Unfortunately, the idea that the former communist world and developing countries can outperform America and western Europe in public health fits a certain ideological predisposition. We want the virus to dunk on the US health care system! So too few people are asking questions
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If we don't pay attention to the baffling geographical discrepancies in the impact of this disease, then we will simply be ceding this ground to whatever "covid truthers" eventually emerge as a cohesive political force, and it will be infinitely harder to talk about this sanely
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For the time being, you can still say "the central dogma of how major outbreaks happen and are contained doesn't seem to fit the facts" and not be declaring your political allegiance to something. But that window is closing. Already I'm getting called a right-winger! (Hail hydra)
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Replying to @Pinboard
I think a lot of qualified epidemiologists *are* trying to find the answer to this question. The people you’re shouting at on Twitter aren’t among them. The only thing you’re going to accomplish by shouting here is to encourage an uninformed political debate.
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Replying to @matthew_d_green
I'm not shouting at anyone. And there's lots of great epidemiologists on Twitter—more every day.pic.twitter.com/r0mCeDDkyD
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Replying to @Pinboard
But my serious question is: what’s the purpose of your exhortation? Is the goal to inspire people to solve the mystery? To be aware that there is a mystery so that they temper their expectations? To convince people that they need a career change? To argue against lockdowns?
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Replying to @matthew_d_green @Pinboard
It’s totally fine to just ask a question. But your tweets seem to convey urgency.
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Replying to @matthew_d_green
Just on a psychological level, I have an elderly mom and I am really worried about her getting sick. If there is some factor moderating this pandemic, that is wonderful news and we should be pursuing it vigorously. This is my one available venue to say that, so I say it.
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Replying to @Pinboard @matthew_d_green
I think there is an element of groupthink in the way American journalists have covered the story, and sometimes you can break through groupthink by appealing to a different instinct of this herd animal—the hunger for alternative takes.
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Replying to @Pinboard
There’s a lot of hunger for “virus isn’t so dangerous, look at country X” takes over here in the US. Trust me. The problem is that those takes don’t result in good health science. They result in dudes with AK47s demanding to go out to bars.
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What I am saying is that this virus behaves in surprising ways, and people should be more surprised. Negative evidence is important even if it is politically inconvenient.
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Replying to @Pinboard
The virus is a goddamn pain in the ass. The fact that it’s capricious and unpredictable is a problem, because it makes the cost of prevention that much higher and more politically risky.
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