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Even today, you don't have to be an expert all low level details to have a non idiotic opinion on COVID. A little kindness, compassion and common sense is suffi
by jupp0r 4y ago
Even today, you don't have to be an expert all low level details to have a non idiotic opinion on COVID. A little kindness, compassion and common sense is sufficient.
- epgui 4y agoI broadly agree, but careful because IMO "common sense" is very much a trap-concept. It's how we usually convince ourselves that our preconceived ideas are right. If science teaches us anything, it's to be very wary of that. Elon is right about one thing: the value of reasoning by first principles! :)
- godelski 4y ago> IMO "common sense" is very much a trap-concept. It's how we usually convince ourselves that our preconceived ideas are right. To add more to this, I would argue that our tendency to oversimplify subjects is a large part of many of the issues we face today. Important to remember that first principle reasoning is not the same as first order thinking. Most of the problems we face today are deceptively complex (appear simple on the surface but aren't) and first order approximations aren't good enough and can actually lead you away from a solution rather than towards. First principle thinking does require you to reevaluate your assumptions as well as constantly having serious doubt (challenging your own ideas).
- figassis 4y agoTo me, common sense should always be derived from first principles, and there should be legally required that every concept/argument be also decomposable and provable from first principles. Things/concepts should only become common sense after being battle tested socially for 1+ generations. Your parents teach you common sense and there is a paper trail to that common sense's origin. You don't get to create new "common sense" without doing the hard work.
- ben_w 4y agoCongratulations on your novel definition of "common sense", however if it takes a generation of socially battle testing a thing to become common sense, you've excluded e.g. "people have smart phones".
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- monero-xmr 4y agoAh yes, “10 Days to Stop the Spread.” The memories of the common sense foisted on me…
- epgui 4y agoSo this is pretty close to my area of expertise. It would have been totally feasible to completely stop the thing in a matter of weeks. This thing did not have an outrageously high R_0, and we knew enough in March 2020 to stop the spread. However, that would have required very decisive/heavy-handed and coordinated action across the world. This did not happen, and so there was no stopping the thing.
- monero-xmr 4y agoI don’t believe a single country on earth stopped the spread, even China succumbed after wounding their economy for years
- epgui 4y agoInfectious diseases spread. If one country is doing all the right things but not enough other countries are, then that country doing all the right things won't be able to stop the spread on its own, even within its geography. That's normal and to be expected. This is why I said coordinated action was required: I didn't say that for no reason.
- monero-xmr 4y ago[flagged]
- epgui 4y agoLet's not go down this tangent please. If you genuinely want to discuss this honestly (I am skeptical, but prove me wrong), we should do it in a more appropriate forum / context.
- 4y ago
- colechristensen 4y agoNope, I think the vast majority of opinions on covid have been idiotic, driven by groupthink, and are very much in need of low level knowledge. Humans are quite bad at evaluating low risks, comparing low risks, and balancing individual freedoms vs group good. The default position of most people was that authorities should use force to make everyone conform to one position. Truthfulness, knowledge of statistics, and the ability to change positions based on new incoming information were severely lacking. Most people picked a team and fought for it relentlessly.