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Medical history, even recent, is full of cases where the accepted truth turned out to be false and those who spoke out against it to have the truth be known wou

Medical history, even recent, is full of cases where the accepted truth turned out to be false and those who spoke out against it to have the truth be known would have been persecuted by the believers in the incumbent truth.

lesuorac 2y ago
My favorite example being germ theory [1]. Granted, he went over the top (claiming all infant mortality was from cadaverous particles) a bit like some who claim Covid was a lab-leak from a Chinese bio-weapon; if you just stop at the lab-leak part you have a decent claim, the bio-weapon is what tanks your argument. But it's not like doctors started washing their hands despite his evidence of mortality dropping from 18% to 2%. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease#Ignaz_Semmelweis,_Austria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease#Ignaz_S...
- ThunderSizzle 2y ago
  Meh. Based on the way the CIA and the intelligence apparatus of the country reacted, they probably though it was a bioweapon bubonic plague level event. Of course, it wasn't, and it became quite apparent very fast, but it was an election year, so a lot of Democrats went on to ignore basic facts as misinformation.
deepsun 2y ago
Sorry but your agument is a perfect example of Asimov's "spherical earth fallacy" [1]: > My answer to him was, "John, when people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together." I.e. there's no medical protocol that tells doctor to prescribe unproven "accepted truth", at least not in important areas. It's way different to tell someone to ingest dangerous chemical compounds that were not even designed for medical purposes. [1] https://mvellend.recherche.usherbrooke.ca/Asimov_anglosaboteurs.pdf https://mvellend.recherche.usherbrooke.ca/Asimov_anglosabote...

lesuorac 2y ago

My favorite example being germ theory [1]. Granted, he went over the top (claiming all infant mortality was from cadaverous particles) a bit like some who claim Covid was a lab-leak from a Chinese bio-weapon; if you just stop at the lab-leak part you have a decent claim, the bio-weapon is what tanks your argument. But it's not like doctors started washing their hands despite his evidence of mortality dropping from 18% to 2%. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease#Ignaz_Semmelweis,_Austria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease#Ignaz_S...

ThunderSizzle 2y ago
Meh. Based on the way the CIA and the intelligence apparatus of the country reacted, they probably though it was a bioweapon bubonic plague level event. Of course, it wasn't, and it became quite apparent very fast, but it was an election year, so a lot of Democrats went on to ignore basic facts as misinformation.

deepsun 2y ago

Sorry but your agument is a perfect example of Asimov's "spherical earth fallacy" [1]: > My answer to him was, "John, when people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together." I.e. there's no medical protocol that tells doctor to prescribe unproven "accepted truth", at least not in important areas. It's way different to tell someone to ingest dangerous chemical compounds that were not even designed for medical purposes. [1] https://mvellend.recherche.usherbrooke.ca/Asimov_anglosaboteurs.pdf https://mvellend.recherche.usherbrooke.ca/Asimov_anglosabote...