5 ms·

Her non-physics videos tend to be a bit off, but not terrible; on the whole, they're still reasonably well-researched and educational. Where she really gets in

Her non-physics videos tend to be a bit off, but not terrible; on the whole, they're still reasonably well-researched and educational. Where she really gets into trouble is farther out into the social sciences. I think she should be much more careful there. I don't want her to stop, I just want her to be more careful! An interesting example is one of her two videos on transgenderism. It had an absolutely appalling both-sidesing intro that literally called people who crazy who are just concerned about suicide rates among trans people. The contents of the video were actually pretty reasonable, although she messed up a few key interpretations so that some parts ended up being misleading. I don't think she's transphobic, but on an issue like this I think a bit more care needs to be taken. More recently she had a piece on capitalism that was incredibly anemic. I think she tried to bite off more than she could chew (for a 20 minute video) and so she kind of missed the entire "what are the problems" side of the topic, even while laying out some reubttals to common statements. I feel like she'd have done better than that on a more close-to-home topic. (Her physics videos are of course fantastic.)

kiba 3y ago
I think it's important to increase our range on our knowledge. You aren't always going to have an expert's opinion to evaluate every piece of information coming at you, and there's only so much that an authoritative source can do for you. Now, making videos on topics outside of your expertise? That's a dangerous minefield, but there are ways to approach it. For example, there's whole youtube channels to taking on challenges and learning new stuff.
grebel 3y ago
> An interesting example is one of her two videos on transgenderism. It had an absolutely appalling both-sidesing intro that literally called people who crazy who are just concerned about suicide rates among trans people. This was what she actually said in the introduction to that video: "Should transgender teens transition? This rather personal question occupies a prominent place in the American culture war. One the one side you have people claiming that it’s a socially contagious fad among the brainwashed woke who want to mutilate your innocent children. On the other side there are those saying that it’s saving the lives of minorities who’ve been forced to stay in the closet for too long. And then there are normal people, like you and I, who think both sides are crazy and could someone please summarise the facts in simple words, which is what I’m here for. So what’s going on?" What's objectionable about that? Sounds quite fair to me.
- s1gnp0st 3y ago
  The only thing objectionable is the soi-disant left making a religion of erasing gender-nonconforming people with medical interventions that don't work.
  - howinteresting 3y ago
    https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/new-randomized-trial-shows-trans https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/new-randomized-trial-show...
    - s1gnp0st 3y ago
      N=31, okay. By work, I mean the surgical procedures do not produce body parts that reliably perform the intended function. In one case, the hole closes. In the other, the arm-sausage rots off. This comment section is full of people afraid of their HR departments, not people considering the actual outcome of the procedures.
      - howinteresting 3y ago
        Better to remain silent, etc.
- dzhiurgis 3y ago
  If you are from very polarised place then just about everyone is called crazy because opinions are approaching boolean type.
- howinteresting 3y ago
  "On the other side there are those saying that it’s saving the lives of minorities who’ve been forced to stay in the closet for too long. And then there are normal people, like you and I, who think both sides are crazy" I think this fragment speaks for itself. It is not "crazy" to care about suicide rates or suicidal ideation. It is "crazy" to not care about that.
  - 3y ago
howinteresting 3y ago
This is a plague among high-IQ people like physicists, quant people and engineers (speaking as someone who has consistently tested 2.5-3 standard deviations above the population average). They're good at pattern matching which is rewarding in those fields but think they can just think through areas outside their expertise without engaging with the literature.
- VirusNewbie 3y ago
  Well, in terms of Covid-19, data scientists and programmers did a much better job than epidemiologists at predicting spread and infection rate.

kiba 3y ago

I think it's important to increase our range on our knowledge. You aren't always going to have an expert's opinion to evaluate every piece of information coming at you, and there's only so much that an authoritative source can do for you. Now, making videos on topics outside of your expertise? That's a dangerous minefield, but there are ways to approach it. For example, there's whole youtube channels to taking on challenges and learning new stuff.

grebel 3y ago

> An interesting example is one of her two videos on transgenderism. It had an absolutely appalling both-sidesing intro that literally called people who crazy who are just concerned about suicide rates among trans people. This was what she actually said in the introduction to that video: "Should transgender teens transition? This rather personal question occupies a prominent place in the American culture war. One the one side you have people claiming that it’s a socially contagious fad among the brainwashed woke who want to mutilate your innocent children. On the other side there are those saying that it’s saving the lives of minorities who’ve been forced to stay in the closet for too long. And then there are normal people, like you and I, who think both sides are crazy and could someone please summarise the facts in simple words, which is what I’m here for. So what’s going on?" What's objectionable about that? Sounds quite fair to me.

s1gnp0st 3y ago
The only thing objectionable is the soi-disant left making a religion of erasing gender-nonconforming people with medical interventions that don't work.
- howinteresting 3y ago
  https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/new-randomized-trial-shows-trans https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/new-randomized-trial-show...
  - s1gnp0st 3y ago
    N=31, okay. By work, I mean the surgical procedures do not produce body parts that reliably perform the intended function. In one case, the hole closes. In the other, the arm-sausage rots off. This comment section is full of people afraid of their HR departments, not people considering the actual outcome of the procedures.
    - howinteresting 3y ago
      Better to remain silent, etc.
dzhiurgis 3y ago
If you are from very polarised place then just about everyone is called crazy because opinions are approaching boolean type.
howinteresting 3y ago
"On the other side there are those saying that it’s saving the lives of minorities who’ve been forced to stay in the closet for too long. And then there are normal people, like you and I, who think both sides are crazy" I think this fragment speaks for itself. It is not "crazy" to care about suicide rates or suicidal ideation. It is "crazy" to not care about that.
- 3y ago

howinteresting 3y ago

This is a plague among high-IQ people like physicists, quant people and engineers (speaking as someone who has consistently tested 2.5-3 standard deviations above the population average). They're good at pattern matching which is rewarding in those fields but think they can just think through areas outside their expertise without engaging with the literature.

VirusNewbie 3y ago
Well, in terms of Covid-19, data scientists and programmers did a much better job than epidemiologists at predicting spread and infection rate.