There it is … science over fiction!
That was Torben’s well-turned phrase about Biden’s pledge to put science at the forefront of his administration. Biden has elevated the role of science advisor to a cabinet-level postition and believes respect for “science, facts, and the truth” is necessary if we are to deal with the many problems facing us. I wish him, and all of us, the best of luck.
I used to laugh at Ashleigh Brilliant’s,
I have given up my search for truth. Now I’m looking for a good fantasy.
But that’s because my fantasies were always light-hearted and friendly. So many of the ones circulating now are scary and dangerous.
Fingers crossed!
January 16, 2021
thoughtful and intelligent respect for science?
what a grand new idea! LOL! xoxo
🙂
I can’t wait till Biden’s new five stage Covid plan starts, it sounds so good!
Apparently it will take money to implement, so we have to see what Congress will do. Fingers crossed.
I also like his saying,
I have to say that facts and truth are things that most politicians know very little about.
Politicians are known for spinning the truth, but out and out lying has been a lot worse lately.
Let’s hope it all goes ahead and your nation of ordinary folks get ahead of this situation without too many roadblocks to overcome…
There will be a lot of roadblocks…our country and Congress are divided with a lot of bad feelings.
There will also be differences of opinion about what the best course of action is. No one really knows.
Sadly, I don’t trust any politician these days. And although it sounds good that Biden wants to give everybody a fat check (including illegals), the fact of the matter is that “somebody” has to pay for it in the end. That (in my opinion) will either be we the taxpayers or CHINA. As it is, we owe more money to China than we can ever repay and I also recently found out that China owns a big chunk of the farmland in America. There is so much we the citizens do not know about what goes on in Washington. I’d love to wipe the slate clean and elect a whole new bunch. Might not be any better but I don’t think it could be any worse. Now I’ll get off my soapbox!!!! Have a lovely weekend everyone. (And although I didn’t vote for him, I am already praying that Biden will be a good president.)
Yes, the debt is scary. I don’t envy Biden…a few years ago a fellow said he thought the job of president was too big for one person. I’m a cheerful pessimist, but I am relieved that the new White House respects science and facts. China is investing a lot in science and technology, and we’ll be left in the dust if we can’t keep up.
Who was behind getting this shot out there in record time? We are in line for getting it shortly.
IF masks work, why aren’t they working?
If you are terrified of getting COVID stay home.
You know how you can smell cigarette smoke, those particles are bigger than the virus.
When this first started I heard a doctor say , wearing a mask with this virus is like trying to keep a mosquito out with a chain link fence.
We were supposed to be washing these masks daily, not a peep of that now.
1 percent of people who get COVID die 94
percent of the people who die with COVID were going to die anyway according to Johns Hopkins.
In a clinical study with
Ivermectin 0 out of 1000 people they treated got COVID, the 1000 they didn’t treat ,580 got it.
Hospitals get 38,000 dollars per COVID patient.
1 person in household gets it they count all people in house as positive for it.
You mess with your face more now with a mask than ever before.
Why don’t we have to wear safety glasses because the eyes are the most susceptible to the virus entering them.
Get the shot along with herd immunity and it will all settle down.
Biden is just in time to claim that as his victory.
I disagree, but it doesn’t matter.
Jean,
I am sorry.
In the beginning I was waiting for facts,so I could make my own decision on what I thought was best.
I have a mind and am pretty good at taking facts and drawing the right conclusion
But, I feel I have been lied to so many times now. That it is frustrating trying to make the right decision on anything. The lies seem to be just flowing like water in a stream.
The truth , not to be found and if it is, it is so surrounded by lies that you can’t trust even the truth.
Trust to me is hard to come by right now.
I normally don’t take the flu shot , but this shot is 95+ percent effective and it is just for this one strain of virus(the one we are dealing with)
Unlike a flu shot where they are just guessing which flu will be around that year and put 2 or 3 in that shot.
Do you have a blog post about your thoughts on the COVID 19 I will be glad to read it and try to straighten out the thoughts of mine you disagree with. I really have an open mind and if facts are to be had , I would love to know them. Or at least the route you went to come to your conclusions. 🙂
The CDC messed up in the beginning by saying masks should be reserved for health care workers. And it messed up by trying to develop its own test for tracking COVID. As I understand it now, and it could be wrong, masks are best for protecting other people, so Andy and I are pleased that our grocery store requires masks and is following the state rule limiting the number of people in at any one time. We never bothered to wipe down packages, etc. but did wash our hands when we got home. Andy and I used to enjoy shopping together every other day, now he goes to our regular supermarket in the morning when there aren’t many people, and no lines to get in, and I go to the new Natural Grocers for fresh produce when we need it. That store is well ventilated and not crowded. It’s easy to socially distance. I do believe masks and socially distancing cuts down on the risk. I read a great article once, wish I could find it for you, that talked about the Swiss cheese approach to protecting ourselves. It said there isn’t one practice that will protect us, but if we do a lot of things that each cut our risk we decrease the odds of getting infected.
I haven’t read that eyes are the most susceptible, I read it’s the nose and throat. If I read more about that I’ll email you.
About the number of people who die of COVID. When I look at the numbers it seems to be between one and two percent. But some people don’t completely recover for months if ever. We don’t know enough yet to tell. And one big worry is overwhelming hospitals, leading to a lot more deaths not only from COVID but from other life-threatening problems.
