6 ms·

> The subversion of scientific expertise to replace it with podcasters and political sycophants > The very concept of merit has been destroyed ... It's the su

by mmooss 4mo ago

> The subversion of scientific expertise to replace it with podcasters and political sycophants > The very concept of merit has been destroyed ... It's the subversion of truth. I think that way of saying it is more accurate, addresses the consequences, and is less occluded by jargon: People care about truth; 'scientific expertise' may seem esoteric to most people. I think HN is frequently part of that process: Merit - expertise, actual trials and evidence - is replaced both by sensational too-clever hot takes / takedowns, and by political/social advocacy. Most threads begin with a takedown, a 2 minute drive-by from an amatuer, often of years of research by someone spending their life studying the matter. For some issues, we all know what side many will take before you know any facts or evidence. These comments are normalized and given greater credibility than the OP and than valuable comments. How is that any different than the things we criticize (other than the FDA's subversion of truth [EDIT:] is far more consequential [sorry, I didn't finish that sentence!]) There are valuable comments to be found; maybe that's one difference, but I'm wonder how the signal-to-noise compares with other forums.

rho138 4mo ago
So you don’t agree with their point and saw fit to draw out a response that fingerpoints at the the side that’s over the intolerance of the non-scientifically bound members of society? Great high horse fam.
epistasis 4mo ago
How is discussion on HN different from the leadership levels at FDA? Very different. Decisions with enormous health implications, enormous financial implications, are made at FDA. At HN, most people are here to learn, here to understand more. Vinay Prasad is a fraud, completely unfit for the leadership role he was placed into, making baffling and arbitrary decisions on his own, overturning those with far more experience, knowledge and expertise. If a HN comment gets things wrong, a few people might be misinformed, if they are credulous enough to not double check things. When the FDA makes decisions like they have been making, thousands to millions of peoples' lives are worse off, and billions in capital is wasted. Discussion forums of all sorts are incredibly valuable, even when they get things wrong. I have lots of complaints about the overhyping of, say, CRISPR, especially on HN, but whatever, it's a far far higher signal-to-noise than a random person I meet around town. Mention you work on drug development for big pharma to the random person and they think you're evil, at least HN is less likely to have that basic misconception.
- naturalmovement 4mo ago
  Imagine being able to shut down discussion at the FDA because a few anonymous randos pushed a "flag" button when they saw something they disagreed with.
  - sieabahlpark 4mo ago
    [dead]
  - dlev_pika 4mo ago
    Apparently, the ‘fuck your feelings’ crowd DOES care about some ‘feelings’
    - epistasis 4mo ago
      They were actually clear about this, it's only your feelings that don't matter, not feelings in general. In their minds there are two classes of people, and all of politics and law is about establishing the hierarchy. For the in group, the law is meant to protect and not bind, and the out group for which the law exists to bind but not protect. It's clear in the language about "criminals" too. Actual convictions and clear corruption in the in group politicians? That's A-OK. An immigrant that is showing up for an official hearing? Time to be whisked away and treated with cruel and unusual punishment, whether or not their bureaucratic forms were filled out perfectly. (In particular I'm thinking of the immigration raid where South Korean professionals were helping to set up a battery factory and treated with chains as if they were violent criminals)
- Zhenya 4mo ago
  I’m curious why you claim he’s a fraud, I just learned about him from this thread.
  - epistasis 4mo ago
    Prasad, to the extent he had a reputation before, was for critiquing the scientific practice as inadequate, which would hope that he'd bring the idea of rigor to his stint at the FDA. Instead, we see quite the opposite: - This baffling Moderna decision, which is so bad that many in the industry assumed it was from a failed bribe solicitation - Linked in this article is the "truly evil" decision requiring sham brain surgery in the placebo arm for a Huntington Disease trial https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/06/truly-evil-fda-rejection-of-gene-therapy-overturned-after-trump-official-ousted/ https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/06/truly-evil-fda-reject... - Prasad holding a defamatory PR event about the company producing the HD candidate treatment, and only talking "on background" to hide his identity, which is sleazy and unethical "The criticism apparently struck a nerve with Prasad. The FDA held a press briefing later Thursday in which an unnamed “senior FDA official”—who identified himself as a hematology-oncologist—launched into a diatribe against UniQure, saying its “failed therapy” was supported by “distorted and manipulated” data. As for Woodcock’s comments, the official said he “expect[s] better” from her." https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/03/trumps-divisive-fda-vaccine-regulator-self-destructs-will-exit-agency-again/ https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/03/trumps-divisive-fda-v... - His first ouster and reinstatement last year, over a unilateral Duchenne muscular dystrophy decision, severely lacking in scientific rigor and analysis - Lied on his CV about being on a highly prestigious council he was not on (The Cancer Letter is not a random YouTube channel, it's high quality cancer research journalism) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCASAb7J-LE&t=41 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCASAb7J-LE&t=41 As is often the case with such contrarians and critics, their own critiques apply most aptly to themselves.

