remotely difficult to explain as a natural process. It's a close relative of a virus known to exist on the same continent in a species group known to transit large distances easily. People who insist on "asking questions" here aren't people who are curious, they are people who really, really want the answer to conform to their priors about modern geopolitics (or, frankly, just people who want to have an enemy to hate). It's not healthy, and it's not going anywhere. We need to stop.

Quarrelsome 5y ago
> this whole China Lab theory is literally just tinfoil hat speculation I feel like that's a bit cold. This is a virus whose closest relatives are known to exist in animals that are the specific animals that they specialise in, in that lab where they also do science around viruses like this one. Sure, it might not be this but there's a fair bit of co-incidence going on here isn't there? Enough at least to take it beyond the realm of tin foil.
- newacct583 5y ago
  "Sure, it might not be this but there's a fair bit of co-incidence going on here isn't there?" is pretty much the definition of tinfoil hat nuttery. You accuse people of serious crimes when you have evidence. Not before. It's not like evidence would be hard to find if it existed. Is there a whistleblower? No. Is there a specific feature of SARS-CoV-2 that matches other known genes that would be difficult to explain by natural evolution? No. Stop chasing coincidence and clicking on partisan opinion essays that confirm your priors and go find some evidence.
  - Quarrelsome 5y ago
    ye but government ain't people and the CCP has not been forthcoming in providing the evidence it has. Your attitude falls apart in this climate. There is no evidence so there is no one to blame. Perfect! Chimes the CCP.
    - newacct583 5y ago
      Indeed, "government ain't people". If that lab full of globalized woke scientists really knew that this was a specimin of theirs you really don't think someone would have smuggled out a copy of a document by now? You really don't think that existing intelligence agencies who have eyes on the facility wouldn't have leaked what they know via the politicians they report to? Your whole theory relies on the idea of China being a monolithic evil entity able to contain reporting of what would be the most important work of journalism in the last half century. So demanding that it must be true because China is a monolithic evil entity seems a bit circular. Evidence. Go get some evidence. Then put the tinfoil on your head.
      - Quarrelsome 5y ago
        I'm happy to hold every possible outcome as being open. You're the one wanting to close doors, you're the one trying to realise an unknown into your own personal biases. Due to our lack of evidence everything remains open and to avoid people betting on the coinky-doink of their lab we need to obtain evidence. Evidence that as of yet isn't there, which is why people still look at the lab.
        newacct583 5y ago
        > I'm happy to hold every possible outcome as being open And once more: this is the hallmark of a conspiracy nut. Serious evaluation of evidence and estimates of probabilities isn't "closing doors", it's merely applying reason and logic. I'm not saying that improbable or unfounded things are impossible. I'm saying that your demand that we treat "Questions!" about them as "Important!" in the absence of likelihood or evidence is bad logic, and will lead you (and, likely, has led you) to bad decisions.
lprd 5y ago
> Author is a republican politician with no expertise in epidemiology or virology. And? His term ended in 2003, this article is purely an opinion post and is labeled as such at the top. > People who insist on "asking questions" here aren't people who are curious, they are people who really, really want the answer to conform to their priors about modern geopolitics (or, frankly, just people who want to have an enemy to hate). Some pretty big leaps you're making there. China isn't doing themselves any favors by their lack of transparency. At any rate, the question remains important regardless of anyone's 'feelings' on the subject.
- newacct583 5y ago
  > the question remains important regardless of anyone's 'feelings' on the subject That's not how it works in other arguments. Is "the question" of your habit of beating your wife equally important? Relentless focus on "The Question" and its "Importance" despite the lack of any real world evidence (and in this case, convincing evidence to the contrary) is the mark of a conspiracy theory. This is Q all over again. When it turned out that the child molesters in the deep state didn't actually exist and the power structure everyone thought was going to prove everything lost and went home, people just dialed up the next enemy in the rolladex and continued on.

Quarrelsome 5y ago

> this whole China Lab theory is literally just tinfoil hat speculation I feel like that's a bit cold. This is a virus whose closest relatives are known to exist in animals that are the specific animals that they specialise in, in that lab where they also do science around viruses like this one. Sure, it might not be this but there's a fair bit of co-incidence going on here isn't there? Enough at least to take it beyond the realm of tin foil.

newacct583 5y ago
"Sure, it might not be this but there's a fair bit of co-incidence going on here isn't there?" is pretty much the definition of tinfoil hat nuttery. You accuse people of serious crimes when you have evidence. Not before. It's not like evidence would be hard to find if it existed. Is there a whistleblower? No. Is there a specific feature of SARS-CoV-2 that matches other known genes that would be difficult to explain by natural evolution? No. Stop chasing coincidence and clicking on partisan opinion essays that confirm your priors and go find some evidence.
- Quarrelsome 5y ago
  ye but government ain't people and the CCP has not been forthcoming in providing the evidence it has. Your attitude falls apart in this climate. There is no evidence so there is no one to blame. Perfect! Chimes the CCP.
  - newacct583 5y ago
    Indeed, "government ain't people". If that lab full of globalized woke scientists really knew that this was a specimin of theirs you really don't think someone would have smuggled out a copy of a document by now? You really don't think that existing intelligence agencies who have eyes on the facility wouldn't have leaked what they know via the politicians they report to? Your whole theory relies on the idea of China being a monolithic evil entity able to contain reporting of what would be the most important work of journalism in the last half century. So demanding that it must be true because China is a monolithic evil entity seems a bit circular. Evidence. Go get some evidence. Then put the tinfoil on your head.
    - Quarrelsome 5y ago
      I'm happy to hold every possible outcome as being open. You're the one wanting to close doors, you're the one trying to realise an unknown into your own personal biases. Due to our lack of evidence everything remains open and to avoid people betting on the coinky-doink of their lab we need to obtain evidence. Evidence that as of yet isn't there, which is why people still look at the lab.
      - newacct583 5y ago
        > I'm happy to hold every possible outcome as being open And once more: this is the hallmark of a conspiracy nut. Serious evaluation of evidence and estimates of probabilities isn't "closing doors", it's merely applying reason and logic. I'm not saying that improbable or unfounded things are impossible. I'm saying that your demand that we treat "Questions!" about them as "Important!" in the absence of likelihood or evidence is bad logic, and will lead you (and, likely, has led you) to bad decisions.

lprd 5y ago

> Author is a republican politician with no expertise in epidemiology or virology. And? His term ended in 2003, this article is purely an opinion post and is labeled as such at the top. > People who insist on "asking questions" here aren't people who are curious, they are people who really, really want the answer to conform to their priors about modern geopolitics (or, frankly, just people who want to have an enemy to hate). Some pretty big leaps you're making there. China isn't doing themselves any favors by their lack of transparency. At any rate, the question remains important regardless of anyone's 'feelings' on the subject.

newacct583 5y ago
> the question remains important regardless of anyone's 'feelings' on the subject That's not how it works in other arguments. Is "the question" of your habit of beating your wife equally important? Relentless focus on "The Question" and its "Importance" despite the lack of any real world evidence (and in this case, convincing evidence to the contrary) is the mark of a conspiracy theory. This is Q all over again. When it turned out that the child molesters in the deep state didn't actually exist and the power structure everyone thought was going to prove everything lost and went home, people just dialed up the next enemy in the rolladex and continued on.