Oso planning to go pro
ForgetfulPeople want definitive answers and want them immediately - they don’t have a basic understanding of how science works. Thanks to you, Dano and others for keeping us on track.
That is an interesting insight Lenny. It reminds me of a recent article which includes your thought as well as insight into both the anti-science, anti-education, common-sense-is-greater-than-facts unhinged screeds from guru and rocket's constant railing about experts.https://thebulwark.com/trump-covid-19-and-the-american-idiocracy/“The war on academia bleeds into a war on the very idea of expertise,” writes Zack Beauchamp in Vox. Scapegoating experts as the enemies of ordinary people has polarized perceptions of learning itself, instilling a belief “that liberal elites are conning you, that they’re less competent than an ordinary person. . . . The very idea of nonpartisan knowledge production is obliterated.”<snip>Tom Nichols, the conservative academic who teaches at the U.S. Naval War College, addressed this phenomenon in his 2017 book The Death of Expertise. Too many Americans, Nichols argues, prefer magical thinking to the fruits of education or experience. A primary cause is that the complexity of modern life engenders feelings of helplessness among those who feel threatened by increasingly unfathomable forces—and the sophisticated experts who propound them.”<snip>”This devolution is particularly acute in shaping our views about politics, decoupling our biases and delusions from the need for objective verification. In this swampland of subjectivity, beliefs justify themselves simply by existing, creating a thickening fog of incomprehension wherein expertise competes with bunk. The result is a pernicious intellectual populism in which anyone’s opinion, no matter how groundless, is equal to those rooted in assiduous research and analyses. All one needs to validate an assertion is to express it.Little wonder that an increasing number of Republicans—59 percent, per a 2019 Pew Research survey—believe that colleges and universities have a negative effect on American life. This attitude, in turn, accelerates a craving for simple answers, and a resentment of those who refute them. Writes Nichols: “When people are told that ending poverty or preventing terrorism or stimulating economic growth is a lot harder than it looks, they roll their eyes. Unable to comprehend all the complexity around them, they choose instead to comprehend almost none of it and then sullenly blame elites for seizing control of their lives.”
Well, that was quick. The WHO expert is already walking back her comments on asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 being rare ...https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/world/coronavirus-updates.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20200609&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=headline®i_id=108420427&segment_id=30445&user_id=d36dcf821462fdd16ec3636710a855faA top expert at the World Health Organization on Tuesday walked back her earlier assertion that transmission of the coronavirus by people who do not have symptoms is “very rare.” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, who made the original comment at a W.H.O. briefing on Monday, said that it was based on just two or three studies and that it was a “misunderstanding” to say asymptomatic transmission is rare globally.“I was just responding to a question, I wasn’t stating a policy of W.H.O. or anything like that,” she said.Dr. Van Kerkhove said that the estimates of transmission from people without symptoms come primarily from models, which may not provide an accurate representation. “That’s a big open question, and that remains an open question,” she said.I wish guru Lett's reason for spiking the football short of the goal line had been based on scientifically vetted facts, because then it would have been something to celebrate. But unfortunately it's not. There are still a lot of things we don't know about COVID-19. And by we, I mean scientists, politicians, the general public, and even an extremely stable genius like guru.
Given how awful the WHO has been during this entire adventure, I’m not sure anything they said should be taken as gospel. Them walking back that report is perfectly in line with half a dozen other things they changed their mind on or walked back over the last 3 months
It is funny to watch those who were trashing the WHO and telling us not to believe anything the said for the last few months now jumping head first and 100% believing their latest statement
That the WHO is walking back.
Side question, what party (can't say who without confusion) is most responsible for this latest round of misinformation associated with the WHO....is it the WHO/scientist who made the statement or the journalists that theoretically mis-reported it and/or over amplified it.
Tom Nichols, the conservative academic who teaches at the U.S. Naval War College, addressed this phenomenon in his 2017 book The Death of Expertise. Too many Americans, Nichols argues, prefer magical thinking to the fruits of education or experience. A primary cause is that the complexity of modern life engenders feelings of helplessness among those who feel threatened by increasingly unfathomable forces—and the sophisticated experts who propound them.”
NJ lifted their Stay At Home Order and allow up to 50 people at indoor gatherings. So Rutgers basketball home schedule should be good to go
Saw that. But still funny.I'm guessing that same group will now take the stance that WHO was totally wrong in the beginning, then yesterday finally came clean and today is reversing their claim from yesterday due to lib political pressure.
Yep. Complexity and scientific ambiguity is always challenging, but in our ever more impatient "sound bite" culture, it snowballs to the point that some just want an "easy answer." And simple one-syllable words like "hoax" often give people the answer they're looking for.
Saying something was "taken out of context," "misreported" or "misunderstood" is a time-tested way for a public official to deflect blame from himself or herself.
It's a weapon for both sides these days.....science is real and meaningful when it supports your argument and fluid/unsettled when it isn't. It's not about complexity, it's about tribalism and the need to win
That might be how it is works out in the larger culture. But in my little corner of the world, science is real and meaningful and fluid and unsettled all at the same time. So I follow what the weight of scientific authority says whether I like or not...with the understanding that it could very well change at any time. And that's just fine with me.Many people don't like that level of uncertainty, so they call it a "hoax."