Artificially induced climate change and COVID vaccines are not the only sciences under siege; science itself has been discredited, principally by those who claim that scientists are an arrogant bunch, conspiring — for whatever reason — to mislead the public.
Francis Bacon, c. 1600, championed what he called: “The great machine,” the induction method of unprejudiced scientific inquiry. “Science is not a belief to be held, but a work to be done,” he wrote in his appropriately titled, “Advancements in Learning.” Appropriate, because science builds on that which had been discovered before.
“For what a man had rather were true, he would more readily believe, thus, he rejects the difficult things, because they narrow hope.”
Contrast scientific openness to the minority of the scientifically uninformed, who believe only that which confirms their own biases.
Real experimental science is a multistep process. It proceeds from the concrete; that is, from verifiable facts, then to general principles (approximations), then to uniformity’s (laws), and only then to theories, which themselves can be modified by future scientists.
Newton’s gravitational laws, for example, are true today as when they were first developed. Only later, (300 years later), were they modified by Einstein’s theory of relativity.
The trained scientist must be unhampered and open in his intellectual pursuits, be free from dogmatic forces and be skeptical, not only of other scientists’ findings, but of his own as well, lest he be harshly scrutinized and discredited himself. Thus he is necessarily careful in his research and hesitant in his statements. This is why science jargon is steeped in conditional speech with terms such as “perhaps,” or “needs further research,” when offering up conclusions. Ponds and Fleishmans’ cold fusion miscalculation was one example of how bad science was quickly discredited under the close scrutiny of other scientists.
What preoccupies scientists is not how much they know, but how little they know compared to what is being discovered. Research cannot only lead to greater discoveries, it can also lead to dead ends, however, that in itself provides valuable information for what works and what doesn’t and increases the accumulation of knowledge. That is how science evolves.
It was only with the advent of social media that vaccines came under siege. Vaccines saved multimillions of lives when they completely eradicated the scourge of smallpox and greatly lessened polio, influenza, hepatitis (A and B), rubella, measles, (now staging a comeback because of anti-vaxxers), mumps, diphtheria, along with a host of other diseases to the point that we no longer consider those maladies to be as life threatening as they were those many years ago.
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When lines were formed to receive the polio vaccine in the 1950s, absolutely no one questioned its effectiveness, subsequently this terrible childhood disease is close to being eradicated.
Today it is COVID. Currently, more than 7 million deaths are confirmed worldwide with over a million in the United States. These numbers would have escalated greatly but for the quick development of the vaccine, as well as the ongoing modifications necessary to combat the inevitable evolutionary mutations that arise.
Most vaccines take time to develop, but because this airborne disease is infectious and spreads quickly, most of the developed world understood that time was of the essence, and after the trials and inevitable errors, got it right.
Then it got politicized, as fake news and lies on social media continue to persuade the gullible that the lessening of this deadly disease was not due to the vaccine.
According to surveys by the Pew Research Center, deaths from COVID are 30% to 40% higher in the conservative, lesser vaccinated states than in blue states. This is not fake news.
Everything in a hospital with an on-off switch is the product of the cross pollination of scientific discovery. When scientist Wilhem Rotgen discovered X-rays, he received the Nobel Prize, not in medicine, but in physics. It was only shortly after that it was used for medical diagnostic purposes. Such scientific breakthroughs eventually led to MRI’s, CT scans and a host other tools which can garner information without having to cut you open.
It’s a wonder how science deniers are able to cherry pick exceptions when modern, scientifically developed medicines and medical devices becomes necessary to save their own lives.
Kent Lauder is a longtime Burlingame resident and author of the recently published novel “Pendulum.”
Science is an incredibly useful tool, but it cannot and does not answer all questions. The covid vaccine was NOT a vaccine, it was false hope, and certainly nothing a healthy individual should or should have been FORCED or coerced into taking. Humans should not have been used as government guinea pigs and no matter how loud you Mr. Lauden or the left screams and pounds your fist, it was not right. The definition of a vaccine used to be "prevents infection" which something your scientific covid vaccine did not do.
