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For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

brownstone.org

41–50 of 74 posts

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#41
Every time these kind of articles come up, either from people for or against the mandates or vaccines, I want to remind everyone that you judge veracity by considering the circumstances of the source, never the source itself. The exact same words coming from someone working for a cigarette company versus someone working for a renowned research institution cannot be construed in the same way, even if they are the exact same person at two points in time.

Even if they do work for a cigarette company or a research institution, they also have their own biases separate from the organization that they work for.

Their title is only a minor consideration.

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#42
post #7
post #6

For the author: The solution is to ask for their sources - not to speculate that it’s all a sham (while conveniently also not providing any data to back up such a claim.) Meanwhile a single search pulls a possible source for the 80% figure: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-br... But talking about that source is inconvenient to the author because it provides ample support over a range of real…

Right. Did you even read the “source” you provided? Anyone who uses the 2 infected hairdressers as proof masks work has lost all credibility. Its the kind of scientism that thrives on social media. You do realize that half of the supposedly covid free clientel declined a pcr test? They just said they felt fine. I would not have gotten a passing grade in high scool if I had turned that paper in as proof of masking. Si…

Yeah i did, it’s clear you didn’t.

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#43
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re talking about the opinions of two different groups which is why they conflict. I’m fully vaxxed plus a booster and I don’t really want to be around unmasked unvaxxed people if I can help it. Like the vaccine isn’t magic, the effectiveness drops over time and more exposures compounds the risk. There’s zero gain to be around a high risk group, especially when it’s so easy to avoid right now. And I still…

The question now is for how long we will need to keep prevent weakimmune people. Didn't they have this exact problem before covid with 1000 other diseases? At this point, it seems weak immune people are weaponized.

> The question now is for how long we will need to keep prevent weakimmune people.

Why must a timeline be put on it? The people asking "how long do we need to do this" kind of remind me of the kids in the back seat on a long trip asking every 10 minutes "are we there yet?"

It's a global pandemic the likes the which no living generation has witnessed before. No one can tell you the future. Anyone putting a timeline on it is giving you their best guess, not a guarantee.

I understand that is mentally and emotionally tough to deal with for a lot of people, but that's the sober reality of our current situation.

We have vaccines (miraculously) but only a partially vaccinated planet. We have promising therapeutics on the horizon (see last week's news about Pfizer's new drug), but we are many months or years away from them being available as ubiquitously as we need them to be.

> Didn't they have this exact problem before covid with 1000 other diseases?

That were as 1) widespread, 2) severe and 3) as contagious as COVID-19? I can't think of any.

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#44
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter what the truth is at this point because the majority of scientist have demonstrated they are massive cowards and won't speak out against patently false information in the mainstream for fear of becoming pariahs.

> It doesn't matter what the truth is at this point because the majority of scientist have demonstrated they are massive cowards (...) Before you go on attacking others for being cowards, what would you do if you started receiving death threats because you chose to speak publiy about an issue which an extremist political movement frowns upon? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02757-3

And what about if people were calling your spouse and kids with death threats? Which is also something that is happening.

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#45
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter what the truth is at this point because the majority of scientist have demonstrated they are massive cowards and won't speak out against patently false information in the mainstream for fear of becoming pariahs.

> It doesn't matter what the truth is at this point because the majority of scientist have demonstrated they are massive cowards (...) Before you go on attacking others for being cowards, what would you do if you started receiving death threats because you chose to speak publiy about an issue which an extremist political movement frowns upon? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02757-3

Every faux pas will earn you a death threat these days. They are trite and meaningless.

Taking anyone on the far right/left seriously is like giving in to a child throwing a tantrum. People need to stop being so spineless and develop some convictions. We are regressing to a point where people are afraid to exercise their freedom of speech.

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question now is for how long we will need to keep prevent weakimmune people. Didn't they have this exact problem before covid with 1000 other diseases? At this point, it seems weak immune people are weaponized.

