The evidence which suggests that Covid-19 is not a naturally evolved virus [pdf]

Post by quonn » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 10:08 AM UTC

cryptica wrote: post #318

nothal wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand your impetus to tell others to 'stick to your lane' but I respectfully disagree and cite their post and your response as why. OP had what you deem a misapprehension and they deem a valid point. By voicing their point as they believes it, you were able to retort with evidence you feel should convincingly disprove it. To me, this is reasoned, diverse discourse correcting for unintuitive misapprehensions, a…

As I understand it, the general rule of nature is that biological specimens don't thrive as well in environments that they are not evolutionary adapted to. This is why humans can't swim very fast and fish can't walk on land. The fact is that COVID-19 made its first jump to humans (new environment) only a few months ago and yet it spreads better than most pre-existing known coronaviruses that have been affecting human…

Post by skj » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 10:28 AM UTC

jakeogh wrote: post #330

SZJX wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now this sounds exactly like something Donald Trump has been saying all this time, and such conspiracy theories don't contribute much to the discussion. If thousands of deaths in China, a complete lockdown that hit the economy incredibly hard and perhaps more crucially, the total breakdown and potential reshaping of the global supply chain, which China has been benefitting from massively, is something that the Chines…

Which professional published best case death estimate did the US not beat? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23407130 Excess deaths are the only accurate measure.

Post by pbhjpbhj » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 10:34 AM UTC

tasogare wrote: post #236

sandworm101 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, and this is a really crazy theory, they were studying it in China because it was a local virus that they were worried might one day infect humans. Maybe they were studying which changes would make it most dangerous because they wanted to be ready if those changes happened naturally. Honest hard work can sometimes look like evil plans, and not every coincidence is the result of conspiracy.

Yeah sure the racist hypothesis of Chinese people eating bats is far more likely than a virus escape from a Wuhan lab with known protocol defects that worked on coronaviruses. /s

Post by exdsq » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 10:39 AM UTC

sudosysgen wrote: post #269

holler wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A virus being engineered to be an order of magnitude less virulent seems unlikely to say the least. From what I gathered it’s not suggesting specific genetic traits were engineered, but rather that they were experimenting and one of those experiments could have accidentally been released(?).

Yes, but is the theory is that one experiment, in the context of a gain analysis, was made in order to see how the virus might evolve to be much less severe? Why would a gain analysis try to find ways in which a virus could be made weaker? I don't doubt that an accidental release is feasible, though very very unlikely, but why would an experiment make a less severe virus in the first place?

Post by hazeii » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 10:47 AM UTC

trevelyan wrote: post #317

hazeii wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As noted downthread, these points don't particularly point to it being engineered (point 1 applies in spades to SARS and MERS, for example). Most scientists believe the evidence [0] indicates it's of natural origin. [0] https://www.sciencealert.com/the-new-coronavirus-could-have-...

> SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins were so effective at binding to human cells, they had to be caused by natural selection. Read the article you are citing. There is convincing evidence that the virus developed via evolutionary mechanisms. That in no way refutes lab-origin and is entirely consistent with how most labs promote infectiousness (particularly airborn infectiousness) through gain-of-function research. https://www…