Jorg's favorite brilliant scientist Rachel Maddow said and I quote, "Now we know that the (Covid) vaccines work well enough that the virus stops with every vaccinated person," Maddow said on her show the evening of March 29, 2021.
"A vaccinated person gets exposed to the virus, the virus does not infect them, the virus cannot then use that person to go anywhere else," she added with a shrug. "It cannot use a vaccinated person as a host to go get more people."
Was Rachel wrong? YES! just like Jorg is wrong just about everyday. Science is awesome but it is not an absolute when biased scientists like Lauden chime in and paid for scientists like Fauci are running the government machine.
It is interesting that you state much truth- that science is a multistep process, that much is conditional and evolving, and yet this is the opposite of what we heard for years from our government, particularly those on the left. We were told we must "follow The Science" or that the science was "Settled" on things like 6 feet of social distancing or cloth masks to prevent virus transmission. Anyone who questioned or doubted the truth of the proclamations from our rulers was called a "science denier" who wanted Grandma to die.
In reality there never was any science behind things like 6 feet distancing or the cloth or surgical masks that even toddlers were forced to wear in exchange for education or any kind of public life. I found, interestingly, that surgical masks have never even been shown in a randomized controlled trial (the gold standard for "science") to prevent wound infections in surgeries.
When we were lied to for years and told not to question The Science, is it any wonder that people doubt the miraculous life saving benefits of these MRNA shots that don't prevent one from contracting the illness (as prior vaccines have, like the smallpox and measles vaccines you mentioned.)?
Exactly. There are not only no RCTs for masks preventing the spread of respiratory viruses, there are not even RCTs for what surgical masks are ostensibly for- preventing wound infection during surgeries. That surprised me when I read that. No one ever claimed pre-2020 that cloth/surgical masks prevented viral spread, yet we were ordered to wear them for years despite the lack of science.
Um...do you believe in germ theory? If you breathe in a virus that someone else has just breathed out, it increases the chance that the virus will infect you. It is, in fact, proven.
Do you understand the difference between that and studies showing that breathing on an infected wound will not cause infection? I don't think that you do, or you would not have brought it up in this context. The reason that surgeons wear masks in surgery is to prevent body fluids from entering their noses or mouths and to prevent spreading respiratory infections to vulnerable patients--not to prevent infection of the wound.
There is an abundance of evidence that masking up slows the spread of viruses that are transmitted via respiratory droplets, you just prefer to believe the nonsensical.
Westy, there is an abundance of evidence that masking has little to no effect on COVID viruses, you just prefer to believe the nonsensical. Besides, how can we take you seriously? I’ve asked you several times to explain how starving horses or people of alfalfa would solve our water crisis. You’ve been unable to even though you took a class on it. And recently, I asked you to explain to us what racism is and why using racism to address racism is a winning tactic. As usual, crickets.
The beef isn't with the scientific method, but with scientists who we accept as experts and trust them. They have all the human failings we all do - such as using that method to prove a point.
Eisenhower warned us against the "military industrial complex" but in the same speech he mentioned the "scientific technological elite." Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Then it "got politicized" - you write like a 2 year old. Then people did their own research and realized COVID is BS and nothing to be scared of - and ever since OBAMA repealed the SMITH-MUNDT ACT - our federal government is legally allowed to pass Propaganda off as "news." I guess you never took Critical Thinking classes in college - your entire BS article is an strange appeal to authority. If i died on the street you would walk over my body - yet here you are telling me how to be healthy. I'm one of the only people that calls FOOLS like you out. Do you work for Pfizer? Why is Bill Gates - a dude with MOOBS - telling anybody how to be healthy? I play soccer 3 times a week in my late 30s - at probably the most competitive place in the entire bay area for rec soccer players in RWC - why dont you come hang out with me and I will teach you how to be healthy. I find it pathetic when old decrepit losers are trying to tell others how to be healthy - just worry about yourself man - you clearly just want attention.
