‘A deadly societal force’: A Q&A with author Dr. Peter Hotez on the anti-science movement

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

"Scientist and researcher Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, has just published his fifth book, “The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist’s Warning,” on the global assault on science, vaccines, and scientists, which he considers a threat to democracy in the United States.

...

"It’s not only COVID vaccines; you’re starting to see this spill over into all childhood immunizations. It’s globalizing, and now it’s targeting not only science but scientists."

 

(more)

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science/deadly-societal-force-qa-author-dr-peter-hotez-anti-science-movement

 

 

Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, is the founding dean of The National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, as well as director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of National Academies as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A pediatrician and an expert in vaccinology and tropical disease, Hotez has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and editorials as well dozens of textbook chapters.

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Vaccine Scientist Warns Antiscience Conspiracies Have Become a Deadly, Organized Movement

Vaccinologist Peter Hotez explains how the movement to oppose science and scientists has gained power

...

"I think it’s undermining the country because we’re a nation built on science and technology and on the greatness of our research universities and institutions, and they are under threat.

...

I think there was a kind of hope that it would just go away on its own. But we’ve seen from past experience that this kind of stuff doesn’t go away on its own."

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccine-scientist-warns-antiscience-conspiracies-have-become-a-deadly-organized-movement/

 

[SuperSaiyan]

It's solely because science went from loving to being questioned to being "The Science" made by blue/geen hair "professors" which aren't allowed to be questioned.

 

Btw, the guy in the picture looks like he should not be near children alone. Just my scientifically feeling.

[save the frogs]

it's not either/or.

mainstream news / science can be factual or flawed.

conspiracies and non-mainstream science can be factual or flawed.

 

there's fake news and real news on both sides. 

[chickenslegs]

10 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

it's not either/or.

mainstream news / science can be factual or flawed.

conspiracies and non-mainstream science can be factual or flawed.

 

there's fake news and real news on both sides. 

Let's think. Does most fake news comes from qualified scientists, or from conspiracy theorists?

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

it's not either/or.

mainstream news / science can be factual or flawed.

conspiracies and non-mainstream science can be factual or flawed.

 

there's fake news and real news on both sides. 

There's scientists and news outlets who do their best to research and report Covid related content to the best of their ability, and with the credible research and info that's known and believed at any given point in time.

 

And then there are mostly right-wing political activists and fringe medical types who deliberately spread patently false and disproven claims and misinformation over and over again, weaving conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact or evidence of proof.

 

The first group is doing their imperfect best in a challenging, fast-moving public health crisis that became a global pandemic. The second group is simply doing their worst, period. And Hotez maintains it's aimed at undermining democracy and pushing the rise of authoritarianism.

 

 

[Keep Right]

[bignok]

8 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

You're, predictably, not quoting a credible news source above, but instead, a Letter to the Editor by....

 

"Dr. Tom Lankering

bio-energetic chiropractor"

 

Always good to get your vaccine and COVID info from chiropractors..... ????

 

Im fitter and stronger than you. Enough said. You get your info from drug reps.

[placeholder]

All these extremists who tout the value of eating wholesome natural foods ignore the fact that in the past, there wasn't much in the way of junk food around. No pesticides, no plastics, etc. Most people had no choice but to eat wholesome foods. Despite which, millions were killed by smallpox. tuberculosis, typhus, and the plague.

[bignok]

Just now, placeholder said:

All these extremists who tout the value of eating wholesome natural foods ignore the fact that in the past, there wasn't much in the way of junk food around. No pesticides, no plastics, etc. Most people had no choice but to eat wholesome foods. Despite which, millions were killed by smallpox. tuberculosis, typhus, and the plague.

Many vegetables contain inorganic minerals so they are poorly absorbed.

 

 

[Keep Right]

Another quack scientist trying to stifle any criticism of those who question scientific methods. 

[placeholder]

Just now, bignok said:

Many vegetables contain inorganic minerals so they are poorly absorbed.

 

 

Even if that is the case, folks back then weren't just eating cabbage. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

And back on the topic of the thread:

 

From Hotez:

How did you see this play out during the COVID-19 pandemic?

