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Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

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Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#11

Post by phtrivier »

slackfan wrote: post #5

Get scared and depressed and doomscroll and watch the news more so we can sell you more stuff. Yes.

I understand it's the general strategy, and it's pretty obvious at this point that doom articles get clicks, so they sell ads - but, do those ads work ?

I've been adblocking for years, and I barely shop except for food, so I'm not sure I'm the target anyway.

I get this one ad on every YouTube video, and, no, I'm not renting a holiday house, sorry, so, not a great investment either.

I've always add this nagging feeling that since ads have becomed so much online, and so much "in the background", as opposed to tv and radio that did not let you do anything but watch/listen to the add, the efficiency must be harder to measure.

But then, is anyone measuring how effective an add is (in terms of sales ?) You assume they would, but then, you remember the kind of ads they run, so maybe they ARE dumb enough to measure a bad proxy (how many eyeballs saw the thing) instead of the variable (how many more units did we sell.)

Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#12

Post by ideamotor »

What are expecting by asking a bunch of random people on here?

The pedantic taking things literally response? “Well you should not worry because that does not help”.

The axe to grind response? “Who cares because climate change will doom us all.”

The psychopathic dissociative response? “None of this matters because the earth will heal itself.”

The non-expert expert? “Yes/No.”

Oh I’m sure you’ll get some valuable guidance on interpreting the news here.

Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#13

Post by aspyct »

ideamotor wrote: post #12

What are expecting by asking a bunch of random people on here? The pedantic taking things literally response? “Well you should not worry because that does not help”. The axe to grind response? “Who cares because climate change will doom us all.” The psychopathic dissociative response? “None of this matters because the earth will heal itself.” The non-expert expert? “Yes/No.” Oh I’m sure you’ll get some valuable guida…

I vote for the pedantic + axe combo \o/

Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#14

Post by petodo »

I was not concerned about COVID, I was concerned about authoritarian politicians introducing meaningless restrictions which should have no place in democracy and I was disgusted by majority of population which had no problem with them, I expected bigger disagreement despite having already very low meaning about society in general.

I'm even less concerned about bird flu, but I'd be much more concerned about fascist politicians and their fascist supporters since it seems majority of society has no problem with fascism.

Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#16

Post by sofixa »

petodo wrote: post #14

I was not concerned about COVID, I was concerned about authoritarian politicians introducing meaningless restrictions which should have no place in democracy and I was disgusted by majority of population which had no problem with them, I expected bigger disagreement despite having already very low meaning about society in general. I'm even less concerned about bird flu, but I'd be much more concerned about fascist po…

> I was not concerned about COVID, I was concerned about authoritarian politicians introducing meaningless restrictions which should have no place in democracy and I was disgusted by majority of population which had no problem with them, I expected bigger disagreement despite having already very low meaning about society in general.

Pandemic prevention isn't a matter of authoritarianism vs democracy. Honestly, what do you think, the president of France imposed a lockdown because he likes the power trip? Maybe he does, or maybe, just maybe, there was an actual health crisis going on? Did you already forget the situation in Lombardy with the hospitals having to triage and leave people to die because they didn't have sufficient capacity? Did you forget the military hospitals being opened in parking lots to help with the load, and still tens of thousands of people dying, with draconian restrictions? Maybe you live in a country where things didn't get this bad - does it occur to you that maybe restrictions helped with that?

The majority of the world's population understood the risks and accepted restrictions. Nobody dis it for fun or because they like being restricted. Epidemic prevention measures are nothing new, lockdowns and quarantines have been proven to work for centuries.

Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#17

Post by slackfan »

phtrivier wrote: post #11
slackfan wrote: post #5

Get scared and depressed and doomscroll and watch the news more so we can sell you more stuff. Yes.

I understand it's the general strategy, and it's pretty obvious at this point that doom articles get clicks, so they sell ads - but, do those ads work ? I've been adblocking for years, and I barely shop except for food, so I'm not sure I'm the target anyway. I get this one ad on every YouTube video, and, no, I'm not renting a holiday house, sorry, so, not a great investment either. I've always add this nagging feelin…

>do the ads work It's vaguely irrelevant to the publishers, considering figuring that out is the advertiser's job.

Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#18

Post by petodo »

sofixa wrote: post #16
petodo wrote: post #14

I was not concerned about COVID, I was concerned about authoritarian politicians introducing meaningless restrictions which should have no place in democracy and I was disgusted by majority of population which had no problem with them, I expected bigger disagreement despite having already very low meaning about society in general. I'm even less concerned about bird flu, but I'd be much more concerned about fascist po…

> I was not concerned about COVID, I was concerned about authoritarian politicians introducing meaningless restrictions which should have no place in democracy and I was disgusted by majority of population which had no problem with them, I expected bigger disagreement despite having already very low meaning about society in general. Pandemic prevention isn't a matter of authoritarianism vs democracy. Honestly, what d…

[flagged]

Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#19

Post by kcplate »

sofixa wrote: post #16
petodo wrote: post #14

I was not concerned about COVID, I was concerned about authoritarian politicians introducing meaningless restrictions which should have no place in democracy and I was disgusted by majority of population which had no problem with them, I expected bigger disagreement despite having already very low meaning about society in general. I'm even less concerned about bird flu, but I'd be much more concerned about fascist po…

> I was not concerned about COVID, I was concerned about authoritarian politicians introducing meaningless restrictions which should have no place in democracy and I was disgusted by majority of population which had no problem with them, I expected bigger disagreement despite having already very low meaning about society in general. Pandemic prevention isn't a matter of authoritarianism vs democracy. Honestly, what d…

> Pandemic prevention isn't a matter of authoritarianism vs democracy. Honestly, what do you think, the president of France imposed a lockdown because he likes the power trip?

Unfortunately you are not really arguing your point from a position of strength. Tyrannical behavior was rampant and it was intentionally done. Speaking from my US perspective, at almost every political level from the federal government down to local community politicians the pandemic seemed to create tyrannical behavior, and most of the little tyrants were centered around a specific political party.

In my neighborhood of less than 200 homes, there is an “elected” board that controls the common areas (mainly arranges landscaping and maintenance). This board shut down access to common outdoor spaces (literally outdoor walking trails) and threatened to trespass residents if they used them. Democracy within the community would have resulted in those spaces being open. However, because the developer/builder controlled a voting majority, the board was stacked with people who followed the DNC playbook and refused to open the spaces for a full 8 months after our state lifted all restrictions and months after even the CDC knew that contracting the virus outside in sunshine alone was virtually impossible.

>lockdowns and quarantines have been proven to work for centuries

Quarantining the sick, yes. Quarantining the well…that was a bit unprecedented.

This pandemic provided the political class with some pretty solid data on just how far and how long the general public will allow itself to be dominated by tyrants. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the general public accepted tyranny willingly and this will not bode well for the future.

Re: Ask HN: Should we be concerned about the current H5N1 outbreak?

#20

Post by sofixa »

kcplate wrote: post #19
sofixa wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I was not concerned about COVID, I was concerned about authoritarian politicians introducing meaningless restrictions which should have no place in democracy and I was disgusted by majority of population which had no problem with them, I expected bigger disagreement despite having already very low meaning about society in general. Pandemic prevention isn't a matter of authoritarianism vs democracy. Honestly, what d…

> Pandemic prevention isn't a matter of authoritarianism vs democracy. Honestly, what do you think, the president of France imposed a lockdown because he likes the power trip? Unfortunately you are not really arguing your point from a position of strength. Tyrannical behavior was rampant and it was intentionally done. Speaking from my US perspective, at almost every political level from the federal government down to…

> Quarantining the sick, yes. Quarantining the well…that was a bit unprecedented.

The well.. for an airborne illness with up to two weeks incubation period and frequent lack of symptoms? Many were sick and spreading and had no way of knowing, hence the abundance of caution.

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