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MIT Researchers Admit Anti-Maskers Are More Scientifically Rigorous

Posted by $ Olduglycarl 3 years ago to Politics
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Politics
May 13, 2021
By Annie Holmquist

[]"Yet new research from several MIT academics casts some doubt on the anti-science nature of COVID skeptics. In their paper, “Viral Visualizations: How Coronavirus Skeptics Use Orthodox Data Practices to Promote Unorthodox Science Online,” the academics show some curious cognitive dissonance, making anti-mask proponents out to be clever propagandists who create easily understandable charts and graphs to sway the public away from the authoritative opinions of experts."

"At the same time the academics admit, almost in a puzzled fashion, that these “anti-maskers” do their investigations in a very scientific manner. “Indeed,” the paper claims, “anti-maskers often reveal themselves to be more sophisticated in their understanding of how scientific knowledge is socially constructed than their ideological adversaries, who espouse naive realism about the ‘objective’ truth of public health data.”

"The MIT academics go on to admit that those opposed to masks are not afraid to get down and dirty in looking at statistics, nor are they afraid to increasingly question the media and government authorities, a trait MIT researchers call “a weaponization of critical thinking.” Even more surprising is the revelation that anti-maskers’ “approach to the pandemic is grounded in a more scientific rigor, not less.”


All Comments

  • Posted by $ blarman 3 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Isn't "appeal to authority" one of the cardinal logical fallacies? I do believe it is - especially when those "authorities" are government officials!
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  • Posted by $ blarman 3 years ago in reply to this comment.
    +1 for that and more. A real scientist knows that the only way for a hypothesis to become a theory and finally a Law is for it to withstand countless challenges to its veracity. Truth doesn't change. Politics is as ephemeral as the wind, however.
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  • Posted by $ 3 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Good delineation: Evidence based/Authority based.
    Funny though, Authority come from being the author of the work but 'authority' doesn't do any work.
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  • Posted by $ Markus_Katabri 3 years ago
    Or, as I like to say, I prefer my Science and Data EVIDENCE based. As opposed to AUTHORITY based.
    Gets me a “Reeeeeeee!” everytime.
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  • Posted by $ Stormi 3 years ago
    Gov. really thought we were stupid sheep, that we knew as little as the average AOC, Waters, or other gov. types. We knew shortly after shutdown that over 20 mask studies had been done proving they were not only not protective, but were harmful in some cases. They counted on our not knowing the vaccine was created with the help of DCD and NIH, that it was just the reason for the real bio weapon, the vaccine. They counted on us not being concerned that the mRNA disrupts the natural immue system, and will make us susceptiblee to every new virus, until another mRNA jab. They have never tested blood to see how many of us already have natural immunity to the covid virus, far supeiior to their death vaccines. They really think we are dumb.
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  • Posted by ArtIficiarius 3 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I keep looking for places to inject whatever clarity I can. Working from a consistent, unambiguous vocabulary is a start. Popper's extension to "the scientific method" is a "weapon of critical thinking". Keep your tools sharp. Let this be part of your architecture for dealing with the stupidities born of complexity. Better than a 2x4?
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  • Posted by TheRealBill 3 years ago
    "...weaponization of critical thinking ..."

    Critical thinking has always been a weapon against stupidity. If one is claiming to be on the side of scientific method and science or analytics, yet feel that critical thinking is a being used as a "weapon" against them, perhaps it is time to rethink one's position. Using critical thinking.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 3 years ago
    According to my Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) training, the phrase to describe what your thread is about is "exploring a contrarian view to accepted solutions". I think that is the main attribute of curiosity for innovative people.
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  • Posted by $ Commander 3 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Leave off fine learning! End the nuisance
    Of saying yes to this and perhaps to that,
    Distinctions with how little difference!
    Categorical this, categorical that,
    What slightest use are they!
    If one man leads, another must follow,
    How silly that is and how false!
    Yet conventional men lead an easy life
    With all their days feast days,
    A constant spring visit to the Tall Tower,
    While I am a simpleton, a do-nothing,
    Not big enough yet to raise a hand,
    Not grown enough to smile,
    A homeless, worthless waif.
    Men of the world have a surplus of goods,
    While I am left out, owning nothing.
    What a booby I must be
    Not to know my way round,
    What a fool!
    The average man is so crisp and so confident
    That I ought to be miserable
    Going on and on like the sea,
    Drifting nowhere.
    All these people are making their mark in the world,
    While I, pig-headed, awkward,
    Different from the rest,
    Am only a glorious infant still nursing at the breast.
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  • Posted by wootendw 3 years ago
    Back in 2016 (before Covid), a dental organization, the Oral Health Group, published as study showing that masks don't work and should not be recommended for use in - dental aerosols! The study was published online but removed after covid struck. You can find it on the web archive:

    https://web.archive.org/web/202005090...
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  • Posted by $ 3 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Well, if you had stayed at a Holiday Inn Express while doing that research...you'd be a bonafide specialist!
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  • Posted by $ Commander 3 years ago
    Over the past year I have amassed 2 deep file drawers of research. Some 6 to 7 hundred hours expended.
    Because I have no medical degree this is not valid.....LMAO!
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  • Posted by $ 3 years ago
    Given these facts, why is it that nearly every media source, politician, and even the average Joe is so eager to squelch “unorthodox” opinions like those explored in this MIT paper? If they refuse to allow their hypotheses to be tested, then they are the ones who are truly anti-science.
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