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The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

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401–410 of 1001 posts

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#401

It's not that productive to say, but this thread's comments are mostly trash, if you read this comment first, just turn around.

Previous two posts were flagged within seconds? If by Dang, please explain shortly what is wrong. Too meta? Manipulation on HN not to be spoken out loud or speculated about? ---

I do think it is productive to say. This thread shows clear efforts of an organized group, likely state-sponsored, to disrupt it. It was funny to see this happen on 4chan, because at first they could not get it right, and were stuck in their Wikipedia editor mode. They kept getting called out for it, or ignored.

They switched to upvoting and commenting unrelated threads to the front page. When 4chan changed their algorithm to combat this blatant manipulation, they ended with an effective weapon: shitposting.

You fill a thread on Covid or GoF research with an incredible amount of shitposts, and other shitposters attacking those shitposts, downvote walls of text to grey. Derail, derail, derail. You end up with a thread that nobody wants to read, and requires sifting through shit to find what you need. Then easier to just listen to the news about what expert Peter Daszak has to say.

Beating 4chan at its own game. 50 cent army is extremely good at shitposting.

And interesting posts are now hidden behind a "Read More", while posts defending zoonosis (imagine coming into a zoonosis theory thread to shitpost about lab-leak theory, hahaha) are on 2-3-4'th place.

It is getting harder and harder to find the facts or reason about what the hell is going on. The brain of society is poisoned to schizophrenia.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps begin by entertaining ideas as possible until proven otherwise You're assuming I didn't already do that. I'm just objecting to the exhortation to "do your own research". I'm not going to do that, because we live in a modern society with labor specialization. > No scientists ever provided conclusive proof the virus didn’t originate in a lab. Where the virus originated from is nice to know for later. But I re…

You say you "don't care" about the origin or the discussion around it, yet you're arguing in a thread about precisely that?

"Do your own research" really ticks me off. Plus, due to Covid, I have little else to do, sadly.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#403

It's not that productive to say, but this thread's comments are mostly trash, if you read this comment first, just turn around.

Previous 3 posts were flagged within seconds. If by Dang, please explain shortly what is wrong. Too meta? Manipulation on HN not to be spoken out loud or speculated about?

---

I do think it is productive to say. This thread shows clear efforts of an organized group, likely state-sponsored, to disrupt it. It was funny to see this happen on 4chan, because at first they could not get it right, and were stuck in their Wikipedia editor mode. They kept getting called out for it, or ignored.

They switched to upvoting and commenting unrelated threads to the front page. When 4chan changed their algorithm to combat this blatant manipulation, they ended with an effective weapon: shitposting.

You fill a thread on Covid or GoF research with an incredible amount of shitposts, and other shitposters attacking those shitposts, downvote walls of text to grey. Derail, derail, derail. You end up with a thread that nobody wants to read, and requires sifting through shit to find what you need. Then easier to just listen to the news about what expert Peter Daszak has to say.

Beating 4chan at its own game. 50 cent army is extremely good at shitposting.

And interesting posts are now hidden behind a "Read More", while posts defending zoonosis (imagine coming into a zoonosis theory thread to shitpost about lab-leak theory, hahaha) are on 2-3-4'th place.

It is getting harder and harder to find the facts or reason about what the hell is going on. The brain of society is poisoned to schizophrenia.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once the situation was out they did everything properly to fix it at home, and then even contributed to the science work on the virus (just not on the lab origin hypothesis, but all other work on the virus structure, illness mechanisms, potential vaccines or medications, yes). All the geopolitical tensions around China, both Koreas, and Japan, are just about losing or not losing face. Most of the time they would larg…

I'm not sure what your point is here. That the Wuhan lab shouldn't be called out for likely causing a global pandemic? It's being done in a very fair and non-aggressive manner. I don't really see what other approach could be said to take into account this stereotype more.

To keep it simple: are there benefits of calling them out?

Are you really just in search of scientific truth, and is this science useful in this context of present and maybe future crisis?

My point is that actually it (the calling out) is done aggressively, and it was especially when Trump was president. And maybe China is afraid to be shamed and discredited on the international scene, which would delight geopolitical enemies like US, or having to repay colossal sums of money to the world. And thus they would be refusing even the possibility of a lab leak.

If China was given a more relaxed treatment (but is it even possible? isn't the world out to find scapegoats and make them feel shame or get them to pay?), maybe they would have more willingly investigated the origins of the virus, even probably as a simple consequence of their other ongoing scientific investigations on covid.

I may seem unduly focused on the concept of shame in this comment, but this is precisely why it is an Asian problem. It is not obvious for Westerners that shame or discredit would be that much important. The money problem only adds to it.

But what's even more important here to figure out a solution, is that the investigations about the virus origin will likely not help at all to solve the crisis.

Solutions are more in studying the variants, preventing the spread, and developping vaccines and antivirals.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#405

It's not that productive to say, but this thread's comments are mostly trash, if you read this comment first, just turn around.

Previous 4 posts were flagged within seconds. If by Dang, please explain shortly what is wrong. Too meta? Manipulation on HN not to be spoken out loud or speculated about?

---

I do think it is productive to say. This thread shows clear efforts of an organized group, likely state-sponsored, to disrupt it. It was funny to see this happen on 4chan, because at first they could not get it right, and were stuck in their Wikipedia editor mode. They kept getting called out for it, or ignored.

They switched to upvoting and commenting unrelated threads to the front page. When 4chan changed their algorithm to combat this blatant manipulation, they ended with an effective weapon: shitposting.