> The question now is for how long we will need to keep prevent weakimmune people. Why must a timeline be put on it? The people asking "how long do we need to do this" kind of remind me of the kids in the back seat on a long trip asking every 10 minutes "are we there yet?" It's a global pandemic the likes the which no living generation has witnessed before. No one can tell you the future. Anyone putting a timeline on…

of all the disruption the world has gone through - death, idleness, economic dysfunction, loss of international travel, schools cancelled for more than a year..

wearing a goddamn mask in public is what really got to us

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#47
post #44
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It doesn't matter what the truth is at this point because the majority of scientist have demonstrated they are massive cowards (...) Before you go on attacking others for being cowards, what would you do if you started receiving death threats because you chose to speak publiy about an issue which an extremist political movement frowns upon? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02757-3

And what about if people were calling your spouse and kids with death threats? Which is also something that is happening.

If you don't possess some means of defending your family from real threats, you've already failed at your job. I understand HN leans left, but buy guns and learn to use them. The police will not be there to help you when you need it.

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#48
post #33

I have no idea what to believe anymore. Vaccine prevents covid (e.g. death and major injury). Somehow vaccinated people are scared of unvaccinated or vaccinated-but-unmasked people. Huh? Then, all schools in US are open to kids who cannot even be vaccinated (this is since a few months back). If you point that out, people will counter back with covid doesn't impact kids. Well, okay? We try too hard to use unvaccinated…

> Vaccine prevents covid (e.g. death and major injury). Somehow vaccinated people are scared of unvaccinated or vaccinated-but-unmasked people. Huh? You need to get your story straight. Things are quite simple as easy to understand once you take an honest look at the issue. For instance: * The current generation of COVID-19 vaccines trains the immune system to have a fighting chance against COVID-19 and are effective…

>The current generation of COVID-19 vaccines trains the immune system to have a fighting chance against COVID-19 and are effective at practically eliminating the risk of serious illness, but they do not prevent infection or spread.

It does prevent infection and spread. 10% of the time there's a breakthrough case. That is still effective often enough to bring us to herd immunity despite the high infectiousness of Delta.

Everything else is accurate.

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#49
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re talking about the opinions of two different groups which is why they conflict. I’m fully vaxxed plus a booster and I don’t really want to be around unmasked unvaxxed people if I can help it. Like the vaccine isn’t magic, the effectiveness drops over time and more exposures compounds the risk. There’s zero gain to be around a high risk group, especially when it’s so easy to avoid right now. And I still…

The question now is for how long we will need to keep prevent weakimmune people. Didn't they have this exact problem before covid with 1000 other diseases? At this point, it seems weak immune people are weaponized.

That’s kinda the thing, no. I had no idea my friend had a compromised immune system until Covid and they stopped being able to go outside, had to go full time remote, got groceries delivered. We had to bring them some emergency cat food at one point.

They’re planning on benefiting from herd immunity at some point once the virus has been beaten back but while it’s still spreading like crazy they’re stuck. It’s the fact that Covid is so contagious that makes it such a PITA.

So to answer the question of how long, how ever long it takes for there to stop being so many new cases. It’s not forever.

Re: For whom do the Covid “fact checkers” work?

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question now is for how long we will need to keep prevent weakimmune people. Didn't they have this exact problem before covid with 1000 other diseases? At this point, it seems weak immune people are weaponized.

> The question now is for how long we will need to keep prevent weakimmune people. Why must a timeline be put on it? The people asking "how long do we need to do this" kind of remind me of the kids in the back seat on a long trip asking every 10 minutes "are we there yet?" It's a global pandemic the likes the which no living generation has witnessed before. No one can tell you the future. Anyone putting a timeline on…

>Why must a timeline be put on it?

Because it has completely disrupted our society, and widespread vaccinations have reduced the <1% chance of non-elderly people dying to much lower than that. Many kids have lost more than a year of education. Suicide and depression rates are skyrocketing among people of all age groups. "15 days to flatten the curve" has morphed into, "we must wear masks and stay locked down forever even if it only saves 1 life". Many of us reject this safetyism. Life is inherently risky. The vast majority of non-elderly people face far more of a risk of injury and death from their daily commute than they do dying of covid. Everyone is free to make their own personal risk assessment and wear a mask and/or hide in their homes forever. The rest of us are going to accept covid as another one of the many risks we all face in life and move on and start living again.

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