4 ms·

What disturbs me is that we're throwing out the baby of critical science with the bathwater of raging idiocy. It has become blatantly obvious that COVID is her

What disturbs me is that we're throwing out the baby of critical science with the bathwater of raging idiocy. It has become blatantly obvious that COVID is here to stay, and we need to question if the right approach last year (lockdown, mask, social distance etc) still makes sense in a world where a) everybody who wants to get vaccinated can, and b) it's starting to be become clear that, while vaccinations are great at preventing severe illness & death for a while, they don't last forever and are not a silver bullet for stopping infections.

api 5y ago
This is how it works in all fields. We can’t talk about different possible climate scenarios because of denialists. We can’t talk about issues with evolutionary theory because of creationists. We can’t talk about genetics and intelligence because of racists. We can’t talk rationally about fringe ideas like UFOs or psi because of new age wackos and cultists. The best way to shut down rational discussion in an area is to promote sensational lunacy. Then everyone self censors to avoid sanctioning the lunatics. This is not entirely irrational… many of the nuts in question are really toxic and dangerous. Things like racism and antivax hysteria kill people. Most of that stuff is grassroots, but it could certainly be weaponized. For example if I were a pharma company and wanted to cover up a problem with a vaccine I would promote hysterical antivax bullshit. That way you make it impossible to rationally discuss problems with vaccines. If I were running a child trafficking operation I would promote Qanon. This phenomenon is not new per se but social media renders it devastatingly powerful today. I don’t see a good solution. Every solution is either “let society be overrun by cults of idiots” or “implement some kind of exclusionary elitism or totalitarianism.” Maybe the solution is for some well meaning person to purchase and erase Facebook and YouTube. That would at least render the problem less acute.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- codyswann 5y ago
  Aren't the lunatics in this context the ones who refuse to get a vaccine because they "did their own research"?
  - api 5y ago
    I did my own research. I read about mRNA vaccines, looked up how they worked, searched for credible safety data, etc. I decided to get the vaccine and thought the tech was rather cool. The problem isn’t doing your own research. It’s failing to understand or discern and falling for sensationalism. You have to either know enough to understand the primary material or know enough about the nature of expertise to discern who likely knows what they are talking about. If you can’t do one of those things then you’re better off not trying to do your own research.
    - arcanon 5y ago
      Reading about things isn’t doing your own research. Thats not what research is. Research should involve an experiment of some kind or getting new data. You are not doing anything close to science.
      - api 5y ago
        Okay, call it reading people who do research then.
- raxxorrax 5y ago
  This is basically why the rule to not feeding the troll is important. You cannot win by arguing against the point, you just ignore them. There is no other solution. You can also not claim that this lunacy will be believed by innocents if you do not fight the information itself. That isn't ignoring it and elevates the claims in the first place. Everyone that claims there is an "infodemic" probably just wants sensationalism where they can put crazy on pedestals for clicks. Society won't be overrun be a cult of idiots, some just hold companies hostage to nudge them to censor undesirable content. There was bullshit on Youtube since its inception. It only became a problem when people said it is.

api 5y ago

This is how it works in all fields. We can’t talk about different possible climate scenarios because of denialists. We can’t talk about issues with evolutionary theory because of creationists. We can’t talk about genetics and intelligence because of racists. We can’t talk rationally about fringe ideas like UFOs or psi because of new age wackos and cultists. The best way to shut down rational discussion in an area is to promote sensational lunacy. Then everyone self censors to avoid sanctioning the lunatics. This is not entirely irrational… many of the nuts in question are really toxic and dangerous. Things like racism and antivax hysteria kill people. Most of that stuff is grassroots, but it could certainly be weaponized. For example if I were a pharma company and wanted to cover up a problem with a vaccine I would promote hysterical antivax bullshit. That way you make it impossible to rationally discuss problems with vaccines. If I were running a child trafficking operation I would promote Qanon. This phenomenon is not new per se but social media renders it devastatingly powerful today. I don’t see a good solution. Every solution is either “let society be overrun by cults of idiots” or “implement some kind of exclusionary elitism or totalitarianism.” Maybe the solution is for some well meaning person to purchase and erase Facebook and YouTube. That would at least render the problem less acute.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
codyswann 5y ago
Aren't the lunatics in this context the ones who refuse to get a vaccine because they "did their own research"?
- api 5y ago
  I did my own research. I read about mRNA vaccines, looked up how they worked, searched for credible safety data, etc. I decided to get the vaccine and thought the tech was rather cool. The problem isn’t doing your own research. It’s failing to understand or discern and falling for sensationalism. You have to either know enough to understand the primary material or know enough about the nature of expertise to discern who likely knows what they are talking about. If you can’t do one of those things then you’re better off not trying to do your own research.
  - arcanon 5y ago
    Reading about things isn’t doing your own research. Thats not what research is. Research should involve an experiment of some kind or getting new data. You are not doing anything close to science.
    - api 5y ago
      Okay, call it reading people who do research then.
raxxorrax 5y ago
This is basically why the rule to not feeding the troll is important. You cannot win by arguing against the point, you just ignore them. There is no other solution. You can also not claim that this lunacy will be believed by innocents if you do not fight the information itself. That isn't ignoring it and elevates the claims in the first place. Everyone that claims there is an "infodemic" probably just wants sensationalism where they can put crazy on pedestals for clicks. Society won't be overrun be a cult of idiots, some just hold companies hostage to nudge them to censor undesirable content. There was bullshit on Youtube since its inception. It only became a problem when people said it is.