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Just for the record: Eric Feigl-Ding, the author of this substack, was/is one of the most shriekiest COVID-dramatizers, globally. I’ve never googled his name b

Just for the record: Eric Feigl-Ding, the author of this substack, was/is one of the most shriekiest COVID-dramatizers, globally. I’ve never googled his name before writing this and the first Google suggestion is „Eric Feigl Ding fear mongerer“

graeme 4y ago
People like to accuse him of it. His earliest and wildest claim was that SARS-Cov-2 was widely transmissible and risked becoming a global pandemic if swift action wasn’t taken This was in January 2020. Fortunately, top commentators leapt into action, determined his calculation of the R0 may have had some technical issues and in any event he didn’t have specific expertise in the area The matter resolved, we waited till March 2020
- ldldlsosj 4y ago
  [flagged]
- skrause 4y ago
  Even a broken clock is right twice a day. When you fearmonger just about anything some predictions might be somewhat correct, most aren't. Eric Feigl-Ding also claimed that monkeypox could be airborne [1] and would be the next big pandemic [2]. Both turned out not to be true. [1] https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1528804498084446210 https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1528804498084446210 [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/07/monkeypox-pandemic-who-emergency-covid/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/07/monkeypox...
  - Izkata 4y ago
    > Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I'm sure most people here know variations of the phrase "economists predicted 11 of the last 2 recessions", it's talked about often enough. What they may not be aware of is the same is true of pandemics. Offhand I'm aware of 5 predicted in the past 15 years or so, 2 of which happened.
- fidgewidge 4y ago
  He just systematically over-states the risk of absolutely everything despite knowing nearly nothing about viruses. Other great Feigl-Ding takes: - If China doesn't control Omicron they'll suffer a "world of hurt" and it's "literally make or break". - "Danish political leaders have completely lost their frigging minds releasing all #COVID19 mitigations" and "this is what happens when a country's leaders gaslights its own citizens", talking about the end of restrictions at the start of 2022. - "New world record — More than 1,000 daily #monkeypox cases (7 days average). Those who said #MPXV would fizzle out soon are plain wrong. This fall school year will need radically new / more safety mitigations." - "In other news – Schools across England are reopening again today. No school mask requirements. No school air quality and ventilation guidelines – it is so dangerous that it is ‘medieval’ says Professor Alice Roberts. God save and its children from B117. COVID19." The guy is a Harvard epidemiologist, which means he knows nothing about disease and will constantly exaggerate any possible threat regardless of science or truth.
  - alwillis 4y ago
    > The guy is a Harvard epidemiologist, which means he knows nothing about disease and will constantly exaggerate any possible threat regardless of science or truth. This seems totally uncalled for. Besides having a degree in Public Health, among others, he’s a cancer survivor. I’d say he knows a lot about diseases. Like it or not, to say his warning about Covid-19 three years ago was prescient is an understatement. Based on his bio, he seems more than credible: Dr. Feigl-Ding graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with Honors in Public Health and Phi Beta Kappa. He then completed his dual doctorate in epidemiology and his doctorate in nutrition, separately, as the youngest graduate to complete his double doctoral programs at age 23 from Harvard SPH. Next, concurrently with his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, he studied medicine at Boston University School of Medicine for several years, until he left BUSM to become faculty at Harvard Medical School. Teaching at Harvard for over 15 years, he has advised and mentored two dozen students and lectured in more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate courses, for which he received the Derek Bok Distinction in Teaching Award from Harvard College.
    - fidgewidge 4y ago
walterbell 4y ago
His twitter account is self-documenting, https://twitter.com/drericding https://twitter.com/drericding
torstenvl 4y ago
Someone who isn't a physician and doesn't have an MD, with DrName as their Twitter handle, shouting into the Internet abyss with caps, exclamations, and emojis. Oh boy.
ecf 4y ago
> I’ve never googled his name before writing this and the first Google suggestion is „Eric Feigl Ding fear mongerer“ What Google does or doesn’t return in autocomplete results is meaningless unless you also show the search history that backs those personalized autocompletions.
- torstenvl 4y ago
  Making insinuations that something is due to a personal characteristic of the person communicating about it is not generally accepted behavior on HN. It's a mild form of ad hominem attack, it suggests that someone is unreliable unless they make the discussion all about them and share the information you claim is required, and it generally makes for completely uninteresting and unedifying content. Please don't do that here.
  - ecf 4y ago
    What are you even talking about?

