101–110 of 154 posts
The anthropomorphization of computers (especially powerful ones) is pretty annoying. A _person used a supercomputer_ to analyze Covid-19, and I’m guessing the theory didn’t just ‘emerge’ from the computer.
"A person used a supercomputer to analyse Covid-19" conveys no more knowledge than "A supercomputer analyzed Covid-19".
The anthropomorphization of computers (especially powerful ones) is pretty annoying. A _person used a supercomputer_ to analyze Covid-19, and I’m guessing the theory didn’t just ‘emerge’ from the computer.
I remember a professor of mine (I forgot in which class) saying that humans generally make up 3 kinds of explanations about a system's behavior: 1. When a system is very simple, we explain its actions in terms of its properties and external forces acting on it. 2. When it's a medium complexity system, we tend to explain its actions in terms of its design, putting ourselves in the designer's shoes. 3. When it's a comp…
When you try to describe a complex or subtle thing concisely, you might find it hard. Even if the system is neither animal nor human, you too might notice yourself reaching for "character with motivations" to describe it.
The anthropomorphization of computers (especially powerful ones) is pretty annoying. A _person used a supercomputer_ to analyze Covid-19, and I’m guessing the theory didn’t just ‘emerge’ from the computer.
I wonder if this only says something about the author or about us. You might phrase a title that way if you believe that we trust computers more than we trust scientists. Is that true? I don't think so. But if it is, how horrifying.
We evolved in kinship groups. The most important phenomena to understand were your fellow humans, followed by animals.
The human brain has a highly-optimised "Character with motivations taking actions" parser.
> Interestingly, Jacobson’s team also suggests vitamin D as a potentially useful Covid-19 drug. The vitamin is involved in the RAS system and could prove helpful by reducing levels of another compound, known as REN. Again, this could stop potentially deadly bradykinin storms from forming. The researchers note that vitamin D has already been shown to help those with Covid-19. The vitamin is readily available over the…
Seems like it should be really straightforward to determine if this hypothesis is right by measuring bradykinin levels in Covid patients versus non-Covid patients. One thing that I think strongly suggests that this hypothesis is wrong is that there is no strong relation between ACE-inhibitors and Covid mortality. Indeed, most of the studies that I've seen suggest that ACE-inhibitors have a somewhat protective effect…
The cited article has been retracted. (I know this because I have the PubPeer extension installed which puts a big red warning by it.)
The anthropomorphization of computers (especially powerful ones) is pretty annoying. A _person used a supercomputer_ to analyze Covid-19, and I’m guessing the theory didn’t just ‘emerge’ from the computer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We don’t know the dosage or protocol for stopping the bradykinin storm, or even if this hypothesis is confirmed through more tests ... but it seems sensible to me to make sure one has a healthy level of Vitamin D, and that is actionable for a lot of people.
> that is actionable for a lot of people Really hoping this is better by the next few months or my Seattle winter will be even more pill popping to maintain basic human functionality....
Am I the only one bothered by the use of “theory” when this is a hypothesis and, in particular, the back and forth flipping between the two terms in the article?
Probably just you ;) Lay people use the two interchangeably. In at least two of the thesaurus I have at hand hypothesis is synonymous is theory .
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That air is a natural disinfectant is super interesting. I read that vitamin D and observed benefits for those who have vitamin D is a correlation. Meaning that taking vitamin D supplements might not be as helpful as getting sunlight (a natural way to get vitamin D)
I would guess "air as disinfectant" is primarily because of its oxygen content. O_2 is actually a pretty nasty molecule like that. Oxidation is typically a fairly tough reaction to reverse or prevent.