7 ms·

You can read about the 1918 'Spanish' Flu, but you think "we're smarter now". etc. Interesting how this quote can be interpreted in fully opposite ways dependi

You can read about the 1918 'Spanish' Flu, but you think "we're smarter now". etc. Interesting how this quote can be interpreted in fully opposite ways depending on what "side" you were on during covid

dylan604 1y ago
I think COVID proved we're not smarter now in multiple ways and from either side. Human nature is a weird thing that we clearly are still grasping to understand
- digdugdirk 1y ago
  "Either side"? The virus or humanity?
  - dgunay 1y ago
    We had the technology to push out a vaccine in less than a year. Modern medicine is of course smarter than it was a century ago. What went poorly is our society's collective response. From the medical and governmental establishment, there was much hemming and hawing over what measures to take for way too long (masking, distancing, closing of public spaces, etc). Taking _any_ countermeasures against the spread of the virus also somehow became a culture war issue. I'm assuming GP meant "left or right" by "either side" so make of that what you will.
    - ttoinou 1y ago
      Yeah but, at least in my bubble in Europe, being for or against covid measures had little to do with left or right. It was about listening to mainstream media or having alternative source of information
      - FridayoLeary 1y ago
        I followed the mainstream media exclusively and still realised immediately that nobody actually had a clue what they were doing. My trust in MSM died then. Most alternative sources are even less reliable but i believe spreading a wider net gives me a better judgement. Whatever you do, don't exclusively outsource your opinions and judgement to the MSM. Too often they take up the same wrong narratives. This is easier said then done. Read the opinions and news even from people you despise and be honest with yourself.
        thrwaway55 1y ago
        Try to participate in any government...went to a town hall in a US city and both the company I worked for and unions were having people hold spots in line for FIFO comments body swapping for 'natural' opinion people. Media didn't report on it...ruined any trust I had in them.
      - whackernews 1y ago
        [flagged]
    - alex1138 1y ago
      [flagged]
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
      - robrenaud 1y ago
        But being wrong can cause downvotes.
        alex1138 1y ago
        [flagged]
        account42 1y ago
        Popularity doesn't determine fact. If you cared about science instead of The Science you'd know that.
      - AdieuToLogic 1y ago
        > All (virtually all, it's not hyperbole) of the "misinformation" during covid turned out not to be that at all > There was no science behind social distancing, or masks, or the (so called, it's not an actual one) vaccine These assertions are provably wrong. Regarding "social distancing" specifically: There was adequate empirical evidence for the effect of social distancing at the individual level, and for partial or full lockdown at the community level. However, at the level of social settings, the evidence was moderate for school closure, and was limited for workplace/business closures as single targeted interventions.[0] As to the science behind "masks" and "vaccines", the former can be trivially shown to limit the distance of oral particulate expulsion and the latter has enough published medical research to make verifying vaccine efficacy a matter of accepting facts. > Edit: I would like to remind people that downvotes do not, and never will, make me wrong It is not the downvotes which make you wrong. 0 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9002256/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9002256/
    - alex1138 1y ago
      I don't think "push out a vaccine in less than a year" is such a good flex especially when they also demonized and rigged the studies of the alternative drugs that must not be named Fauci himself was known to say that vaccine development takes at least 5-10 years or something like that (and never mind the fact we had Event 201, that the virus contains code BY MODERNA) or else all hell breaks loose (he was also known to say masks aren't effective)
  - collingreen 1y ago
    I wish it was as simple as this :(
- cryptonector 1y ago
  This comment too can be interpreted either way. Well done, I guess.
ndsipa_pomu 1y ago
> depending on what "side" you were on during covid It's bizarre that there should be "sides" for how to deal with a public health issue. I can understand differing approaches, but it's the extreme polarisation that flabbergasts me.
- kazinator 1y ago
  If you don't want there to be sides during a pandemic, you have to engineer the pathogen such that it causes every infected person to melt in a puddle of grease with near 100% probability in about a week, with near 100% probability of transmission via any casual contact with infected persons at any stage of their infection. You just watch everyone scramble to the same side!
  - whackernews 1y ago
    And look. The government doesn’t have to do anything!
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
  - cryptonector 1y ago
    > If you don't want there to be sides during a pandemic, you have to engineer the pathogen such that it [...] Interesting phrase. "Engineer the pathogen".
  - motorest 1y ago
    > If you don't want there to be sides during a pandemic, (...) Why do you believe a pandemic has sides?
    - kazinator 1y ago
      I believe it was recently observed.

