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Well, I'm afraid I have to disagree that I'm not at all shocked about this level of ignorance brewing within the tech community. These people are very susceptib

by lvs 5y ago

Well, I'm afraid I have to disagree that I'm not at all shocked about this level of ignorance brewing within the tech community. These people are very susceptible to snake oil health claims about things like nutrition, "nootropics" and the faux medicine of infinite dilution. So why wouldn't they also be susceptible to misinformation about real biotechnology?

COGlory 5y ago
Computer scientists are phenomenal at understanding human-created systems. They are remarkably worse at understanding non-human created systems, from what I can tell (as a structural biologist). "Tech" (whatever that nebulous word means - basically the people lampooned in 'Silicon Valley) are perhaps one of the most gullible groups of people ever, maybe because they are so focused on a combination disruption (thinking outside the box) and marketing.
- sidlls 5y ago
  They're phenomenal at understanding a narrow slice of human-created systems at that (those pertaining to computing, typically).
- neilk 5y ago
  Computer scientists are good at understanding computers. Sometimes. That's pretty much it. Even if you grant that computer scientists are more intelligent than the norm, I find that doesn't help very much. Often, I encounter some computer nerd who has constructed a crystalline tower of logic that's resting on a rickety foundation of evidence and experience.
  - throwaway2048 5y ago
    The more intelligent you are the more susceptible to confirmation bias you are, because you are better at digging up justifications.
- imoverclocked 5y ago
  Interestingly, creativity and lying are highly correlated [1] On the other hand, we don't know what long-term side-effects the mRNA vaccines have (besides a much lower death-rate and potential herd-immunity... which is why I got vaccinated) and there are definitely articles [2] which point out that it's not always benign to humans. [1] https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/dishonesty-and-creativity-two-sides-of-the-same-coin.html https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/dishonest... [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27463732 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27463732
sellyme 5y ago
> and the faux medicine of infinite dilution You and I are clearly hanging out in very different tech communities if you're finding people who believe in homeopathy.

by lvs 5y ago

COGlory 5y ago

Computer scientists are phenomenal at understanding human-created systems. They are remarkably worse at understanding non-human created systems, from what I can tell (as a structural biologist). "Tech" (whatever that nebulous word means - basically the people lampooned in 'Silicon Valley) are perhaps one of the most gullible groups of people ever, maybe because they are so focused on a combination disruption (thinking outside the box) and marketing.

sidlls 5y ago
They're phenomenal at understanding a narrow slice of human-created systems at that (those pertaining to computing, typically).
neilk 5y ago
Computer scientists are good at understanding computers. Sometimes. That's pretty much it. Even if you grant that computer scientists are more intelligent than the norm, I find that doesn't help very much. Often, I encounter some computer nerd who has constructed a crystalline tower of logic that's resting on a rickety foundation of evidence and experience.
- throwaway2048 5y ago
  The more intelligent you are the more susceptible to confirmation bias you are, because you are better at digging up justifications.
imoverclocked 5y ago
Interestingly, creativity and lying are highly correlated [1] On the other hand, we don't know what long-term side-effects the mRNA vaccines have (besides a much lower death-rate and potential herd-immunity... which is why I got vaccinated) and there are definitely articles [2] which point out that it's not always benign to humans. [1] https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/dishonesty-and-creativity-two-sides-of-the-same-coin.html https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/dishonest... [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27463732 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27463732

sellyme 5y ago

> and the faux medicine of infinite dilution You and I are clearly hanging out in very different tech communities if you're finding people who believe in homeopathy.