Who was behind getting it out so quickly? Years of research done in the past plus, as I understand it, a lot of government money to speed the process up. Then the clinical trials to try to be sure it worked without serious side effects. Rushing that would scare people off from getting the vaccines. It’s complicated. Enough for now! Except to say science doesn’t have answers in new situations. The best it can do is observe, try things, and try to figure out what the reality is. The new mutants are a potential problem. One spreads a lot faster but apparently the vaccines will still work if we get them distributed fast enough, but the new South African one may be a different story. And the virus will continue to mutate and apparently here in the U.S. we’re not looking at those changes. It’s complicated.
I agree it is VERY complicated. That is part of what has thrown me for such a loop in what to do and how to proceed.
I am staying home mostly, for now.
I do like to hear how others are coming to their conclusions on what is best to do and understanding their thought process on it. What they are considering . I truly want to understand. I don’t like being so uncertain in my opinions. I use facts and they are hard to come by.
I just looked up ivermectin: https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/ivermectin-treat-covid-19-coronavirus-3535912/ If drugs.com is a reputable site apparently they are seriously studying it as a treatment.
Thanks for mentioning it!
I wonder, will the person he fills this position with have to be an actual scientist?
Not only a scientist, but a brilliant one who not only has done innovative research but has gotten scientists of different disciplines to work together to find new solutions to problems. (Eric Lander.)
Agree with Ann! Lke the lady advised, I’m fastening my seat belt.
It’s going to be a mess. But I’m still thrilled that Biden respects science and facts, even though a lot of people don’t.
Science is the heart of survival…but facts & fiction factor highly in government. I think common sense and instinct is underrated.
Could you give specifics? When you talk of instincts I think of people facing one of their favorite treats. Instincts say eat it, worry about the consequences later. Too much of that can have serious health problems.
Like all animals instinct could be many things, I think survival would be #1. I don’t think eating a favorite would be an instinct, that to me would be not surviving, but more or less (for lack of better word, glutton or self punishment). Fear would be another instinct.
Also, apparently the future of computing will rely on quantum mechanics. If anything violates our instincts and common sense it’s that field. Ignore it at our peril. A few years ago Science Magazine had a huge section of ads for jobs in China. We’re starting to see that again, not as large a section, but it still shows how much their government is investing in science and technology.
About people’s love for fat and sweets, that could have been a survival trait when the food supply was erratic. Pile on the calories during the good times to increase chances of survival when food was scarce. Maybe conditions changed faster than humans did. No way of proving it, but it’s an interesting thought.
If only there was more “science, facts and the truth” amid all the nonsense propagated by the British media and social media. There are thousands of people out there who still insist the virus is no worse than flu, or that the virus doesn’t exist, or that lockdowns and face masks are a waste of time, or that vaccines are dangerous. And they’re given ample space in mainstream newspapers to air their idiotic views.
What newspapers do you read? Some are more reliable than others, so it bothers me when the media are all lumped together. As far as lockdowns are concerned some honest people think the costs are too high. I think Sweden has tried to avoid them but has now decided they have been too relaxed. I haven’t checked that recently. I appreciate it when I find articles about what is and isn’t working in other countries and even in different states. It gives a way of checking some of our assumptions, seeing pros and cons.
I agree that a lot of false ideas are being spread, especially that the virus doesn’t even exist. And in some places in the states wearing a face mask can get a hostile reaction. Apparently one health care worker got attacked by a patient in the hospital for wearing protective gear…the patient yelled the virus was all a hoax. Human nature in action can be scary!
I agree some newspapers are more reliable than others, and on the whole the mainstream media support the government and health experts. But there are some well-known commentators who have consistently maintained that the virus is no worse than flu, that it’ll all disappear of its own accord within weeks etc. etc. I’m thinking of Julia Hartley Brewer, Allison Pearson, Ross Clark, Sunetra Gupta, Toby Young et al who are regularly given a platform by newspapers.
Thanks. The trouble is sensational stuff sells. Most people think facts are boring.
I’m so encouraged by Biden’s picks for his cabinet.
We’ll have to see how it turns out. Fingers crossed.
B has an interesting point of view. The rest of you mock his perspective. But it is obvious that he has done a great deal of research. Have the rest of you done that, or just accepted the slant the media presents, the status quo? I believe that the next weeks and months will present more views that challenge what most people believe. You call it “science”. It may turn up to be something else.
Who is mocking? Who do you include in “the media”? What do you think science is? If you look at the history of science it’s all about challenging what people believe. Have you ever looked at quantum mechanics? Andy and I were both physics majors (he has a Ph.D.) and we cheerfully admit it blows our minds.
The thing about a scientist is they have to have facts to prove something to them, not just an opinion. Science has to proven to them or by them.
B,
That’s why I majored in science (physics). When I was in high school I would listen to rhetoric/opinions/arguments and realized I didn’t have enough facts to satisfy me. That approach was too narrow and confining. I also love history and studied that on my own. Historians may differ in their interpretations, but mostly they agree on what happened. I try to follow what’s going on in the world now, from reliable sources, because it’s fascinating (and scary!) and having a broader view helps put things in perspective.
Thanks for commenting. 🙂
I meant that as a good thing, about a scientist.
B,
I understood that and I agree with you.
That is why I am a little hesitant for Biden to make this position political by making it a cabinet position. I am thinking it needs to be an independent of politics position, so we can more trust the person with facts /science.
You need the best most qualified person he can find to do this job be man woman or computer. 🙂
I think Biden wants to build his policies on facts…if I’m wrong we’ll know soon enough. I think he’ll have trouble implementing the policies, but that’s another matter. We will just have to see.