3 ms·

Step 1. Be afraid Step 2. Give me money A tale as old as time…

haswell 4y ago
Assuming for a moment that there’s something worth exploring here, how would you reframe the content? Apply this response to a group raising concerns about the safety of asbestos and seeking funding for research to validate or debunk those concerns. People fear disease because of its impact on wellbeing and life expectancy. Not all fear is warranted or healthy, but fear also drives action and is an evolutionary advantage. There’s a good reason to stop smoking, because one hopes to avoid a painful death via lung cancer. “Lock your doors, or risk invasion and bodily harm by local street gangs” is an appeal to fear, and sound advice depending on your neighborhood. Fear can obviously be weaponized/misused, but not all fear-based arguments are inherently so. With all of that said, I didn’t really see fear mongering in this article. Instead, potentially sobering thoughts.
- AmericanChopper 4y ago
  > I didn’t really see fear mongering in this article The article starts with: > Endemic Pathogens are Making You Crazy and Then Killing You. Nobody warned you about them, but they’re destroying your mind and they’re everywhere. Maybe we have significantly different perspectives on fear mongering, but that’s archetypal fear mongering in my book. The article then goes on to summarise a number of fringe scientific theories that are not substantially supported by evidence, including linking autism to vaccines. The article then concludes with a call to action to help philanthropically fund the industry in which the author works as a venture capitalist (and don’t see any disclosure about this conflict of interest in the article). If the article left you feeling soberly thoughtful, then perhaps you could make a donation to the author’s next funding round. But from my perspective “be afraid, give me money” seems like a perfectly reasonable summary.

Assuming for a moment that there’s something worth exploring here, how would you reframe the content? Apply this response to a group raising concerns about the safety of asbestos and seeking funding for research to validate or debunk those concerns. People fear disease because of its impact on wellbeing and life expectancy. Not all fear is warranted or healthy, but fear also drives action and is an evolutionary advantage. There’s a good reason to stop smoking, because one hopes to avoid a painful death via lung cancer. “Lock your doors, or risk invasion and bodily harm by local street gangs” is an appeal to fear, and sound advice depending on your neighborhood. Fear can obviously be weaponized/misused, but not all fear-based arguments are inherently so. With all of that said, I didn’t really see fear mongering in this article. Instead, potentially sobering thoughts.

AmericanChopper 4y ago
> I didn’t really see fear mongering in this article The article starts with: > Endemic Pathogens are Making You Crazy and Then Killing You. Nobody warned you about them, but they’re destroying your mind and they’re everywhere. Maybe we have significantly different perspectives on fear mongering, but that’s archetypal fear mongering in my book. The article then goes on to summarise a number of fringe scientific theories that are not substantially supported by evidence, including linking autism to vaccines. The article then concludes with a call to action to help philanthropically fund the industry in which the author works as a venture capitalist (and don’t see any disclosure about this conflict of interest in the article). If the article left you feeling soberly thoughtful, then perhaps you could make a donation to the author’s next funding round. But from my perspective “be afraid, give me money” seems like a perfectly reasonable summary.