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"If he doesn't believe exactly what I believe then he's not a True Scotsman." I'm not going to scan every word the man has ever said or written to defend again

by timr 1y ago

"If he doesn't believe exactly what I believe then he's not a True Scotsman." I'm not going to scan every word the man has ever said or written to defend against the assertions you're just throwing out there without proof, but "talking about masking" is not a thought crime, and talking critically about our reaction to Covid is something that should be within the scope of reasonable conversation on the left. Also, no, he doesn't want to defund mRNA research. You're talking about Kennedy.

rcpt 1y ago
Alright you don't have to "scan every word" but at least read a little bit about the guy https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/yes-mrna-vaccine-science-should-be https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/yes-mrna-vaccine-science-sho...
- timr 1y ago
  Did you read it? It doesn't say what you think it says. To wit: he says that the mRNA cancer vaccines are a scientific dead end, that the existing mRNA vaccines' research can be funded by industry, there are good alternatives, and that the technology has been tainted in the public mind. Therefore he supports de-prioritizing the public research. None of these arguments can be characterized as "wants to defund mRNA research". As someone who largely agrees with all of those points, if you came to me tomorrow and said "here's a promising new application for mRNA technology that industry won't support", then I'd consider funding it. I'm so sick of people treating nuanced arguments like bingo cards.
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    > To wit: he says that the mRNA cancer vaccines are a scientific dead end, that the existing mRNA vaccines' research can be funded by industry, there are good alternatives, and that the technology has been tainted in the public mind. Therefore he supports de-prioritizing the research. > None of these arguments can be characterized as "wants to defund mRNA research". If I said "paying our mortgage is a dead-end, someone else can fund it, there are good alternatives to paying it, and therefore I'm de-prioritizing paying it"… Would "I'm defunding our mortgage" be a substantially accurate summary of my position? (Yes.)
    - timr 1y ago
      Defunding == "taking all the money away". Deprioritizing == "giving priority to something else". It isn't hard to be nuanced. Particularly in this case, when you realize that the manufacturers of the mRNA Covid vaccines have made literally billions of dollars with which to do research.
      - ceejayoz 1y ago
        > It isn't hard to be nuanced. It takes a lot of effort to find that much nuance. The nuanced description for your position is "a pretty huge stretch".
        timr 1y ago
        It's literally the definitions of the words.
        ceejayoz 1y ago
        Look who's suddenly struggling with nuance now. Deprioritizing something enough becomes defunding pretty fast. Like that five year old JIRA ticket that no one bothers with.
        timr 1y ago
        > Deprioritizing something enough becomes defunding pretty fast. And right there, you acknowledge the difference. Have a nice day.
        ceejayoz 1y ago
        > And right there, you acknowledge the difference. "I'm not murdering you, I'm just doing a very, very large blood draw!" Do you find people fall for this often?
        deleted 1y ago
  - anthem2025 1y ago
    I’d characterize it as someone who wants to defund mRNA research, because that’s literally what you said he wants to do. But I’m not a fascist trying to justify the total destruction of the CDC anti-vaxxer dipshits.
const_cast 1y ago
Oh, here's comes the "repeating what Republicans say right back to their face is literally 1984!!1!" people...
anigbrowl 1y ago
Why didn't you apply this level of analysis to the parent claim (without evidence) that 'Prasad is a bay area liberal' as if everyone in the bay area had the same political views? You're very pedantic and argumentative on multiple threads, but your pedantry only seems to run in one direction.
- timr 1y ago
  > Why didn't you apply this level of analysis to the parent claim (without evidence) that 'Prasad is a bay area liberal' I posted evidence: there was a Wall-Street Journal editorial calling Prasad a liberal. He was attacked by the right for being a leftist. It's all extremely well-documented. It just wasn't enough of an ideological purity test for you, I suppose. I'm sorry that I can't post a binary dump of the man's brain. (I've also personally listened to dozens of hours of the podcasts, so I know very well where he stands. You're more than welcome to do the same, since it's all out there -- don't take my word for it.) > as if everyone in the bay area had the same political views? You're very pedantic and argumentative on multiple threads, but your pedantry only seems to run in one direction. That's the weirdest way of saying "you defend your argument" that I think I've ever seen. Thanks?
  - anigbrowl 1y ago
    I posted evidence: there was a Wall-Street Journal editorial calling Prasad a liberal That answer doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because I was asking you about a reaction to someone else's claim. That's the weirdest way of saying "you defend your argument" that I think I've ever seen. Thanks? It's not a compliment. Axe-grinding doesn't make for good discussion, and you seem far more reliant on rhetoric than would be needed if you just explained your point of view up front. It's getting into sealioning territory.

