chrisrussell

Personally, I disagree somewhat with the heading that “Groupthink in science isn’t a problem; it’s a myth.”

In principle, yes. In practice, Groupthink happens whenever careers, funding, prestige, or consensus incentives push people to ‘not rock the boat’. Science has mechanisms to counter this, but those mechanisms are imperfect.…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Groupthink in science isn’t a problem; it’s a myth.

From my experience, if you want to convince a scientist of new ideas, they are often willing to listen, as long as you come with a convincing argument.  I find this is very different from politics or religion.

The enemy is where someone doesn’t like to admit they…[Read more]

This is going to be a hugely successful album. Millions of plays already on Spotify. Not my usual scene but the musicianship is top class.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux_(Rosal%C3%ADa_album)

There’s no evidence that a cartel vs government conflict is directly causing measles vaccine supply problems in Mexico. But cartel control of territory does indirectly make healthcare delivery harder in some regions. So the relationship is indirect and structural, not the main driver. Public-health workers sometimes avoid cartel-dominated areas. T…[Read more]

Reg,

You got much closer to answering the questions, although PopeBeanie’s UNICEF link did also link to a Conversation article detailing the criteria for elimination status.

https://theconversation.com/canada-loses-its-official-measles-free-status-and-the-us-will-follow-soon-as-vaccination-rates-fall-269090

Thank you for clarifying that per…[Read more]

Did I not answer your questions? Oh, I didn’t! I would call them secondary to the main questions about R nought, the anti-vax movement, and flaws or laziness in human cognition.

@PopeBeanie – Yes, you are correct with the basics of ‘R Nought (12-18). But it does not explain why Canada lost elimination status before the US. But elimination statu…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
This story prompts more questions than answers.

I would start with the primary causes and facts, first.

The “R nought” factor for measles is estimated to be between 12 and 18, meaning on average in a fully susceptible population, an infected person will infect 12 to 18 other people. This leads to an estimate that a…[Read more]

Reg,

Canada beats the USA to become the first country in the Americas to lose its measles elimination status.

This story prompts more questions than answers.

Why would Canada lose it’s elimination status for Measles before the U S.? Would it be because of Canada’s lower population and hence greater per capita infection?

And why would a…[Read more]

Cheers Strega! Hope all is good with you!

Thanks Reg!!

Have a great week!

A wise man is quoted:

Once you no longer reserve a hidden compartment in your reasoning for “maybe there’s a divine exception,” the entire field of view opens up. You stop having to protect contradictions, and patterns that were once blurred by reverence or taboo become visible.
I don’t carry a residual conceptual veto. When you remove that in…[Read more]

Pope, that is a decent mini & semi rant.

As the nation declines the exigency for the Trump takeover is accelerated. In other words he must seize power before it is too late. Things get too FUBAR and most of his support disappears. Independents almost entirely i would think. And even a significant segment of his hard core backers. No way he is…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
They don’t much care about democracy.

I still have hope they can shed their cult uniforms. They surprised me with their gullibility and falling for a malignant narcissistic style of self-confidence, arrogance, and bullshit “solutions that will save America”, and they WILL suffer some consequences when it hits rural America e…[Read more]

Pope i don’t think the great majority of MAGA care what he does. Only thing that seemed to be an issue for them….Epstein bar virus.

I cited a poll about the supporter’s and their proclivities concerning King Trump. They don’t much care about democracy.

I had Mr. Lloyd for 7th grade social studies. Pretty sure my teacher would not have had the courage to look the lefty’s in the eye.

Churchill would roll over on his cloud and fall through a wormhole into a different dimension to avoid the stench.

Once you no longer reserve a hidden compartment in your reasoning for “maybe there’s a divine exception,” the entire field of view opens up. You stop having to protect contradictions, and patterns that were once blurred by reverence or taboo become visible. I don’t carry a residual conceptual veto. When you remove that invisible constraint of ma…[Read more]

Thanks, Reg!

Have a great week!

Reg,

@Enco – It could be that Tucker Carlson made a balls of his testosterone booster with too much testicle tanning?

Before that, I think first the ZYN™ then the ALP™ Nicotine Pouches blocked the blood flow to both of his heads, which would probably explain everything not right about Tucker Carlson, right down to his out-of-nowhere cackling a…[Read more]