"Actual" scientific authorities understand that consensus and uniformity of thought are antithetical to legitimate science.

Yes, quackery is bad, but not any moreso than the scientists that work for the Monsantos in this world. So be wary of "experts". Be very, very wary.

Study results are what they are no matter who's behind it, the important thing is what methods are used. Problem is, most people can't tell the difference between a good study and a bad one. Instead, authorities tend to use the appeal to authority fallacy and useful idiots think that's how science works and parrot their appeal to authority due to lack of understanding. Even with a good study with reliable results, we still have to interpret the results correctly and put them in the right context for it to be of any use.

Those who argue beLieVe SciENCe and so on are no better than religious fanatics, they argue from pure belief and appeal to authority just like the group they so often despise.

Well GameStop is batting a 1000. They are staying open despite the quarantine by stating they are an essential business and when the police show up they have some kind of documentation stating they are above the law and they can stay open. I can understand why they are doing it which is because they are doing so poor financially if they closed for a couple of weeks they will never reopen. But I don't agree with what they are doing.

to all the russian trolls ,pls post after this post

I received this email from a close friend of mine, and have met the person who sent it to him. While I cannot personally verify, or authenticate the the information itself, I am just going to share it with you guys, to take from it what you will. It at least seems to make some sense, and offers an explanation as to why this particular virus strain is so much more dangerous then the usual seasonal flu. Again, take from it what you will.....

As I received it:


Received this from an acquaintance whose husband got a PhD from Columbia.
She is also well schooled.

To all.... stay healthy.

Thanks XXXX XXXXXXX for sharing:

“Best explanation I have read about the corona virus: Feeling confused as to why Coronavirus is a bigger deal than Seasonal flu? Here it is in a nutshell. I hope this helps. Feel free to share this to others who don’t understand... It has to do with RNA sequencing.... I.e. genetics. Seasonal flu is an “all human virus”. The DNA/RNA chains that make up the virus are recognized by the human immune system. This means that your body has some immunity to it before it comes around each year... you get immunity two ways...through exposure to a virus, or by getting a flu shot.
Novel viruses, come from animals.... the WHO tracks novel viruses in animals, (sometimes for years watching for mutations). Usually these viruses only transfer from animal to animal (pigs in the case of H1N1) (birds in the case of the Spanish flu). But once, one of these animal viruses mutates, and starts to transfer from animals to humans... then it’s a problem, Why? Because we have no natural or acquired immunity.. the RNA sequencing of the genes inside the virus isn’t human, and the human immune system doesn’t recognize it so, we can’t fight it off.
Now.... sometimes, the mutation only allows transfer from animal to human, for years it’s only transmission is from an infected animal to a human before it finally mutates so that it can now transfer human to human... once that happens..we have a new contagion phase. And depending on the fashion of this new mutation, thats what decides how contagious, or how deadly it’s gonna be..
H1N1 was deadly....but it did not mutate in a way that was as deadly as the Spanish flu. It’s RNA was slower to mutate and it attacked its host differently, too. Fast forward. Now, here comes this Coronavirus... it existed in animals only, for nobody knows how long...but one day, at an animal market, in Wuhan China, in December 2019, it mutated and made the jump from animal to people. At first, only animals could give it to a person... But here is the scary part.... in just TWO WEEKS it mutated again and gained the ability to jump from human to human. Scientists call this quick ability, “slippery”
This Coronavirus, not being in any form a “human” virus (whereas we would all have some natural or acquired immunity). Took off like a rocket. And this was because, Humans have no known immunity...doctors have no known medicines for it. And it just so happens that this particular mutated animal virus, changed itself in such a way the way that it causes great damage to human lungs.. That’s why Coronavirus is different from seasonal flu, or H1N1 or any other type of influenza.... this one is slippery AF. And it’s a lung eater...And, it’s already mutated AGAIN, so that we now have two strains to deal with, strain s, and strain L....which makes it twice as hard to develop a vaccine.
We really have no tools in our shed, with this. History has shown that fast and immediate closings of public places has helped in the past pandemics. Philadelphia and Baltimore were reluctant to close events in 1918 and they were the hardest hit in the US during the Spanish Flu.
Factoid: Henry VIII stayed in his room and allowed no one near him, till the Black Plague passed...(honestly...I understand him so much better now). Just like us, he had no tools in his shed, except social isolation... And let me end by saying....right now it’s hitting older folks harder... but this genome is so slippery...if it mutates again (and it will). Who is to say, what it will do next.
Be smart folks... acting like you’re unafraid is so not sexy right now. #flattenthecurve. Stay home folks... and share this to those that just are not catching on.”

