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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.

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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. Thatโ€™s why you need to talk to your doctor for advice, not conspiracy theorists on the internet.

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Now this doesnโ€™t 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.

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If you follow Occamโ€™s 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.

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The arguments around masking and vaccination are similar to Pascalโ€™s 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.

Had to unfollow someone coz they were boosting anti-vaccine nut job theories ๐Ÿ˜ฃ
There is a massive chasm between healthy skepticism and tinfoil hats, and people are deluding themselves if they donโ€™t think thatโ€™s true

Is contemporary compatible with ?
So many 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?

Why is everyone always so happy on the internet?
Why is everyone always so unhappy on the internet?
Maybe itโ€™s just me reflecting my mood upon the world

@zrmm
Hello ๐Ÿ‘‹ and while I donโ€™t have a lot of meme suggestions, @stux posts a lot of heartwarming and wholesome content ๐Ÿ˜Š
Glad to have you on Mastodon!

@thor
Just want to pop in and say I enjoy these threads of yours.
Thanks for sharing ๐Ÿ˜Š

#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 โ€œfeaturesโ€ such as โ€œother 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

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