dylan604 1y ago

I think COVID proved we're not smarter now in multiple ways and from either side. Human nature is a weird thing that we clearly are still grasping to understand

digdugdirk 1y ago
"Either side"? The virus or humanity?
- dgunay 1y ago
  We had the technology to push out a vaccine in less than a year. Modern medicine is of course smarter than it was a century ago. What went poorly is our society's collective response. From the medical and governmental establishment, there was much hemming and hawing over what measures to take for way too long (masking, distancing, closing of public spaces, etc). Taking _any_ countermeasures against the spread of the virus also somehow became a culture war issue. I'm assuming GP meant "left or right" by "either side" so make of that what you will.
  - ttoinou 1y ago
    Yeah but, at least in my bubble in Europe, being for or against covid measures had little to do with left or right. It was about listening to mainstream media or having alternative source of information
    - FridayoLeary 1y ago
      I followed the mainstream media exclusively and still realised immediately that nobody actually had a clue what they were doing. My trust in MSM died then. Most alternative sources are even less reliable but i believe spreading a wider net gives me a better judgement. Whatever you do, don't exclusively outsource your opinions and judgement to the MSM. Too often they take up the same wrong narratives. This is easier said then done. Read the opinions and news even from people you despise and be honest with yourself.
      - thrwaway55 1y ago
        Try to participate in any government...went to a town hall in a US city and both the company I worked for and unions were having people hold spots in line for FIFO comments body swapping for 'natural' opinion people. Media didn't report on it...ruined any trust I had in them.
    - whackernews 1y ago
      [flagged]
  - alex1138 1y ago
    [flagged]
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - robrenaud 1y ago
      But being wrong can cause downvotes.
      - alex1138 1y ago
        [flagged]
      - account42 1y ago
        Popularity doesn't determine fact. If you cared about science instead of The Science you'd know that.
    - AdieuToLogic 1y ago
      > All (virtually all, it's not hyperbole) of the "misinformation" during covid turned out not to be that at all > There was no science behind social distancing, or masks, or the (so called, it's not an actual one) vaccine These assertions are provably wrong. Regarding "social distancing" specifically: There was adequate empirical evidence for the effect of social distancing at the individual level, and for partial or full lockdown at the community level. However, at the level of social settings, the evidence was moderate for school closure, and was limited for workplace/business closures as single targeted interventions.[0] As to the science behind "masks" and "vaccines", the former can be trivially shown to limit the distance of oral particulate expulsion and the latter has enough published medical research to make verifying vaccine efficacy a matter of accepting facts. > Edit: I would like to remind people that downvotes do not, and never will, make me wrong It is not the downvotes which make you wrong. 0 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9002256/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9002256/
  - alex1138 1y ago
    I don't think "push out a vaccine in less than a year" is such a good flex especially when they also demonized and rigged the studies of the alternative drugs that must not be named Fauci himself was known to say that vaccine development takes at least 5-10 years or something like that (and never mind the fact we had Event 201, that the virus contains code BY MODERNA) or else all hell breaks loose (he was also known to say masks aren't effective)
- collingreen 1y ago
  I wish it was as simple as this :(
cryptonector 1y ago
This comment too can be interpreted either way. Well done, I guess.

ndsipa_pomu 1y ago

> depending on what "side" you were on during covid It's bizarre that there should be "sides" for how to deal with a public health issue. I can understand differing approaches, but it's the extreme polarisation that flabbergasts me.

kazinator 1y ago
If you don't want there to be sides during a pandemic, you have to engineer the pathogen such that it causes every infected person to melt in a puddle of grease with near 100% probability in about a week, with near 100% probability of transmission via any casual contact with infected persons at any stage of their infection. You just watch everyone scramble to the same side!
- whackernews 1y ago
  And look. The government doesn’t have to do anything!
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- cryptonector 1y ago
  > If you don't want there to be sides during a pandemic, you have to engineer the pathogen such that it [...] Interesting phrase. "Engineer the pathogen".
- motorest 1y ago
  > If you don't want there to be sides during a pandemic, (...) Why do you believe a pandemic has sides?
  - kazinator 1y ago
    I believe it was recently observed.