Daniel Dvorkin @medigoth@qoto.org

The system is working as designed.

This seems like sound advice.

#Covid #lockdowns and #vaccines saved almost a million lives in the US over the last four years. There's the really important part. If you stop reading now, remember that. Everything else is commentary.

The number will grow over time, because covid is still killing people. Last time I checked, it accounted for 0.4% of US deaths, 30-40 per day. Thirty or forty people who desperately wanted another year, another month, another day, another hour. Thirty or forty grieving families. Thirty or forty lifetimes of memory gone. Thirty or forty worlds entire.

Better than hundreds, or thousands, and if you don't remember those days then it's because you've made yourself forget. I can't say I blame you.

Cost, you say? *Cost*? I'm sure economists can break it down to the penny. Places I loved died, as surely as people. Ruined careers, shattered dreams, lives not ended but made less. Yes. I acknowledge this.

I say the real cost cannot be measured in money. The nineteenth crow broke us. We have collective post-covid syndrome, and it's not going away any time soon. Our sanity, not just as individuals but as a people, was maybe never that great to start with. Now it's staggering down the alley talking to itself, grabbing onto walls for support, and baby, there's no detox for that.

Some of those eight hundred thousand actively take the side of a virus against their fellow human beings. They survived not because of science or medicine or even plain luck, but because of some special virtue. They were chosen by divine favor. They came through okay, so it was never that bad. They know it was a commie plot. Whatever. You've heard it all before.

Not a majority, I still believe that. A hundred thousand? Two? Three?

*Enough*, along with tens of millions of others.

There it is, the worst cost of all. We tolerate their continued existence, these traitors to humanity, because the alternative is horror. Because we still hope, desperately, that we might be able to bring some of them around. Because they're our families and friends. Because we're better than them.

We pay for them, every day, and we will keep paying for the rest of our lives.

Next time, and there will be a next time, they'll be ready. Will you? Eight hundred thousand saved—and over a million gone. They'll do their best to add to the latter number. For *anyone* you love, whatever side they're on, stand up. Do what's right, and never stop pushing others to do the same.

Maybe it's time for me to stop banging this drum. I don't believe that, though. The next virus, or bacterium, or parasite ... it will be ready too.

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/05/09/social-distancing-plus-vaccines-prevented-800000-covid-deaths-great-cost

"How would the average #atheist react if his daughter got #cancer? Will he pray to #science?"

When my now 30-year-old son was a baby, his mother and I had reason to suspect he had a brain tumor. As it turned out, he didn’t: what he had was a benign fluid cyst that looked *remarkably* like a certain kind of tumor on x-rays and MRIs. It took the most specialized of specialists, the Air Force’s only pediatric neuro-radio-oncologist, to figure it out. That was a terrifying couple of weeks.

I did all kinds of stuff during that time. I studied the subject, taking advantage of the medical library at the base hospital where I worked. I talked with military and civilian specialists about treatment and prognosis. I discussed options and plans with his mother. I braced myself for the horrifying conversation I expected to have with my parents when I told them what was happening to their only grandchild.

You know what I didn’t do? Pray.

See, I worked in the ER. I saw a lot of prayer. Patients praying for relief of pain. Their families praying for their survival. And chaplains praying for the souls of the dead. Because the patients’ and families’ prayers never made any difference at all.

But most of our patients survived, and left the hospital reasonably healthy and whole. It wasn’t prayer that accomplished that outcome. It was our knowledge and skill. The hard work of the medics and nurses and physicians—not just taking care of patients, but for our whole careers. Late nights and early mornings, endless hours of study and practice.

Many of my colleagues prayed too. They wanted God to guide their hands, and they believed that praying would help make that happen. I’m fine with that: whatever works for you. Me, I’ll put my trust in what I can see and touch. A whole lot of people are walking around today because that trust was warranted. I have no idea if God was there when I was working on them … but I know *I* was.

