The situation is infuriating, some previously serious academics have built social media followings catering to the fearful and anxious and are now loathe to give that up, even if they are psychologically damaging their followers by reinforcing their false beliefs that fuel their anxiety. Personally I think it violates “do no harm.”
As you said, they should know better, behave better, and if they truly believe the unrealistically high risk they are promoting they are also suffering from an anxiety disorder as well as unintentionally reinforcing other people’s problem too.
I’m a physician who is currently enrolled in a Master of Liberal Arts program. Our class on totalitarianism exposed me to the idea that societal silencing and canceling is as dangerous and toxic, maybe worse than state sponsored censorship. State authority can physically eliminate a person, society can crush a person’s soul.
I’d argue that some of this is in a way state sponsored censorship manifest through algorithms that leverage people to do the shaming and soul crushing.
I'm pretty sure that John Stuart Mill wrote about the power of social ostracism (as opposed to formal punishment by the state) in 'On Liberty.' A good read for the times, anyway.
If society can crush a person's soul, just imagine what society + bots, deboosting, shadow banning, censorship, anonymity, curated suggestions/trends, etc. are capable of doing on Twitter! It's legitimately scary to imagine how powerful it is.
One last thought, as long as the CDC continues to promote ongoing covid alarmism Twitter is probably pushing the algorithm to favor that narrative. Of course as a side benefit anxious people probably engage more with the platform as they search out reinforcing information and attack naysayers.
Twitter is not reality. Guess these people/bots are invested in keeping us all in fear hell forever. Maybe they're all from $fizer. Let's be happy things are better and live life.
Surely California will pass a bill to fix that soon. We can't have doctors airing even mildly heretical thoughts on state-owned social media platforms!
This type of behavior drives me crazy. The response is non-data driven. I posted the data for percentage hospital bed occupancy for Covid patients by month July 2021-now in SF and SD as a comparison. The definition of a COVID hospitalization used by CaDPH is confirmed (test positive) and suspected (no test and based on the old CDC definition) combined. This over calls hospitalizations.
The real lesson: stay away from Twitter. Boycott the loonies, psychopaths, cowards, cheap-shot artists, trolls, bots...the whole sorry mess of people who hang out in that dismal bolus.
There is no "resumption" of anything. This is normal now, this is life. What you and people like me are proposing- using logic and reason to advocate going back to normal - is an anathema. You are attacking a core belief.
Vinay, Your point of a "new platform" is correct but does not go far enough. The original point of Twatter was to support all views -- it is the government, hand in hand with the woke fascism (whatever the democrats say must be right) of the screeners at Twatter that has perverted it to the morass that it currently is.
So some new platform IS needed -- Parler was serving this purpose and growing geometrically until the same government/fascist actors cancelled it. Now, smaller things like Gettr, Gab (and yes, even Truth) try to fill some of these holes but do not have the heft that Parler had.
It will take all of the "good" people of all political persuasions (hope there are more than a handful) to just stop using things like Twatter and embrace other platforms for important work, thus drawing users there, to turn this ship. Otherwise, as you and the other commenters have noted, the cesspool is self perpetuating because it attracts those who are either religious (not scientific) about these matters or who are grifters -- and it is very hard to tell the difference.
It is good to see some key folks move full time to Rumble instead of Youtube -- there is a difference slowly creeping in there. It needs to happen with Twatter as well. You should take a lead.
Tiny tyrant has been ordered to release his emails, etc. Our government colluded with social media to silence dissent. That should scare everyone, regardless of which party one supports.
I like your work, and agree enthusiastically with your approach to evaluating medical research and communications. I hope you prevail, and I silently cheer when you are noted in broader forums where non-medical thinkers will discover you.
I am amazed by the volume of work you create, but please hire a proof reader. Small typos, spelling errors, etc. will be used to discredit your efforts. Don’t let that happen.
When random people on Twitter attack, what can you do? It comes with the cesspool that is Twitter. But when MD's attack because they would rather virtue signal than help patients, it's malpractice at worse and reprehensible at best. This all started because "I'll show him! */ him = Trump */ became the dominant story line. And even after two years, it's still making people do crazy things. 50 years from now, historians will write about this, the same way we discuss Nero/Rome.
I suspect there are those among the Covid- & masks-forever Twitter pile-oners for whom the only thing that makes them feel good about themselves is getting on their high horses and berating anyone who dares voice an it’s-time-to-move-on-from-Covid view.
Are these med students independently wealthy? Are they secure in the knowledge that Eric Ding or Tyler Black are hiring? Ding has his own grift to maintain, he's not going to help people who are attacking Leanna Wen and now this doctor. A lack of self awareness and self preservation
I’m under the impression that the real bad actors here are other MDs and public health types who have built followings on promoting persistent covid catastrophism.
The med students jumping in are imitating their bad actor role models, they should know better too, but they are a little less culpable given their inexperience.
Sadly the MCAT and the A’s are common among med students, but a lot of them have to work so hard at it that they never had any time to develop much sense. The only people excluded from the damage of the GPA and MCAT armed race are the naturally talented. The rest are basically working themselves to rrobotitude in an effort to beat the other average applicants which leads to everyone dumping more and more time into application polishing while growing up.
The situation is infuriating, some previously serious academics have built social media followings catering to the fearful and anxious and are now loathe to give that up, even if they are psychologically damaging their followers by reinforcing their false beliefs that fuel their anxiety. Personally I think it violates “do no harm.”
As you said, they should know better, behave better, and if they truly believe the unrealistically high risk they are promoting they are also suffering from an anxiety disorder as well as unintentionally reinforcing other people’s problem too.
