Your honesty is quite refreshing and your carefulness is very apparent in your writing. Science (or any critical thinking) shouldn't be done in a void because you'll never pick up all the details yourself and someone else's comments can make you think about things differently. I have always hated the phrase "settled science", way before the pandemic, because that takes a lot of hubris - it may seem settled based on what we currently know ... but what we don't know is just so, so much. And honestly, with the overwhelming lack of information concerning these vaccines, people have a right to be skeptical (especially with what would seem to be bad faith claims of safety and efficacy).
I too share your concerns over apparent paranoia over potentially unfounded claims. As a life-long conservative I have seen articles in the MSM time and time again where the journalist picks the absolute most ridiculous claim as the basis for the viewpoint of the opposing side (and no wonder they believe people like me are nuts) - there's just one problem ... that's not my viewpoint ... and we never get a rebuttal.
Thanks for promoting skepticism - it really is needed with so much that is going on right now!
Thanks for your response Clarisse. You're right about the "settled science" aspect that's been going around. I've heard it plenty when it came to environmental issues, and I thought it was rather arrogant to assume that we knew everything we ever would know. Instead, I believe the argument is more of a heuristic approach which shuts down questions. It's a way of saying "it just is" without requiring the need to bolster an argument.
I certainly believe both sides are engaged in their own paranoia and conspiracies. The big issue is that one side assumes the worst in the other while assuming the best for themselves, and that really blinds anyone from learning and seeing other options when they do such a thing.
Funny - I’m totally happy to be on the same side as the snake venom guy, haha. It’s only when the “serious” anti-narrative argument is actually patently weak or silly that I get contrarian.
I don’t think the MSM gains any credibility when it debunks conspiracy theories or other creative theories about reality. Everyone actually knows that the MSM cannot *have* credibility on this issue because they are not willing to entertain the possibility of conspiracy to begin with, even when the official story screams out conspiracy. Amply demonstrated by 9-11.
Likewise, I think the media comes off as tone-deaf and desperate when they attack creative theories. I thought Trump’s “inject bleach” moment was endearing and reflected a mind always eager to rotate the picture. The fact that the media can only see it as a gaff speaks volumes about their mindless worship of credentialed authority!
That's interesting Brian, I guess we can agree on that argument. I just don't hold any merit to his claims as it really just seems to be a hodgepodge of whatever you can find online and piece together in some method akin to Frankenstein's monster.
I do think the MSM spends far too much time on trivial matters, and that actually leads people who would otherwise be critical of the MSM to maybe consider things they normally wouldn't- whether or not there is a factual basis for said conspiracies is something else.
The whole Trump bleach thing was ridiculous, because I think it's more an issue of Trump possibly hearing something but not being a good player in a game of Telephone and misinterprets what is being said. So it may be something he heard wrong but the media just latches onto it. It's actually quite frustrating because it does force a narrowing of viewpoints and considers other things to be absurd just because it "sounds absurd".
But that’s just it - there was never anything more “absurd” about injecting bleach than there is about chemotherapy or laser hair removal or amputation. Medicine is literally just poison + aim.
No, you're right, but people's steelman of Trump's argument was that he may have misinterpreted something such as nebulized bleach and just referred to injection. But everything has some toxic dose, and so on one hand it could seem absurd but on another hand it may be therapeutic- there certainly is some nuance needed to assess the information more than to be immediately dismissive and use it to deride a president that the media prefers to label as "unhinged and conspiratorial".
That is so absolutely true. My mom has been battling endometrial cancer for a few years (3 types of chemo, radiation & proton therapy) - all of these treatments are so toxic! The proton therapy really did a lot of damage.
Thank you- I should have mentioned that I at least want to be transparent about why I possibly jumped the shark but forgot to add that! But regardless I hope people kind of get where I was coming from, even if they don't agree.
I don't really find the Panera Kingdom guy's dismissive attitude towards "creative theories" (wtf does this even mean?) like "5G poisoning" when we've known long before 5G was deployed that microwave radiation has a huge impact on our health. There are countless studies. It's this kind of one-track-mind paradigm that makes people in science insufferable.
Thank you for allowing us to follow your thought process on LNPs. *This* is a scientific journey.