So fuck you for turning other people’s very real pain and fear and death into an excuse to evangelize. If you ever need care, I’ll give it, because I’m a better person than you. God won’t save you, but I will. Chew on that for a while: I hope it tastes like ashes in your filthy mouth.

https://www.quora.com/How-would-the-average-atheist-react-if-his-daughter-got-cancer-Will-he-pray-to-science/answer/Daniel-Dvorkin-3

"#Feminists continue to tell me that #feminism advocates #equality and not #hatred of men. Sometimes, I'm not so sure but, no matter how much actual man-hatred I see by self-proclaimed feminists, they assure me that it's about equality only."

"'There is no cause so noble it will not attract fuckheads.' Yes, man-hating feminists exist. Most women I interact with in daily life are feminists, including my fiancee, my mother, and a number of close friends, and I’m absolutely sure none of them hate me. Like any political or social movement, feminism is best defined by what the *majority* of the people claiming that label say and do."

"Then let the majority raise their voice against the minority. If they do not, the accept that opinion" [sic]

"They do. I’ve been witness to many such arguments. The problem is that, well, fuckheads are fuckheads, and tend to go on with their fuckheadedness regardless of what anyone else says. Look at all the men telling other men not to do stupid shit, and what those other men do with that advice."

Probably this is one of those conversations with no good outcome, but what the hell, I figure it's worth a try.

"You're thinking 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Now to tell you the truth, I've forgotten myself in all this excitement. But being the only way to know for sure is to open the cylinder, you've gotta ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya ... physicist?"

"Come and take it, #SCHRÖDINGER."

About the assumptions we make in #DeepTime.

It is a mistake to think of #nature as warm and cuddly. Many, perhaps most, #violent encounters between #humans and #wildlife are the result of the former treating the latter as #Disney characters.

One reason "#birds are #dinosaurs" made immediate sense to me was a vivid childhood memory: when I was about ten, I thought some #goslings were cute and wanted to pet them. #Mother #Goose had other ideas. Yeah, don't do that.

It is *equally* a mistake to assume nature is All #Killing, All The Time. Fighting takes a lot of energy, and wild animals—including our own distant ancestors—are in constant peril of #starvation. Even a minor #injury can lead to #infection and #death.

Violence is a tool of survival, to be sure, whether in #predation, self-defense, or squabbles over #territory and #mating. Unnecessary violence is a quick road to #extinction. Most animals would rather do something else, when they can.

So before you fall back on "red in tooth and claw" as a default, look for other explanations. They're usually more interesting anyway.

For once, a story about a new kind of #spacecraft #propulsion that's *not* vaporware depending on hypothetical #physics breakthroughs! Unsurprisingly, that also means it's a lot less exciting than the stuff that gets hyped as being able to take us to the #stars. Evolutionary, not revolutionary. But still pretty neat.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a60654632/next-generation-ion-thruster-nasa/

Nice overview. TL;DR: feathers are awesome. :)

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-feathers-are-one-of-evolutions-cleverest-inventions

#birds #feathers #dinosaurs

It's so cute when #creationists try to sound sciencey. Like little kids misusing big words to try to impress the grown-ups.

I just coined "#Xycophancy" to describe the thought processes of #Musk stans and I'm very proud of myself.

Their entire worldview is antebellum, so this tracks. 😐

"You think you have it bad? Lemme tell ya ..."

Stop. Nothing good comes after that.

Behold, a ... I got nothin'.

Holy shit, the #House passed a solid #Ukraine aid bill. Miracles can happen.

Of course they could have passed the #Senate version weeks ago [1] but this is, fortunately, a case where "better late than never" really does apply. Ukraine has suffered terribly due to the pointless delay, but I have a reasonable expectation the Senate will pass it quickly, #Biden will sign it immediately, and the aid will be on its way in short order. If nothing else, this should put a serious dent in #Russian plans for a late spring / summer #offensive.