Adding to the well written comments from Not So Common, MichKosk, willallen, and LittleFoot… Perhaps, Mr. Lauder, you missed out on the CDC admitting “COVID vaccines” do not prevent anyone from getting or spreading COVID. The CDC also admitted that there is no logical reason to treat jabbed folks differently than unjabbed folks since they both can be infected and spread the COVID virus (as shown by real world results).
Perhaps you missed out on Deborah Birx’s book, which probably gets more rave reviews from China than America, in which she admits her goal was to fool as many Americans as possible into locking down. In which she admits the maximum allowable social gathering size was made up. In which she admits the “two weeks to slow the spread” was another lie. And what she called “dangerous assertions” about masks being overrated and not needed. You may have also missed out on mask studies which, surprise, surprise, confirmed what many of us already knew, masks are overrated and not needed, because they don’t work.
And let’s not get started on the number of excess deaths, the increasing death toll of jabbed folks due to “unknown” and the significant number of younger jabbed folks in the primes of their young lives. The bigger question you should ask is why Biden’s plan for COVID was to continue letting people die when there are effective and proven solutions to address COVID infections.
I have been occupied with family visiting from Europe and didn’t discover it until today! Although we’re used to examples of complete ignorance among the most frequent DJ-commentators, the ignorami came out in force and really exposed, not only lack of understanding, but a shocking void of intellect! Haven’t they had any kind of education, can’t they read, or are they simply too stupid to understand how stupid they are? These are clear examples of the well known Dunning Kruger Effect, but of course, they won’t understand that!
The ignorami waste no time bragging about their lack of knowledge and understanding every opportunity they can cook up, - while blindly voting for someone they can identify with, like Trump! No wonder Republicans are against education, although they all benefit from the work done by educated people, - even scientists.
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(12) comments
Science is an incredibly useful tool, but it cannot and does not answer all questions. The covid vaccine was NOT a vaccine, it was false hope, and certainly nothing a healthy individual should or should have been FORCED or coerced into taking. Humans should not have been used as government guinea pigs and no matter how loud you Mr. Lauden or the left screams and pounds your fist, it was not right. The definition of a vaccine used to be "prevents infection" which something your scientific covid vaccine did not do.
Jorg's favorite brilliant scientist Rachel Maddow said and I quote, "Now we know that the (Covid) vaccines work well enough that the virus stops with every vaccinated person," Maddow said on her show the evening of March 29, 2021.
"A vaccinated person gets exposed to the virus, the virus does not infect them, the virus cannot then use that person to go anywhere else," she added with a shrug. "It cannot use a vaccinated person as a host to go get more people."
Was Rachel wrong? YES! just like Jorg is wrong just about everyday. Science is awesome but it is not an absolute when biased scientists like Lauden chime in and paid for scientists like Fauci are running the government machine.
[thumbup]
It is interesting that you state much truth- that science is a multistep process, that much is conditional and evolving, and yet this is the opposite of what we heard for years from our government, particularly those on the left. We were told we must "follow The Science" or that the science was "Settled" on things like 6 feet of social distancing or cloth masks to prevent virus transmission. Anyone who questioned or doubted the truth of the proclamations from our rulers was called a "science denier" who wanted Grandma to die.
In reality there never was any science behind things like 6 feet distancing or the cloth or surgical masks that even toddlers were forced to wear in exchange for education or any kind of public life. I found, interestingly, that surgical masks have never even been shown in a randomized controlled trial (the gold standard for "science") to prevent wound infections in surgeries.
When we were lied to for years and told not to question The Science, is it any wonder that people doubt the miraculous life saving benefits of these MRNA shots that don't prevent one from contracting the illness (as prior vaccines have, like the smallpox and measles vaccines you mentioned.)?
"Wound infection during surgery" is not why we wear masks to prevent the spread of RESPIRATORY diseases.
Exactly. There are not only no RCTs for masks preventing the spread of respiratory viruses, there are not even RCTs for what surgical masks are ostensibly for- preventing wound infection during surgeries. That surprised me when I read that. No one ever claimed pre-2020 that cloth/surgical masks prevented viral spread, yet we were ordered to wear them for years despite the lack of science.