I’m a physician who is currently enrolled in a Master of Liberal Arts program. Our class on totalitarianism exposed me to the idea that societal silencing and canceling is as dangerous and toxic, maybe worse than state sponsored censorship. State authority can physically eliminate a person, society can crush a person’s soul.
I’d argue that some of this is in a way state sponsored censorship manifest through algorithms that leverage people to do the shaming and soul crushing.
I'm pretty sure that John Stuart Mill wrote about the power of social ostracism (as opposed to formal punishment by the state) in 'On Liberty.' A good read for the times, anyway.
If society can crush a person's soul, just imagine what society + bots, deboosting, shadow banning, censorship, anonymity, curated suggestions/trends, etc. are capable of doing on Twitter! It's legitimately scary to imagine how powerful it is.
Spot on. That’s the reference document for my comment
One last thought, as long as the CDC continues to promote ongoing covid alarmism Twitter is probably pushing the algorithm to favor that narrative. Of course as a side benefit anxious people probably engage more with the platform as they search out reinforcing information and attack naysayers.
Twitter is not reality. Guess these people/bots are invested in keeping us all in fear hell forever. Maybe they're all from $fizer. Let's be happy things are better and live life.
At least he gets to keep his Twitter account. Many of us have been canceled.
Surely California will pass a bill to fix that soon. We can't have doctors airing even mildly heretical thoughts on state-owned social media platforms!
This type of behavior drives me crazy. The response is non-data driven. I posted the data for percentage hospital bed occupancy for Covid patients by month July 2021-now in SF and SD as a comparison. The definition of a COVID hospitalization used by CaDPH is confirmed (test positive) and suspected (no test and based on the old CDC definition) combined. This over calls hospitalizations.
https://twitter.com/SolliesSurgery/status/1569040823748280320?s=20&t=vjZiXZZvlngq0DyTQ9CtDw
The real lesson: stay away from Twitter. Boycott the loonies, psychopaths, cowards, cheap-shot artists, trolls, bots...the whole sorry mess of people who hang out in that dismal bolus.
Dr V
There is no "resumption" of anything. This is normal now, this is life. What you and people like me are proposing- using logic and reason to advocate going back to normal - is an anathema. You are attacking a core belief.
And no, it won't be easy to coexist.
Vinay, Your point of a "new platform" is correct but does not go far enough. The original point of Twatter was to support all views -- it is the government, hand in hand with the woke fascism (whatever the democrats say must be right) of the screeners at Twatter that has perverted it to the morass that it currently is.
So some new platform IS needed -- Parler was serving this purpose and growing geometrically until the same government/fascist actors cancelled it. Now, smaller things like Gettr, Gab (and yes, even Truth) try to fill some of these holes but do not have the heft that Parler had.
It will take all of the "good" people of all political persuasions (hope there are more than a handful) to just stop using things like Twatter and embrace other platforms for important work, thus drawing users there, to turn this ship. Otherwise, as you and the other commenters have noted, the cesspool is self perpetuating because it attracts those who are either religious (not scientific) about these matters or who are grifters -- and it is very hard to tell the difference.
It is good to see some key folks move full time to Rumble instead of Youtube -- there is a difference slowly creeping in there. It needs to happen with Twatter as well. You should take a lead.
Tiny tyrant has been ordered to release his emails, etc. Our government colluded with social media to silence dissent. That should scare everyone, regardless of which party one supports.
Quit the Twit.
I like your work, and agree enthusiastically with your approach to evaluating medical research and communications. I hope you prevail, and I silently cheer when you are noted in broader forums where non-medical thinkers will discover you.
I am amazed by the volume of work you create, but please hire a proof reader. Small typos, spelling errors, etc. will be used to discredit your efforts. Don’t let that happen.
“They are afraid of going out unmasked, and they are frustrated by how many Americans have returned to normal.”
Sometimes it’s also, “If I have to wear it, then dang it, so do you!” Misery loves company mixed with jealously.
When random people on Twitter attack, what can you do? It comes with the cesspool that is Twitter. But when MD's attack because they would rather virtue signal than help patients, it's malpractice at worse and reprehensible at best. This all started because "I'll show him! */ him = Trump */ became the dominant story line. And even after two years, it's still making people do crazy things. 50 years from now, historians will write about this, the same way we discuss Nero/Rome.
I suspect there are those among the Covid- & masks-forever Twitter pile-oners for whom the only thing that makes them feel good about themselves is getting on their high horses and berating anyone who dares voice an it’s-time-to-move-on-from-Covid view.
Are these med students independently wealthy? Are they secure in the knowledge that Eric Ding or Tyler Black are hiring? Ding has his own grift to maintain, he's not going to help people who are attacking Leanna Wen and now this doctor. A lack of self awareness and self preservation
I’m under the impression that the real bad actors here are other MDs and public health types who have built followings on promoting persistent covid catastrophism.
The med students jumping in are imitating their bad actor role models, they should know better too, but they are a little less culpable given their inexperience.
If you can pass an MCAT, had straight A's in school , and want to be a doctor, you need to have some sense.
Sadly the MCAT and the A’s are common among med students, but a lot of them have to work so hard at it that they never had any time to develop much sense. The only people excluded from the damage of the GPA and MCAT armed race are the naturally talented. The rest are basically working themselves to rrobotitude in an effort to beat the other average applicants which leads to everyone dumping more and more time into application polishing while growing up.
We are meant to meet in person. Social media is not real life. KYTruthSummit.com