by mmooss 4mo ago

rho138 4mo ago

So you don’t agree with their point and saw fit to draw out a response that fingerpoints at the the side that’s over the intolerance of the non-scientifically bound members of society? Great high horse fam.

epistasis 4mo ago

How is discussion on HN different from the leadership levels at FDA? Very different. Decisions with enormous health implications, enormous financial implications, are made at FDA. At HN, most people are here to learn, here to understand more. Vinay Prasad is a fraud, completely unfit for the leadership role he was placed into, making baffling and arbitrary decisions on his own, overturning those with far more experience, knowledge and expertise. If a HN comment gets things wrong, a few people might be misinformed, if they are credulous enough to not double check things. When the FDA makes decisions like they have been making, thousands to millions of peoples' lives are worse off, and billions in capital is wasted. Discussion forums of all sorts are incredibly valuable, even when they get things wrong. I have lots of complaints about the overhyping of, say, CRISPR, especially on HN, but whatever, it's a far far higher signal-to-noise than a random person I meet around town. Mention you work on drug development for big pharma to the random person and they think you're evil, at least HN is less likely to have that basic misconception.

naturalmovement 4mo ago
Imagine being able to shut down discussion at the FDA because a few anonymous randos pushed a "flag" button when they saw something they disagreed with.
- sieabahlpark 4mo ago
  [dead]
- dlev_pika 4mo ago
  Apparently, the ‘fuck your feelings’ crowd DOES care about some ‘feelings’
  - epistasis 4mo ago
    They were actually clear about this, it's only your feelings that don't matter, not feelings in general. In their minds there are two classes of people, and all of politics and law is about establishing the hierarchy. For the in group, the law is meant to protect and not bind, and the out group for which the law exists to bind but not protect. It's clear in the language about "criminals" too. Actual convictions and clear corruption in the in group politicians? That's A-OK. An immigrant that is showing up for an official hearing? Time to be whisked away and treated with cruel and unusual punishment, whether or not their bureaucratic forms were filled out perfectly. (In particular I'm thinking of the immigration raid where South Korean professionals were helping to set up a battery factory and treated with chains as if they were violent criminals)
Zhenya 4mo ago
I’m curious why you claim he’s a fraud, I just learned about him from this thread.
- epistasis 4mo ago
  Prasad, to the extent he had a reputation before, was for critiquing the scientific practice as inadequate, which would hope that he'd bring the idea of rigor to his stint at the FDA. Instead, we see quite the opposite: - This baffling Moderna decision, which is so bad that many in the industry assumed it was from a failed bribe solicitation - Linked in this article is the "truly evil" decision requiring sham brain surgery in the placebo arm for a Huntington Disease trial https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/06/truly-evil-fda-rejection-of-gene-therapy-overturned-after-trump-official-ousted/ https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/06/truly-evil-fda-reject... - Prasad holding a defamatory PR event about the company producing the HD candidate treatment, and only talking "on background" to hide his identity, which is sleazy and unethical "The criticism apparently struck a nerve with Prasad. The FDA held a press briefing later Thursday in which an unnamed “senior FDA official”—who identified himself as a hematology-oncologist—launched into a diatribe against UniQure, saying its “failed therapy” was supported by “distorted and manipulated” data. As for Woodcock’s comments, the official said he “expect[s] better” from her." https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/03/trumps-divisive-fda-vaccine-regulator-self-destructs-will-exit-agency-again/ https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/03/trumps-divisive-fda-v... - His first ouster and reinstatement last year, over a unilateral Duchenne muscular dystrophy decision, severely lacking in scientific rigor and analysis - Lied on his CV about being on a highly prestigious council he was not on (The Cancer Letter is not a random YouTube channel, it's high quality cancer research journalism) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCASAb7J-LE&t=41 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCASAb7J-LE&t=41 As is often the case with such contrarians and critics, their own critiques apply most aptly to themselves.