by timr 1y ago

rcpt 1y ago

Alright you don't have to "scan every word" but at least read a little bit about the guy https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/yes-mrna-vaccine-science-should-be https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/yes-mrna-vaccine-science-sho...

timr 1y ago
Did you read it? It doesn't say what you think it says. To wit: he says that the mRNA cancer vaccines are a scientific dead end, that the existing mRNA vaccines' research can be funded by industry, there are good alternatives, and that the technology has been tainted in the public mind. Therefore he supports de-prioritizing the public research. None of these arguments can be characterized as "wants to defund mRNA research". As someone who largely agrees with all of those points, if you came to me tomorrow and said "here's a promising new application for mRNA technology that industry won't support", then I'd consider funding it. I'm so sick of people treating nuanced arguments like bingo cards.
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  > To wit: he says that the mRNA cancer vaccines are a scientific dead end, that the existing mRNA vaccines' research can be funded by industry, there are good alternatives, and that the technology has been tainted in the public mind. Therefore he supports de-prioritizing the research. > None of these arguments can be characterized as "wants to defund mRNA research". If I said "paying our mortgage is a dead-end, someone else can fund it, there are good alternatives to paying it, and therefore I'm de-prioritizing paying it"… Would "I'm defunding our mortgage" be a substantially accurate summary of my position? (Yes.)
  - timr 1y ago
    Defunding == "taking all the money away". Deprioritizing == "giving priority to something else". It isn't hard to be nuanced. Particularly in this case, when you realize that the manufacturers of the mRNA Covid vaccines have made literally billions of dollars with which to do research.
    - ceejayoz 1y ago
      > It isn't hard to be nuanced. It takes a lot of effort to find that much nuance. The nuanced description for your position is "a pretty huge stretch".
      - timr 1y ago
        It's literally the definitions of the words.
        ceejayoz 1y ago
        Look who's suddenly struggling with nuance now. Deprioritizing something enough becomes defunding pretty fast. Like that five year old JIRA ticket that no one bothers with.
        timr 1y ago
        > Deprioritizing something enough becomes defunding pretty fast. And right there, you acknowledge the difference. Have a nice day.
        ceejayoz 1y ago
        > And right there, you acknowledge the difference. "I'm not murdering you, I'm just doing a very, very large blood draw!" Do you find people fall for this often?
        deleted 1y ago
- anthem2025 1y ago
  I’d characterize it as someone who wants to defund mRNA research, because that’s literally what you said he wants to do. But I’m not a fascist trying to justify the total destruction of the CDC anti-vaxxer dipshits.

const_cast 1y ago

Oh, here's comes the "repeating what Republicans say right back to their face is literally 1984!!1!" people...

anigbrowl 1y ago

Why didn't you apply this level of analysis to the parent claim (without evidence) that 'Prasad is a bay area liberal' as if everyone in the bay area had the same political views? You're very pedantic and argumentative on multiple threads, but your pedantry only seems to run in one direction.

timr 1y ago
> Why didn't you apply this level of analysis to the parent claim (without evidence) that 'Prasad is a bay area liberal' I posted evidence: there was a Wall-Street Journal editorial calling Prasad a liberal. He was attacked by the right for being a leftist. It's all extremely well-documented. It just wasn't enough of an ideological purity test for you, I suppose. I'm sorry that I can't post a binary dump of the man's brain. (I've also personally listened to dozens of hours of the podcasts, so I know very well where he stands. You're more than welcome to do the same, since it's all out there -- don't take my word for it.) > as if everyone in the bay area had the same political views? You're very pedantic and argumentative on multiple threads, but your pedantry only seems to run in one direction. That's the weirdest way of saying "you defend your argument" that I think I've ever seen. Thanks?
- anigbrowl 1y ago
  I posted evidence: there was a Wall-Street Journal editorial calling Prasad a liberal That answer doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because I was asking you about a reaction to someone else's claim. That's the weirdest way of saying "you defend your argument" that I think I've ever seen. Thanks? It's not a compliment. Axe-grinding doesn't make for good discussion, and you seem far more reliant on rhetoric than would be needed if you just explained your point of view up front. It's getting into sealioning territory.