onyangomakagutu

Jake,

You don’t have to believe that humans are a special Divine Creation to see that the apes didn’t write a book or make a documentary on Jane Goodall instead of vice-versa.

Only a small difference in DNA, but what a difference a DNA makes.

Reg and Fellow Unbelievers,

“Groupthink in science isn’t a problem; it’s a myth.”

Science isn’t groupthink, but scientists can and do engage in groupthink and delusion like other humans.

Witness Francis Collins, who, though he headed the Human Genome Project, somehow still embraces the 3000-year-old groupthink called Creationism, not to ment…[Read more]

Some new science on gene editing…..

Summary from AI;

Most rare diseases aren’t “rare” in aggregate — 400 million people worldwide have one.
But each specific mutation is rare, so big pharma won’t touch them because the economics are hopeless.

Liu’s new approach (PERT) is a mutation-agnostic gene-editing engine for diseases caused by prematur…[Read more]

Oh and i should adduce cuz what the deuce that Goodall herself was a theist. I was disappointed to learn of her blind spot. But there it was. And the leak on her head was a reference to Leakey. Not saying Richard Leakey had a big giant prostate and no matter how much he shook the last dribble ended up in his…

That was not autobiographical. Ok…[Read more]

Lets call it group-think. Come on man.

Are scientists as vulnerable to that oh so human attribute? Probably not but it aint exactly inexistent.

The thing has never left me is how i would sit there in elementary school through some boring classes on how we homo sapiens were unique in the animal kingdom. Yeah BS i thought. We aint giving other…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Scientists can and do cling to pet theories.

Admitting error is the ideal but defending one’s career is the reality. The embarrassment cost is tiny, but the career costs can be enormous.

There have been scientists who continue to push false and even harmful theories even after they’ve been completely discredited, s…[Read more]

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]