The cure for bad information is usually more information.
No more than violence never solves anything.
Which is to say that it's a false aphorism.
Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
41–50 of 84 posts
Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#42This is incredibly worrying. I understand that anti-vax conspiracy theories are dangerous, but I can think of a ton of ways banning "bad medical advice", as determined by a $10/hr contractor at Pinterest, Facebook, etc. could end up hurting people with health problems by preventing them from sharing useful information. I have gender dysphoria and at one point considered getting on testosterone, but thanks to conversa…
It doesn't have to be a $10/hr contractor even - it could be a $500,000 per year MD. For instance, for years, people recommended a high carb/low fat diet. Now that's being challenged. (I'm not weighing in on the argument, just stating that it is one.) How would this debate take place if this type of information were blocked? For years (decades?) Atkins was treated as a fringe-food nut job. Now, his early research is…
Science gets it wrong sometimes. New information requires revision. The best we can do is go by consensus expert opinion. There will always be some probabilty of error but we needn’t be afraid to declare some things dangerous and wrong.
Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks to AI, it's possible to algorithmically generate almost unlimited amounts of false or meaningless speech to drown out accurate information.
Thanks to AI can't we also do the opposite? E.g. detect conspiracy theory speech and automatically provide relevant links/warnings to relevant curated sources?
That's way, way harder.
Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of the people I've talked to aren't crazy alien conspiracy theorists so I can't really comment on that brand of conspiracy theorist. Honestly my main experience is the standard 9/11, global warming, and Obama conspiracy theories (which were incredibly racist) from the early to mid 2000s and those were all pretty similar to modern theories and at least for my father in law and his friends were definitely from Fox…
Global warming and birtherism were a turning point. It was then than condpiracy theories were directly applicable to politics. Managing them then became a practical political weapon.
The John Birch Society predates both, and was a similar movement by similar people towards similar ends.
Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#45Can they finish their other wars first?
Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't have to be a $10/hr contractor even - it could be a $500,000 per year MD. For instance, for years, people recommended a high carb/low fat diet. Now that's being challenged. (I'm not weighing in on the argument, just stating that it is one.) How would this debate take place if this type of information were blocked? For years (decades?) Atkins was treated as a fringe-food nut job. Now, his early research is…
Science gets it wrong sometimes. New information requires revision. The best we can do is go by consensus expert opinion. There will always be some probabilty of error but we needn’t be afraid to declare some things dangerous and wrong.
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Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't have to be a $10/hr contractor even - it could be a $500,000 per year MD. For instance, for years, people recommended a high carb/low fat diet. Now that's being challenged. (I'm not weighing in on the argument, just stating that it is one.) How would this debate take place if this type of information were blocked? For years (decades?) Atkins was treated as a fringe-food nut job. Now, his early research is…
Science gets it wrong sometimes. New information requires revision. The best we can do is go by consensus expert opinion. There will always be some probabilty of error but we needn’t be afraid to declare some things dangerous and wrong.
> There will always be some probability of error but we needn’t be afraid to declare some things dangerous and wrong.
But, who is we in this case? And what specifically are some things and how narrowly are they defined?
> The best we can do is go by consensus expert opinion.
Is that really the best we can do? How many times in history has consensus expert opinion been found later to be dangerous and wrong?
Should we assign that task to an AI or a customer service drone of unknown education and experience?
Or, should we assume that any reader of any particular "dangerous and wrong" things might be a better judge of whether those things are, in fact, "dangerous and wrong" as applied to their specific circumstance?
Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Science gets it wrong sometimes. New information requires revision. The best we can do is go by consensus expert opinion. There will always be some probabilty of error but we needn’t be afraid to declare some things dangerous and wrong.
> There will always be some probability of error but we needn’t be afraid to declare some things dangerous and wrong. But, who is we in this case? And what specifically are some things and how narrowly are they defined? > The best we can do is go by consensus expert opinion. Is that really the best we can do? How many times in history has consensus expert opinion been found later to be dangerous and wrong ? Should we…
We is you, me, and society at large. Yes, it really is the best we can do. If a very large majority of the people who study an area of science agree on a conclusion in that area then it’s more likely they are right than someone who has no expertise in that area. Clearly if a large majority of the experts in an area of science agree on something then it suggests that if a person were to educate themself in that area to the point of being an expert then they’d agree with the conclusion too.
Non experts deciding for themselves what is right/wrong is a recipe for disaster. Peoples’ intuition is usually wrong without a lot of experience to back it up. It’s why we don’t let just anyone practice medicine or structural engineering. Expertise matters and the opinions of experts matter much more than a nonexpert’s opinion.
Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#49The cure for bad information is usually more information.
Expanding on my own post... why is it any tech company's responsibility to protect people from their own bad decisions?
Legal responsibility, or moral? The answer is of course "it depends," in this case on who you ask. Maybe they don't even think it's their responsibility, but they think it will make life better for their customers. I personally do a lot of things that aren't my responsibility, but which I think are good to do for various other reasons.
Re: Pinterest Blocks Vaccination Searches in Move to Control the Conversation
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I have gender dysphoria and at one point considered getting on testosterone, but thanks to conversations with transmen and detransitioned women on social media, I learned about less-commonly discussed side effects and decided against taking testosterone. This is an area where research is still developing and there aren't a ton of long-term studies, so it's incredibly helpful to be able to learn from other people's…
TERF is most definitely a slur, and cis is often used as one as well. E.g. "cis white males!"
>TERF is most definitely a slur
Really? What else should we call self-professed radical feminists whose definition of a woman excludes trans women?