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What I don't understand about this argument is why does it matter? Even if COVID was created in a lab in Wuhan they obviously didn't release it on purpose as a

What I don't understand about this argument is why does it matter? Even if COVID was created in a lab in Wuhan they obviously didn't release it on purpose as a weapon (if they had they wouldn't have released it in Wuhan). There are any number of other labs around the world working on similarly dangerous research that could get released on accident.

namose 4y ago
> There are any number of other labs around the world working on similarly dangerous research that could get released on accident. And you don't see a problem with this? You seem to assume the lab-leak hypothesis assumes malicious intent in creating the virus, but most people are actually concerned about negligence and/or a malicious coverup of the origin. A definitive answer to the origin of covid could help answer the following questions: - How much do I trust U.S. public health institutions? - How much do I trust Chinese public health institutions? - Should gain-of-function and other high-risk virus research be conducted? And what should the safety standards be of such research? - Is there a problem of forced consensus/centralization in the broader scientific community?
potatototoo99 4y ago
The point is maybe we shouldn't be doing similarly dangerous research in the first place. The point is maybe banning in the US and funding it overseas is just idiotic.
AbrahamParangi 4y ago
It matters if the truth matters to you and it matters because of the highly public discrediting of the lab-leak hypothesis both early in the pandemic and more recently should update your beliefs about a great many institutions.
eruleman 4y ago
You answered your own question.
blast 4y ago
It has enormous implications for future research and regulation, as well as the reform of scientific and public health institutions. If a plane crash killed a few hundred people, no one would question the need for a thorough investigation, root cause analysis, and preventative measures for the future. Or consider the security reforms put in place after 9/11, which killed thousands. This pandemic killed millions.
kgermino 4y ago
Because we want to learn from our mistakes. Whether it came from a wild animal, a lab, or something else there are lessons we should learn to help prevent it from happening again. It's an overused example, but it's a good one. Flying is extremely safe. Not because it's an inherently safe activity, but because every time something happens we stop and ask why. We don't accept simple answers like "the pilot screwed up" we try to find all of the root causes and contributing factors. Then for each of those we try to find a mitigation to avoid the problem in the future. It's not unreasonable to want to know what caused this pandemic so we can try to avoid the next one.
- virusduck 4y ago
  Whether or not this happened in reality, it is still a good learning experience.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
nuncanada 4y ago
It does matter a lot. Knowing the origin makes us able to try to prepare for it in the future. Specifically if it was a lab leak, we should put highly stringent procedures for conducting such research. Theses labs should be isolated far away from major urban areas, and have mandatory quarantine while leaving it... For example...
96llort 4y ago
shusaku 4y ago
It matters because if geopolitics. Any other reason given is laughably naive. For sure we should use this as a lesson to increase safe guards regardless. But discussing those measures would require actual domain specific knowledge, so you’ll never see it on HackerNews (to speak nothing of Twitter!)
- namose 4y ago
  You speak as if this is a bad thing. If the U.S. funded research that caused the covid outbreak, the international community should lose trust in us, especially since public officials dismissed (perhaps unfairly) theories that would have put the U.S. at fault. Obviously, this goes doubly for China. Increasing safeguards relies on us knowing what the vectors of outbreak are. It matters if this was caused by an underpaid lab assistant selling animals that were meant to be contained, or a random person catching animals to sell, or a researcher that didn't quarantine after being bit. The safeguards should be different.

namose 4y ago

> There are any number of other labs around the world working on similarly dangerous research that could get released on accident. And you don't see a problem with this? You seem to assume the lab-leak hypothesis assumes malicious intent in creating the virus, but most people are actually concerned about negligence and/or a malicious coverup of the origin. A definitive answer to the origin of covid could help answer the following questions: - How much do I trust U.S. public health institutions? - How much do I trust Chinese public health institutions? - Should gain-of-function and other high-risk virus research be conducted? And what should the safety standards be of such research? - Is there a problem of forced consensus/centralization in the broader scientific community?

potatototoo99 4y ago

The point is maybe we shouldn't be doing similarly dangerous research in the first place. The point is maybe banning in the US and funding it overseas is just idiotic.

AbrahamParangi 4y ago

It matters if the truth matters to you and it matters because of the highly public discrediting of the lab-leak hypothesis both early in the pandemic and more recently should update your beliefs about a great many institutions.

eruleman 4y ago

You answered your own question.

blast 4y ago

It has enormous implications for future research and regulation, as well as the reform of scientific and public health institutions. If a plane crash killed a few hundred people, no one would question the need for a thorough investigation, root cause analysis, and preventative measures for the future. Or consider the security reforms put in place after 9/11, which killed thousands. This pandemic killed millions.

kgermino 4y ago

Because we want to learn from our mistakes. Whether it came from a wild animal, a lab, or something else there are lessons we should learn to help prevent it from happening again. It's an overused example, but it's a good one. Flying is extremely safe. Not because it's an inherently safe activity, but because every time something happens we stop and ask why. We don't accept simple answers like "the pilot screwed up" we try to find all of the root causes and contributing factors. Then for each of those we try to find a mitigation to avoid the problem in the future. It's not unreasonable to want to know what caused this pandemic so we can try to avoid the next one.

virusduck 4y ago
Whether or not this happened in reality, it is still a good learning experience.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

nuncanada 4y ago

It does matter a lot. Knowing the origin makes us able to try to prepare for it in the future. Specifically if it was a lab leak, we should put highly stringent procedures for conducting such research. Theses labs should be isolated far away from major urban areas, and have mandatory quarantine while leaving it... For example...

96llort 4y ago

shusaku 4y ago

It matters because if geopolitics. Any other reason given is laughably naive. For sure we should use this as a lesson to increase safe guards regardless. But discussing those measures would require actual domain specific knowledge, so you’ll never see it on HackerNews (to speak nothing of Twitter!)

namose 4y ago
You speak as if this is a bad thing. If the U.S. funded research that caused the covid outbreak, the international community should lose trust in us, especially since public officials dismissed (perhaps unfairly) theories that would have put the U.S. at fault. Obviously, this goes doubly for China. Increasing safeguards relies on us knowing what the vectors of outbreak are. It matters if this was caused by an underpaid lab assistant selling animals that were meant to be contained, or a random person catching animals to sell, or a researcher that didn't quarantine after being bit. The safeguards should be different.