I have no idea what's going on in #Johnson's head [2]. If he wants to be yet another #Putin / #Trump tool [3] like so much of the #Republican Party clearly does, he could have kept delaying practically forever. If he wants to do what's best for the country, for any value of "best," he should have done that already. Ukraine will benefit from this aid, absolutely. The benefit would have been considerably greater if Ukrainian cities hadn't suffered under Russian #missile strikes without adequate air defenses and Ukrainian soldiers had enough #artillery shells to break up Russian formations at the front.

Oh yeah: *please* do not turn this into a discussion about Israel and Palestine. That conversation is going on elsewhere, all over the entire internet. Plenty of forums to say your piece. My post isn't one of them. I'm talking about Ukraine here, and that's all.

[1] Months? I've lost track.

[2] Huh-huh, huh-huh.

[3] These lines just write themselves.

In light of this, the current "#HellChicken" a.k.a. #Anzu should be promoted to Hell Turkey, while the as-yet-unnamed small variety should be Hell Cornish Game Hen.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/newly-identified-hell-chicken-species-helps-explain-time-of-the-dinosaurs

I see a lot of people talking about #science as a #religion, or the closely related idea of "#scientism," the purported ideology that says science is the only way to know things. Oh, I'm not talking about *you*, they'll solemnly assure anyone who objects. Naturally you know better. Just ... you know ... them. Those people, out there. The great unwashed. On the #internet, nobody knows how long it's been since you took a shower.

You know what I hardly ever see? The phenomenon in question.

There are people who think that way. Yes. Ideologues of science—hardly if ever #scientists themselves—who invoke The #Scientific Method™ (that's a whole 'nother rant) as the be-all and end-all justification for whatever nonsense they spew. Such posts and comments have crossed my feed a time or two. But they are *vastly* outnumbered by those who complain about them, at least where I can see both groups. I have no reason to believe my experience is atypical in this regard.

As a scientist myself, I think science is a very good way to understand certain things. In my field, it's the best way to know what makes you sick, and hopefully what will make you better. There are other ways to learn these things, sure, and many of them can be useful places to *start*. If you don't end up with a #clinical #trial sooner or later, you're as likely to kill as cure.

To know what we're seeing when we look up at the lights in the sky. How the natural world around us, of which we're a part whether we like it or not, changes and how we both affect and are affected by that change. What came before us, and what might come after. The fundamental building blocks of reality. All these *require* science for real understanding. If you try to puzzle them out any other way, you may learn something, but you'll also fill your head with a lot of nonsense. Sorting the wheat from the chaff later is a lot harder than doing it right the first time.

Other questions are at least *amenable* to scientific inquiry, although that process itself may not be enough. What my fiancee does as a #historian looks, to me, a lot like what I do as a #biomedical #researcher. Make observations, construct #hypotheses, gather evidence, test and revise. (And revise, and revise, and ...) But #history vanishes every minute. What's left is always fragmentary, and shaped by the interactions of modern minds with those long since gone to dust. There will never be an objective truth, only the truest story that can be told.

And then there are things beyond any kind of quantitative analysis, or even rigorous qualitative description. We may be able to agree on what makes a true story, more or less, but what makes a *good* one? That's inherently personal. A happy marriage, a tasty meal, a satisfying job—only we can define what these goals mean for ourselves. Science may at best, occasionally, provide vague guidelines. Even then, my advice will not determine your experience.

My perspective is unusual in one key way, sure: not too many people do science for a living, at least not compared to other jobs. With regards to the way people *talk* about science, I think it's not unusual at all, except maybe that I pay particular attention.

The division above—things that clearly belong in science's domain, things that clearly don't, and a whole bunch in the middle—is a whole lot more common than the idea of science as the One True. It's at least *somewhat* more common than blanket rejection of science too, but not as much as it should be. That's also a rant for another time.

Which all makes me wonder what people who never miss a chance to bring up "scientism" and science-as-religion get out of it.