thistlebloom
Garden Master
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2010
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'How many friends, and how many TEG members, are we going to lose over this thread???
Science... It is hard to use science as an argument, when so many scientists, doctors, and health professionals who question the science of current policies are being censored. These educated professionals are being denied the right to publicly debate their assertions - and open debate, and peer review, are part of the scientific method. In many cases, these people are risking their lives & careers by coming forward, only to be derided as "conspiracy theorists". Real science should not be afraid to confront opposing views which are supported by facts, and let the truth speak for itself. When the first recourse of those in authority (and those in the media) is to use personal attacks, coercion, or censorship to attack the messenger - rather than debate the message - it calls the validity of the prevailing "science" into question. Science is - or should be - determined by factual debate, not by mob rule.
The "science" has shifted often in the course of this pandemic. The CDC has several times changed its policy on masks, from initially stating that only N-95 masks offered protection, to telling people not to wear masks, to stating that cloth & procedure masks offer protection. There are studies that scientifically refute the effectiveness of all but N-95 masks, (which was the CDC's original position) but those studies are now being suppressed. There are also studies that refute the whole concept of 6-foot "social distancing"... and I have yet to see scientific evidence to suggest that distance is anything but arbitrary. It is hard to quote those studies, when social media keeps deleting them as 'false' - without evidence. The Govt has also chosen to disregard the overwhelming scientific evidence from around the world that treatment of Hydroxychloroquine can save lives, and declared a medication found to be 'safe' since 1955 to suddenly be unsafe... apparently for purely political reasons. In a just world, with hundreds of thousands perhaps dying needlessly, that would be investigated.
It is well & good to say "I follow the science"... but not to use that as a cudgel to attack anyone who disagrees with current policy, or your own personal beliefs. Personal insult makes few converts. Science has demonstrably become politically corrupted, to the point where it has sometimes morphed into dogma - and to the detriment of us all, it has lost the trust of many because of that. That people have become distrustful of supposedly science-based policy in this overly-politicized environment does not necessarily make them troglodytes, morons, or "anti science". While some arguments being advanced by anti-mask people are clearly irrational, a healthy skepticism of current policy is justified... especially given that the steadily rising death toll seems to indicate current policy may not be based upon the best science.
And about that rising death toll... it shouldn't be casually blamed on just those who refuse to follow the rules. Especially given that too often, those who set those rules for others, don't seem to themselves hold those rules in high regard.
Wow. Thank you Zeedman. I have studiously avoided this thread and mostly this site because of the cudgeling. I am not articulate and can not easily translate what I learn into intelligible communication. You have very
clearly set down what has been percolating in my head since this whole disaster started.
I appreciate that.