Your honesty is quite refreshing and your carefulness is very apparent in your writing. Science (or any critical thinking) shouldn't be done in a void because you'll never pick up all the details yourself and someone else's comments can make you think about things differently. I have always hated the phrase "settled science", way before the pandemic, because that takes a lot of hubris - it may seem settled based on what we currently know ... but what we don't know is just so, so much. And honestly, with the overwhelming lack of information concerning these vaccines, people have a right to be skeptical (especially with what would seem to be bad faith claims of safety and efficacy).
I too share your concerns over apparent paranoia over potentially unfounded claims. As a life-long conservative I have seen articles in the MSM time and time again where the journalist picks the absolute most ridiculous claim as the basis for the viewpoint of the opposing side (and no wonder they believe people like me are nuts) - there's just one problem ... that's not my viewpoint ... and we never get a rebuttal.
Thanks for promoting skepticism - it really is needed with so much that is going on right now!
Thanks for your response Clarisse. You're right about the "settled science" aspect that's been going around. I've heard it plenty when it came to environmental issues, and I thought it was rather arrogant to assume that we knew everything we ever would know. Instead, I believe the argument is more of a heuristic approach which shuts down questions. It's a way of saying "it just is" without requiring the need to bolster an argument.
I certainly believe both sides are engaged in their own paranoia and conspiracies. The big issue is that one side assumes the worst in the other while assuming the best for themselves, and that really blinds anyone from learning and seeing other options when they do such a thing.
I appreciate the addendum and your integrity. 👍🏼💜
Funny - I’m totally happy to be on the same side as the snake venom guy, haha. It’s only when the “serious” anti-narrative argument is actually patently weak or silly that I get contrarian.
I don’t think the MSM gains any credibility when it debunks conspiracy theories or other creative theories about reality. Everyone actually knows that the MSM cannot *have* credibility on this issue because they are not willing to entertain the possibility of conspiracy to begin with, even when the official story screams out conspiracy. Amply demonstrated by 9-11.
Likewise, I think the media comes off as tone-deaf and desperate when they attack creative theories. I thought Trump’s “inject bleach” moment was endearing and reflected a mind always eager to rotate the picture. The fact that the media can only see it as a gaff speaks volumes about their mindless worship of credentialed authority!
That's interesting Brian, I guess we can agree on that argument. I just don't hold any merit to his claims as it really just seems to be a hodgepodge of whatever you can find online and piece together in some method akin to Frankenstein's monster.
I do think the MSM spends far too much time on trivial matters, and that actually leads people who would otherwise be critical of the MSM to maybe consider things they normally wouldn't- whether or not there is a factual basis for said conspiracies is something else.
The whole Trump bleach thing was ridiculous, because I think it's more an issue of Trump possibly hearing something but not being a good player in a game of Telephone and misinterprets what is being said. So it may be something he heard wrong but the media just latches onto it. It's actually quite frustrating because it does force a narrowing of viewpoints and considers other things to be absurd just because it "sounds absurd".
But that’s just it - there was never anything more “absurd” about injecting bleach than there is about chemotherapy or laser hair removal or amputation. Medicine is literally just poison + aim.
No, you're right, but people's steelman of Trump's argument was that he may have misinterpreted something such as nebulized bleach and just referred to injection. But everything has some toxic dose, and so on one hand it could seem absurd but on another hand it may be therapeutic- there certainly is some nuance needed to assess the information more than to be immediately dismissive and use it to deride a president that the media prefers to label as "unhinged and conspiratorial".
That is so absolutely true. My mom has been battling endometrial cancer for a few years (3 types of chemo, radiation & proton therapy) - all of these treatments are so toxic! The proton therapy really did a lot of damage.
Thank you for showing your honest thinking process! That's only human!
Thank you- I should have mentioned that I at least want to be transparent about why I possibly jumped the shark but forgot to add that! But regardless I hope people kind of get where I was coming from, even if they don't agree.
I don't really find the Panera Kingdom guy's dismissive attitude towards "creative theories" (wtf does this even mean?) like "5G poisoning" when we've known long before 5G was deployed that microwave radiation has a huge impact on our health. There are countless studies. It's this kind of one-track-mind paradigm that makes people in science insufferable.
Thank you for allowing us to follow your thought process on LNPs. *This* is a scientific journey.