graeme 4y ago

People like to accuse him of it. His earliest and wildest claim was that SARS-Cov-2 was widely transmissible and risked becoming a global pandemic if swift action wasn’t taken This was in January 2020. Fortunately, top commentators leapt into action, determined his calculation of the R0 may have had some technical issues and in any event he didn’t have specific expertise in the area The matter resolved, we waited till March 2020

ldldlsosj 4y ago
[flagged]
skrause 4y ago
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. When you fearmonger just about anything some predictions might be somewhat correct, most aren't. Eric Feigl-Ding also claimed that monkeypox could be airborne [1] and would be the next big pandemic [2]. Both turned out not to be true. [1] https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1528804498084446210 https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1528804498084446210 [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/07/monkeypox-pandemic-who-emergency-covid/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/07/monkeypox...
- Izkata 4y ago
  > Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I'm sure most people here know variations of the phrase "economists predicted 11 of the last 2 recessions", it's talked about often enough. What they may not be aware of is the same is true of pandemics. Offhand I'm aware of 5 predicted in the past 15 years or so, 2 of which happened.
fidgewidge 4y ago
He just systematically over-states the risk of absolutely everything despite knowing nearly nothing about viruses. Other great Feigl-Ding takes: - If China doesn't control Omicron they'll suffer a "world of hurt" and it's "literally make or break". - "Danish political leaders have completely lost their frigging minds releasing all #COVID19 mitigations" and "this is what happens when a country's leaders gaslights its own citizens", talking about the end of restrictions at the start of 2022. - "New world record — More than 1,000 daily #monkeypox cases (7 days average). Those who said #MPXV would fizzle out soon are plain wrong. This fall school year will need radically new / more safety mitigations." - "In other news – Schools across England are reopening again today. No school mask requirements. No school air quality and ventilation guidelines – it is so dangerous that it is ‘medieval’ says Professor Alice Roberts. God save and its children from B117. COVID19." The guy is a Harvard epidemiologist, which means he knows nothing about disease and will constantly exaggerate any possible threat regardless of science or truth.
- alwillis 4y ago
  > The guy is a Harvard epidemiologist, which means he knows nothing about disease and will constantly exaggerate any possible threat regardless of science or truth. This seems totally uncalled for. Besides having a degree in Public Health, among others, he’s a cancer survivor. I’d say he knows a lot about diseases. Like it or not, to say his warning about Covid-19 three years ago was prescient is an understatement. Based on his bio, he seems more than credible: Dr. Feigl-Ding graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with Honors in Public Health and Phi Beta Kappa. He then completed his dual doctorate in epidemiology and his doctorate in nutrition, separately, as the youngest graduate to complete his double doctoral programs at age 23 from Harvard SPH. Next, concurrently with his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, he studied medicine at Boston University School of Medicine for several years, until he left BUSM to become faculty at Harvard Medical School. Teaching at Harvard for over 15 years, he has advised and mentored two dozen students and lectured in more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate courses, for which he received the Derek Bok Distinction in Teaching Award from Harvard College.
  - fidgewidge 4y ago

walterbell 4y ago

His twitter account is self-documenting, https://twitter.com/drericding https://twitter.com/drericding

torstenvl 4y ago

Someone who isn't a physician and doesn't have an MD, with DrName as their Twitter handle, shouting into the Internet abyss with caps, exclamations, and emojis. Oh boy.

ecf 4y ago

> I’ve never googled his name before writing this and the first Google suggestion is „Eric Feigl Ding fear mongerer“ What Google does or doesn’t return in autocomplete results is meaningless unless you also show the search history that backs those personalized autocompletions.

torstenvl 4y ago
Making insinuations that something is due to a personal characteristic of the person communicating about it is not generally accepted behavior on HN. It's a mild form of ad hominem attack, it suggests that someone is unreliable unless they make the discussion all about them and share the information you claim is required, and it generally makes for completely uninteresting and unedifying content. Please don't do that here.
- ecf 4y ago
  What are you even talking about?