You fill a thread on Covid or GoF research with an incredible amount of shitposts, and other shitposters attacking those shitposts, downvote walls of text to grey. Derail, derail, derail. You end up with a thread that nobody wants to read, and requires sifting through shit to find what you need. Then easier to just listen to the news about what expert Peter Daszak has to say.

Beating 4chan at its own game. 50 cent army is extremely good at shitposting.

And interesting posts are now hidden behind a "Read More", while posts defending zoonosis (imagine coming into a zoonosis theory thread to shitpost about lab-leak theory, hahaha) are on 2-3-4'th place.

It is getting harder and harder to find the facts or reason about what the hell is going on. The brain of society is poisoned to schizophrenia.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#406

It's not that productive to say, but this thread's comments are mostly trash, if you read this comment first, just turn around.

Previous 5 posts were flagged within seconds. If by Dang, please explain shortly what is wrong. Too meta? Manipulation on HN not to be spoken out loud or speculated about?

---

I do think it is productive to say. This thread shows clear efforts of an organized group, likely state-sponsored, to disrupt it. It was funny to see this happen on 4chan, because at first they could not get it right, and were stuck in their Wikipedia editor mode. They kept getting called out for it, or ignored.

They switched to upvoting and commenting unrelated threads to the front page. When 4chan changed their algorithm to combat this blatant manipulation, they ended with an effective weapon: shitposting.

You fill a thread on Covid or GoF research with an incredible amount of shitposts, and other shitposters attacking those shitposts, downvote walls of text to grey. Derail, derail, derail. You end up with a thread that nobody wants to read, and requires sifting through shit to find what you need. Then easier to just listen to the news about what expert Peter Daszak has to say.

Beating 4chan at its own game. 50 cent army is extremely good at shitposting.

And interesting posts are now hidden behind a "Read More", while posts defending zoonosis (imagine coming into a zoonosis theory thread to shitpost about lab-leak theory, hahaha) are on 2-3-4'th place.

It is getting harder and harder to find the facts or reason about what the hell is going on. The brain of society is poisoned to schizophrenia.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#407
post #2

This is the most shocking article I have ever read in my life. I'd ask everyone to please read it because it is incredible. One thing I did not realize is that US researchers who conducted gain of function research tried to downplay and discredit the possibility of the virus originating from the wuhan lab. There was an anti-lab theory Lancet statement signed by scientists, and "Daszak had not only signed but organize…

I’ve never heard of 2-3 people getting sick before in a large organization. That sounds like a smoking gun.

Read the article. The author lists 5 or more such smoking guns. All together, it is quite compelling.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#408

It's not that productive to say, but this thread's comments are mostly trash, if you read this comment first, just turn around.

Previous 6 posts were flagged within seconds. If by Dang, please explain shortly what is wrong. Too meta? Manipulation on HN not to be spoken out loud or speculated about?

---

I do think it is productive to say. This thread shows clear efforts of an organized group, likely state-sponsored, to disrupt it. It was funny to see this happen on 4chan, because at first they could not get it right, and were stuck in their Wikipedia editor mode. They kept getting called out for it, or ignored.

They switched to upvoting and commenting unrelated threads to the front page. When 4chan changed their algorithm to combat this blatant manipulation, they ended with an effective weapon: shitposting.

You fill a thread on Covid or GoF research with an incredible amount of shitposts, and other shitposters attacking those shitposts, downvote walls of text to grey. Derail, derail, derail. You end up with a thread that nobody wants to read, and requires sifting through shit to find what you need. Then easier to just listen to the news about what expert Peter Daszak has to say.

Beating 4chan at its own game. 50 cent army is extremely good at shitposting.

And interesting posts are now hidden behind a "Read More", while posts defending zoonosis (imagine coming into a zoonosis theory thread to shitpost about lab-leak theory, hahaha) are on 2-3-4'th place.

It is getting harder and harder to find the facts or reason about what the hell is going on. The brain of society is poisoned to schizophrenia.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#409

It's not that productive to say, but this thread's comments are mostly trash, if you read this comment first, just turn around.

Previous 7 posts were flagged within seconds. If by Dang, please explain shortly what is wrong. Too meta? Manipulation on HN not to be spoken out loud or speculated about?

---

I do think it is productive to say. This thread shows clear efforts of an organized group, likely state-sponsored, to disrupt it. It was funny to see this happen on 4chan, because at first they could not get it right, and were stuck in their Wikipedia editor mode. They kept getting called out for it, or ignored.

They switched to upvoting and commenting unrelated threads to the front page. When 4chan changed their algorithm to combat this blatant manipulation, they ended with an effective weapon: shitposting.

You fill a thread on Covid or GoF research with an incredible amount of shitposts, and other shitposters attacking those shitposts, downvote walls of text to grey. Derail, derail, derail. You end up with a thread that nobody wants to read, and requires sifting through shit to find what you need. Then easier to just listen to the news about what expert Peter Daszak has to say.

Beating 4chan at its own game. 50 cent army is extremely good at shitposting.

And interesting posts are now hidden behind a "Read More", while posts defending zoonosis (imagine coming into a zoonosis theory thread to shitpost about lab-leak theory, hahaha) are on 2-3-4'th place.

It is getting harder and harder to find the facts or reason about what the hell is going on. The brain of society is poisoned to schizophrenia.

Re: The lab-leak theory: inside the fight to uncover Covid-19’s origins

#410
> Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the CDC, said he received death threats from fellow scientists after telling CNN he thought the virus likely escaped from a lab. “I expected it from politicians. I didn’t expect it from science,” he said.

Holyshit. We have created an atmosphere of censorship and suppression to the point where noble, well meaning people have been turned into monsters.

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