3 ms·
> > One drop of deception in a sea of science will ruin the whole batch. > The strange thing is that people will say things like this and then .. jump in the s
by csdvrx 5y ago
> > One drop of deception in a sea of science will ruin the whole batch.
> The strange thing is that people will say things like this and then .. jump in the sea of deception that is youtube.
It may be unfair to say that given OP self confessed biases (ex: "pro vaccine")
When people in your own camp show unethical behavior, you start questioning the narrative. The other camp may be worse, but the responsability here fully lies on those who think a drop of deception was acceptable because the ends justifies the means. No, it doesn't and didn't, not now, nor ever.
I love science and I'm extremely sad a few bad apples may result in a future where more and more people distrust science - with good reasons!
After the Tuskegee experiments became mainstream, ethics was put forward to avoid this.
Unfortunately, we didn't learn anything from that: diseases resurfaced in Afghanistan because people learned to distrust the "vaccination campaign" that was just a sham to sequence DNA and try to find terrorists.
This should never have been allowed to happen if we were serious about ethics and not lying.
Look at the old Star Trek, and how the federation always took the moral high ground, regardless of the unfortunate consequences: this is what we should aspire to, instead of lying and cheating to get people to do what we think they should do.
- tcbawo 5y agoGrouping every mistake, oversight, over/underestimation with intentional falsehoods can be a slippery slope that leads to conspiracy chasing and paranoia. Discrediting people and organizations by association just leads to tribalism. It seems to be unfortunate inevitability in the modern world.
- s1artibartfast 5y agoI have a few thoughts on this. First, I agree that science changes and not all falsehoods are intentional. That said, an important part of maintaining credibility is owning ones mistakes. This means admitting when one is wrong, and what caused the change. Part of this is also admitting uncertainty where it exists. Second, intentional falsehoods are a real problem and should not be allowed whatsoever. It is not ethical to lie to people even to get a beneficial outcome. Last, while people and organizations should not be discredited by association, the absolutely need to be responsible for their own statements. If say, a CDC approved statement contains misinformation, the organization should be accountable.