5 ms·
I think it depends on the risk/reward of not following the science - as an example, there was debate about whether ibuprofen worsened the effects of COVID early
by caddemon 5y ago
I think it depends on the risk/reward of not following the science - as an example, there was debate about whether ibuprofen worsened the effects of COVID early in the pandemic. MGH basically came out and said that while the research was leaning towards ibuprofen being okay (and the WHO at that point had announced it was), they had plenty of acetaminophen available and no reason to doubt its safety for COVID patients. So they were going to stick with acetaminophen only for most patients.
Another COVID-related example is masks. At one point early in the pandemic there was messaging that masks were not useful in preventing the spread of COVID in the general public. There were supply chain reasons that probably motivated that message, but I also know virology PhD students that were insistent it was the truth, with papers in hand. At the time there were also papers to suggest the opposite, so one could have a healthy debate on the subject - but at the end of the day I gave my grandparents a small box of masks, because wearing a mask is so low effort I don't see why you wouldn't unless you are truly extremely certain that it's useless.
- Niksko 5y agoUnfortunately, the risk/reward equation is confounded by people who interpret any kind of public health measures as a slippery slope towards fascism.
- sjwalter 5y agoBad take. People are rightly wary of public health when public health openly discredits itself--you'd have to be an absolute imbecile to believe, e.g., covid was a huge risk during anti-lockdown protests, but was not at all a concern during BLM protests.
- tshaddox 5y agoWhen did “public health openly discredit itself” in such a way?
- zepto 5y agoSeems like the comment you are replying to contains an example.
- tshaddox 5y agoYes, I am asking for an example of when that happened.
- zepto 5y agoIt was very public news. Even the controversy was widely reported. I’m surprised you don’t know about it. In any case it should be easy to Google.
- tshaddox 5y agoI think you are remembering incorrectly.
- sjwalter 5y agoThis kind of gaslighting is why nobody trusts authority any more. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/protests-and-trump-rallies-both-carry-covid-19-risks-but-theres-a-reason-trumps-rallies-are-worse/2020/09/15/a677ddde-f791-11ea-89e3-4b9efa36dc64_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/protests-and-trump-r... Just one of MANY stories why BLM protests are so much less risky than, e.g., Trump rallies. When it was widely rebuked as hypocritical bullshit, they even came up with a crazy way of explaining it away: Now racism was a "public health crisis", all of a sudden. See the google trends: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=racism%20public%20health https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=r... Just like how January 6 was an insurrection worthy of months of security state theatrics and proclamations that "white supremacy" is the biggest threat to the USA domestically, whereas an entire summer of burning buildings and riots was "mostly peaceful protests". This is why nobody trusts authority and the media anymore--they have given up on even a pretense of seeming trustworthy.
- Niksko 5y agoTerrible take. Weariness is fine. Interpreting it as a step towards fascism is just individualism taken to it's empathy-less extreme.