All of this is sad, coz all the handwringing about vaccines being a hoax is a red-herring. The bigger risk in my view is the misuse of data that the governments are collecting, especially in the third world, to spy on their citizens and curtail civil liberties.
Except for authoritarians, this is a cause that can unite people from across the political spectrum.
But we are still stuck in the discourse about microchips, mind control and government trying to inject you with veritaserum.
There are causes for concerns- patients with pre-existing conditions who may react to the vaccine in a way that the researchers have not had the time or resources to study. Thatโs why you need to talk to your doctor for advice, not conspiracy theorists on the internet.
Now this doesnโt necessarily mean that a vaccine produced under record time and a lot of pressure is perfectly safe.
But given what we know 8+ months later (the trials started late 2020), we have very little evidence that they are harmful than the disease itself or ineffective for the general population.
If you follow Occamโs razor, the easiest explanation for vaccines is that they work to prevent diseases caused by pathogens, with reasonably well known side effects.
The alternative is a massive conspiracy and cover up involving a spectacularly perfect collusion between government, scientists, academia, media and the drug companies.
These institutions have a hard time collaborating, let alone colluding.
The arguments around masking and vaccination are similar to Pascalโs Wager.
Sure they could be hoaxes, but for most rational people, the potential costs if they are not hoaxes is far greater than if they are.
#philosophy #religion #science
Is contemporary #ux compatible with #privacy?
So many #design decisions are made with data such as Cookies and A/B testing. Is it possible to not track users but also provide a stellar, helpful experience?
#technology
@shans
Hello there ๐
Welcome to Mastodon ๐
@kevin
Hello ๐ and Welcome to Mastodon ๐
@thor
Just want to pop in and say I enjoy these threads of yours.
Thanks for sharing ๐
#MAPFestival2021 The talk by Quassim Cassam on 'Imposter Syndrome in Philosophy' is about to start. Might post some comments here.
Everytime I visit Reddit, the user experience continues to slide backwards.
Now they have โfeaturesโ such as โother posts you may likeโ
More sticky patterns to increase user engagement instead of creating a safe, fun community.
The moral decline of Big Tech continues
#TheSocialDilemma
@andrewsecret
Hello ๐ and Welcome to Mastodon ๐
@rosareven Hello ๐ and Welcome to Mastodon ๐
@yano
Hello ๐ and Welcome to Mastodon ๐
Your friendly neighborhood person.
Curious about #books๐ #science ๐ฌ#philosophy #psychology #privacy #communities and #tech that make the world a better place for everyone
Be nice ๐