One problem is the people telling us to just “follow the science” rarely seem to understand the interaction between things science can and has resolved and the unknowns and trade-offs that cannot be resolved by appeals to “The Science.” They’re often using science as a talisman.https://twitter.com/jflier/status/1345417443909500931 …
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I never thought I'd personally live through such an intense period of groupthink + consensus shifts (which are not alien concepts at all for sociology!) but I hadn't realized how they'd be accompanied by this deep and immediate "always been at war with Eastasia" amnesia. Amazing.
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We spent months trying to get masks accepted as a scientifically reasonable precaution! (Now seems we can't get it across that not all masks are equal). A whole year trying to get authorities (mostly in Western nations) to emphasize ventilation and indoors as risks! lol folks.
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To emphasize: I am *completely* on the side of science—the enterprise, the method, the miracle of it all. I am in awe of what scientists have done last year. It was an annus mirabilis for science and annus horribilis for humanity. But "follow the science" has become a talisman.
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It's been an incredible year. Scientific achievements of past year are mind-blowing. I don't think it has completely sunk in, because just like anything we get used to, we're immediately taking the successes for granted. Appreciating that without worshiping its platonic shadow...
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Do you think "experts" said don't wear masks because there was a shortage & they were needed for health care workers, or did they really believe they wouldn't help protect against airborne viruses?
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I think 30% noble lie to conserve supply, 30% believing masks would make people behave recklessly, and 40% not being accustomed to having to make calls based on imperfect evidence in a crisis situation.
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The anti-mask issue from CDC and the bot ladies (PhDs & MDs) they hired to troll the web cost them all of my respect as scientists. As you say, very early numerous science papers from China showed their serious concerns about air transmission. And CDC had zero evidence that
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fomites were the main spread mechanism. I was threatened by the bot ladies with being thrown off Twitter for retweeting Chinese pre-prints with their concern that air transmission was a factor. Recently I saw tweet that no case of COVID in US has been traced to fomites.
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