And more. These things really are hard, and there is no contradiction between epistemic humility when we do not yet understand all the characteristics of a surge/variant, and advocating to do all we can to limit the suffering regardless.https://twitter.com/zchagla/status/1380147897988177920 …
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As a simple cautionary example on not being too confident about reinfections driving Brazil’s P1 surge, compare with Uruguay (no past surge, hence cannot be reinfections). Uruguay also has P1 at least rising. Maybe earlier blood-bank sero study is unrepresentative? Hard to know.pic.twitter.com/NMIDvIVKtr
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted Phil Kalina 😐 #GetVaccinated
Of course! I am honestly not drawing firm conclusions on what may or may not be happening. But the idea that one can look at ICU/death rates from *March 2020* and compare them to 2021 numbers and draw conclusions like Dr. Feigl-Ding does? Not a good idea and, imo, not helpful.https://twitter.com/pkalina/status/1380155394480340993 …
zeynep tufekci added,
Phil Kalina 😐 #GetVaccinated @pkalinaReplying to @zeynepSince last year, docs have learned to avoid putting patients on ventilators if possible. Thus patients on ventilators this year are likely to be sicker that such patients last year. Can’t this be an explanation for the rise in mortality? https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767021 …4 replies 12 retweets 150 likesShow this thread -
Anyway, things are bad enough in many places around the world. There is definitely more transmissibility with at least some of the variants—and those will soon become dominant in places with outbreaks—and maybe some other effects mixed in (a lot less certainty on that).
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We all would like more clarity—me too!—but some things aren’t easy to figure out, and for good reason. Even “paper published” (peer-reviewed or not!) isn’t the end of the story. There really is a process, and I think it works well when we let it, but it takes time and engagement.
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted
Anyway, h/t to the tweet/meme from
@jbakcoleman last night that inspired this thread.
https://twitter.com/jbakcoleman/status/1380024099083186178 …zeynep tufekci added,
This Tweet is unavailable.2 replies 1 retweet 120 likesShow this thread -
Stellar comment in response to my last newsletter (about the unfathomable celebration of Florida's "Grim Reaper" attorney dude who was harassing people on beaches): "Nuance can feel like signal-weakening, so people over-signal to push the equilibrium." https://zeynep.substack.com/p/pandemic-as-metaphor/comments …pic.twitter.com/9hVO2woq4T
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted Rajeev Venkayya MD
Adding this as it's important even though it's sprinkled in the thread. Potential confounders make confident conclusions hard—but it's also hard to rule out direct causation. We can, and should, act against exponential threats even when facing uncertainty.https://twitter.com/rvenkayya/status/1380222793577594882 …
zeynep tufekci added,
Rajeev Venkayya MDVerified account @rvenkayyaReplying to @zeynepI fully agree with your points on confounders and epistemic humility,@zeynep, but we should also explain that confounders don't rule out the proposed association (if credible). I know you understand this, but it can muddy the waters in these debates. 1/1 reply 11 retweets 67 likesShow this thread -
Too often, a call for nuance and epistemic humility is conflated with inaction & decision paralysis, leading to the "signal overboost" noted above. Ideal world: perfectly possible to state limits of certainty while advocating for real action within the context of trade-offs.
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Seeing a lot of this in Long Covid discussions, too. We should be able to say that post-viral sequelae/Long Covid is real, important and too often neglected without ignoring baseline comparisons or turning it into something so ill-defined that it becomes easier to ignore/dismiss.
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted Goldammer
Yeah sorry about that! I should just keep writing long-form about all this (I will!).https://twitter.com/Goldammerfeder/status/1380239103464247297 …
zeynep tufekci added,
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Replying to @zeynep
This is good too, tho. Get your ideas out here. Collect any worthwhile feedback from public engagement. Tweak if appropriate, shuffle where you thought of a better sequence for your narrative an hour after clicking clicked "Tweet All," THEN write the PERFECT version up long-form!
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