1. So I have a few thoughts on Richard A. Epstein, shoddy contrarian arguments about coronavirus pandemic, the anti-empiricism of Austrian economics, the popularity of dubious neo-Larmarckian biology among conservatives, John Lukacs, & the science fiction of Gene Wolfe.
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11. It's also what Epstein meant when he said, "I’m not an empiricist." In the Austrian tradition, he believes theoretical approach of Hayek has more explanatory power than mere evidence-based models of epidemiologists.
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12. Epstein is not just a lone crackpot whose paper got widely read in GOP circles. Epstein has had an impact because he's squarely in influential overlapping intellectual networks: Austrian economics, Chicago economics, Federalist Society, Hoover Institution, etc.
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13. More thoughts on Epstein's intellectual network here:https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/epstein-trump-coronavirus-crackpot/ …
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14. Final point: we need a reckoning not just with Epstein but all the institutions that made Epstein possible. They claim to serve the public interest but have helped deranged pseudoscience spread (and not just in this pandemic).
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Viruses do evolve (though *not* "quickly") to be less dangerous in their host population, because that works out well for the virus. But that's less true if there's another host population, in which the virus is less dangerous, to act as a reservoir. And this is a zoonotic virus.
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Also covid19 has a very long incubation period, asymptomatic transmission, and a long period to death/recovery once you get sick. So, plenty of time for the virus to spread, even if it's frequently lethal to its host.
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This is an interesting claim but you didn’t really give us any reasons for thinking it’s true.
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