Um...do you believe in germ theory? If you breathe in a virus that someone else has just breathed out, it increases the chance that the virus will infect you. It is, in fact, proven.
Do you understand the difference between that and studies showing that breathing on an infected wound will not cause infection? I don't think that you do, or you would not have brought it up in this context. The reason that surgeons wear masks in surgery is to prevent body fluids from entering their noses or mouths and to prevent spreading respiratory infections to vulnerable patients--not to prevent infection of the wound.
There is an abundance of evidence that masking up slows the spread of viruses that are transmitted via respiratory droplets, you just prefer to believe the nonsensical.
Westy, there is an abundance of evidence that masking has little to no effect on COVID viruses, you just prefer to believe the nonsensical. Besides, how can we take you seriously? I’ve asked you several times to explain how starving horses or people of alfalfa would solve our water crisis. You’ve been unable to even though you took a class on it. And recently, I asked you to explain to us what racism is and why using racism to address racism is a winning tactic. As usual, crickets.
The beef isn't with the scientific method, but with scientists who we accept as experts and trust them. They have all the human failings we all do - such as using that method to prove a point.
Eisenhower warned us against the "military industrial complex" but in the same speech he mentioned the "scientific technological elite." Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Then it "got politicized" - you write like a 2 year old. Then people did their own research and realized COVID is BS and nothing to be scared of - and ever since OBAMA repealed the SMITH-MUNDT ACT - our federal government is legally allowed to pass Propaganda off as "news." I guess you never took Critical Thinking classes in college - your entire BS article is an strange appeal to authority. If i died on the street you would walk over my body - yet here you are telling me how to be healthy. I'm one of the only people that calls FOOLS like you out. Do you work for Pfizer? Why is Bill Gates - a dude with MOOBS - telling anybody how to be healthy? I play soccer 3 times a week in my late 30s - at probably the most competitive place in the entire bay area for rec soccer players in RWC - why dont you come hang out with me and I will teach you how to be healthy. I find it pathetic when old decrepit losers are trying to tell others how to be healthy - just worry about yourself man - you clearly just want attention.
Adding to the well written comments from Not So Common, MichKosk, willallen, and LittleFoot… Perhaps, Mr. Lauder, you missed out on the CDC admitting “COVID vaccines” do not prevent anyone from getting or spreading COVID. The CDC also admitted that there is no logical reason to treat jabbed folks differently than unjabbed folks since they both can be infected and spread the COVID virus (as shown by real world results).
Perhaps you missed out on Deborah Birx’s book, which probably gets more rave reviews from China than America, in which she admits her goal was to fool as many Americans as possible into locking down. In which she admits the maximum allowable social gathering size was made up. In which she admits the “two weeks to slow the spread” was another lie. And what she called “dangerous assertions” about masks being overrated and not needed. You may have also missed out on mask studies which, surprise, surprise, confirmed what many of us already knew, masks are overrated and not needed, because they don’t work.
And let’s not get started on the number of excess deaths, the increasing death toll of jabbed folks due to “unknown” and the significant number of younger jabbed folks in the primes of their young lives. The bigger question you should ask is why Biden’s plan for COVID was to continue letting people die when there are effective and proven solutions to address COVID infections.
Thank you for a superb article, Mr. Lauder!
I have been occupied with family visiting from Europe and didn’t discover it until today! Although we’re used to examples of complete ignorance among the most frequent DJ-commentators, the ignorami came out in force and really exposed, not only lack of understanding, but a shocking void of intellect! Haven’t they had any kind of education, can’t they read, or are they simply too stupid to understand how stupid they are? These are clear examples of the well known Dunning Kruger Effect, but of course, they won’t understand that!
The ignorami waste no time bragging about their lack of knowledge and understanding every opportunity they can cook up, - while blindly voting for someone they can identify with, like Trump! No wonder Republicans are against education, although they all benefit from the work done by educated people, - even scientists.
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