I honestly don't understand what is being argued here.
Lets say you have two statements about how to deal with this corona virus. One is an official statement from the WHO or NHS (poor NHS) or CDC (poor CDC), and one is from a facebook post or gog forum post. Neither make reference to any other source. Both deal with subjects that you (and the vast majority of people) are not knowledgeable about. They are both in opposition to each other, and since we're dealing with the covid19, doing something wrong can lead to more infections and even deaths.

Would you follow the information in the facebook post or gog post, or would you follow the information from the CDC or WHO? Would you propagate the information that the CDC or WHO released, or that from the facebook post. Which one would you post the information of if you saw the other being propagated? Which would you chide people for propagating?

It's all very well to say "Oh, I would do my due diligence and research the topic", but the vast majority of people are not equipped for that sort of research. The vast majority of people don't care about that research. Many people just want to hear their own voice, so they're willing to spread whatever mis/information comes their way, and can lead it to becoming viral.

Do you disagree with me when I say, in response to people posting baseless information that contradicts what the CDC and WHO recommend (socially distance yourself, don't go out except for essential work, disinfect surfaces, etc.), to be careful with the spread of misinformation? If you don't, then...what are you arguing about?

Things to do and not to do, that I was told by Doctors:


-Drinking alcohol. (but don't exaggerate with it)
-Drinking Lemon juice.
-Sunlight is good for you.
-UV light.
-Exercise, jogging, etc..

*If you're smoking cigarettes, and that's important, you need to stop! Get a vapor instead. By smoking, you make your lungs vulnerable and weak.

Stay healthy!

Looks like I wasn't saying false things considering your post, though I think I need to change my mind from the whole "only 500k people will be infected" stance. It seem that things are going to become much worse by several magnitudes now, at least if you follow some of the news.

But as long as people stick to the advice from the WHO, things should get over fairly quickly. Also as of today, some chinese provinces lifted the curfew/lockdown and things are looking better and better for them, as long as no other snowball is happening at least.

Not if you can actually read the studies. Most religous fanatics don't know the ins and outs of the bible or religious history. It doesn't directly correlate and is thus not directly compareable.

Besides, science, or simple deductive observations from the data points made through logical conclusion we have established is basically the only thing that matters regarding this entire subject. Also science is the reason you were able to post this in the first place my good friend :>! Science might be slow (as in, it takes time to come up with solutions), but it is by far not only different but more accurate than many religious perspectives, simply because the focus of religion and spirituality is very much different then modern hard epistemology. And that comes from someone who actually is quite a religious person. You can't compare the two, doing so is nonsense.

EDIT: In more positive news it also looks like more than 100.000 people seem to have been cured and/or have recovered, though I think the real number is much higher (so is the number of people who think that they've just gotten the flu, even though they have a very mild case of covid-19 instead).

Midwest Update #5

My state and 2 others are "Shelter in Place" we are not to leave under threat of arrest unless absolutely critical. Only the most essential of jobs are allowed to be done. Everything is shutdown but food, medicine, and construction stores for contractors/repair men, and some necessary Infrastructure.

So it's now very close to Italy but not there just yet. They might "fully" shut down everything once the National Guard and Army get here. The military have taken over some rail lines now, a major one is now under their full jurisdiction.

List of Critical Workforce HERE

On a happy note: I found toilet paper and wine!

This is all China's fault.

You could start with this and treat the virus it as if it was something far worse.
https://gloshenunt.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/biohazard-suit1.jpg
The irony of fakenews on a fakenews website.

You probably misunderstood me, I don't disagree with what you're saying, I'm criticizing those who don't read or can't understand studies properly and instead fall back on appealing to authority and blind faith in those authorities.

The thing those who appeal to authority has in common with religious fanatics is that they have chosen an authority to believe blindly since they don't understand it themselves, thus making them vulnerable to a bad interpretation of studies or downright lying. The only thing that differentiates these people from religious fanatics is that religious nuts believe blindly in priests on the basis of authority, while people who "believe in science" believe in their priests (professors). If it had been 80 years ago, these people would have shunned those who went against the priest instead of those that went against scientific authorities.

If you just accept something on the basis of authority, you're doing a leap of faith no matter if you choose a professor or a priest. The professor is probably right more often than not, but nobody is above bias or lying for personal gain.

So I'm not against science, quite the opposite, I'm just saying that people should be humble enough to admit they don't know when they truly don't know. :)

Media and governments are enjoying the hell out of this.

Lemon juice is good for your immune system.

UV light is used in hospitals. It's a disinfection method.

You believe or not in what I said, honestly, I don't really give a flying ****. I simply shared what I was informed of by people working in the hospitals.