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> attempting to silence anyone who tried to debate or question what was being purported as scientific fact or properly run scientific studies Was this more tha

> attempting to silence anyone who tried to debate or question what was being purported as scientific fact or properly run scientific studies Was this more than just trying to get non-knowledgeable people to stop spreading rumours and lies? It makes complete sense to not be sucked into debate with people who base their ideas on YouTube videos, but dismissing actual research out of hand is foolish (unless that research is deliberately trying to push a single narrative such as the tobacco companies funding and directing research into the health effects of cigarettes).

_heimdall 2y ago
The lab leak hypothesis is an easy example. There were career scientists raising the concern that the virus may have leaked from a lab rather than a wet market. Fauci and those close to him made a point to shut them down and effectively demonize the idea of even raising such a concern. None of that had to do with YouTube.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
  The lab leak hypothesis was highly politicised, but that's likely due to the international blame game that would arise from publishing too much speculation on the origin of the outbreak. That seems prudent to not be stirring up trouble unnecessarily. I can't see any similar rationalisation with lying about the NASA missions.
  - _heimdall 2y ago
    And you just shined a light on the slippery slope of lying in politics. Its impossible to draw a line between what is a "reasonable" or "rational" lie when its so heavily tied to one's opinions. Its never going to happen, but the only reasonable solution in my view is for them to always tell the truth. Maybe they can't always tell the whole truth, but the bar should be that whatever they say is as factually accurate as they can be with what they know at the time.
    - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
      If it's opinion based, then it's trickier to pin it down to being either truth or lie, but if the opinion goes against the opinion of knowledgeable experts then I think that should be communicated too so that people can make a more informed judgement. When the lies are about matters of fact, then politicians should be held to a similar standard as advertisers i.e. not allowed to just push completely false narratives without some consequence. Unfortunately it appears that the U.S. administration is frequently lying about factual issues such as with the NASA mission.

_heimdall 2y ago

The lab leak hypothesis is an easy example. There were career scientists raising the concern that the virus may have leaked from a lab rather than a wet market. Fauci and those close to him made a point to shut them down and effectively demonize the idea of even raising such a concern. None of that had to do with YouTube.

ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
The lab leak hypothesis was highly politicised, but that's likely due to the international blame game that would arise from publishing too much speculation on the origin of the outbreak. That seems prudent to not be stirring up trouble unnecessarily. I can't see any similar rationalisation with lying about the NASA missions.
- _heimdall 2y ago
  And you just shined a light on the slippery slope of lying in politics. Its impossible to draw a line between what is a "reasonable" or "rational" lie when its so heavily tied to one's opinions. Its never going to happen, but the only reasonable solution in my view is for them to always tell the truth. Maybe they can't always tell the whole truth, but the bar should be that whatever they say is as factually accurate as they can be with what they know at the time.
  - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
    If it's opinion based, then it's trickier to pin it down to being either truth or lie, but if the opinion goes against the opinion of knowledgeable experts then I think that should be communicated too so that people can make a more informed judgement. When the lies are about matters of fact, then politicians should be held to a similar standard as advertisers i.e. not allowed to just push completely false narratives without some consequence. Unfortunately it appears that the U.S. administration is frequently lying about factual issues such as with the NASA mission.