"Some 200,000 Americans died because of anti-science aggression....

 

"When I went into the more conservative, rural areas of east Texas, essentially everyone I talked to had lost a loved one because they refused a COVID-19 vaccine. In the intensive-care unit, you saw some people deny COVID-19 existed, yet in their dying words feel remorse and advise their friends: ‘Don’t do what I did, get your COVID-19 immunization.’

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02981-z

 

[bignok]

1 minute ago, placeholder said:

Even if that is the case, folks back then weren't just eating cabbage. 

They werent eating cacao and takin magnesium tablets.

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

And back on the topic of the thread:

 

From Hotez:

How did you see this play out during the COVID-19 pandemic?

"Some 200,000 Americans died because of anti-science aggression....

 

"When I went into the more conservative, rural areas of east Texas, essentially everyone I talked to had lost a loved one because they refused a COVID-19 vaccine. In the intensive-care unit, you saw some people deny COVID-19 existed, yet in their dying words feel remorse and advise their friends: ‘Don’t do what I did, get your COVID-19 immunization.’

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02981-z

 

There's an excellent article here that discusses covid and more generally the nature of viruses and vaccines with David Mina, an epidemiologist and virologist.

 

This is precisely the long transition from emergency to normality that the immunologist and epidemiologist Michael Mina has predicted since almost the beginning of the pandemic. Beginning in 2020, Mina took pains to describe Covid-19 as a “textbook virus,” with features that may have startled lay people — long Covid and post-acute sequelae, waning immunity and reinfection — but were, in his view, simply what could be expected from a new pathogen spreading through a global population with no immunity.

I spoke to Mina about what seeing Covid as a textbook virus tells us about the nature of the pandemic off-ramp — and about everything else we should’ve known about the disease from the outset.

https://archive.ph/JLwSH

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/opinion/covid-pandemic-michael-mina.html

 

[placeholder]

5 minutes ago, bignok said:

They werent eating cacao and takin magnesium tablets.

Humans came from Africa which doesn't actually feature Cacao trees. I don't know how the species survived without it.

[bignok]

Just now, placeholder said:

Humans came from Africa which doesn't actually feature Cacao trees. I don't know how the species survived without it.

Not sure what the point is. Average age back then wasnt high.

[placeholder]

11 minutes ago, Keep Right said:

Another quack scientist trying to stifle any criticism of those who question scientific methods. 

Exactly how am I trying to stifle criticism? Do you believe that engaging in criticism is somehow an attempt to stifle criticicism?

[placeholder]

5 minutes ago, bignok said:

Not sure what the point is. Average age back then wasnt high.

So human beings, unlike other animals, evolved to be nutritionally deficient? You really want to run with that? Domesticated animals tend to live a lot longer than their wild counterparts. Is their diet healthier? You don't think it possible that other factors might be the cause? It's ludicrous to claim that stone ages peoples  lived shorter lives because they didn't have access to magnesium tablets.

[bignok]

2 minutes ago, placeholder said:

So human beings, unlike other animals, evolved to be nutritionally deficient? You really want to run with that? Domesticated animals tend to live a lot longer than their wild counterparts. Is their diet healthier? You don't think it possible that other factors might be the cause? It's ludicrous to claim that stone ages peoples  lived shorter lives because they didn't have access to magnesium tablets.

They have limited food options. Plus no treatments for snake bites or wounds. Limited shelter.

 

If you get a flu you can dose up on zinc and magnesium tablets now. Back then you couldnt.

[rattlesnake]

1 hour ago, SuperSaiyan said:

It's solely because science went from loving to being questioned to being "The Science" made by blue/geen hair "professors" which aren't allowed to be questioned.

 

Btw, the guy in the picture looks like he should not be near children alone. Just my scientifically feeling.

And he looks pretty unhealthy. This guy obviously has no clue about health.

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, bignok said:

They have limited food options. 

 

 

False

Paleolithic Diet

It is clear that "Stone Age" humans did eat a variety of high-quality foods that were rich in nutrients and fiber. Compared to this diet, modern diets provide much less variety and are loaded with artificial sugars and salt.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482457/

[bignok]

If a vaccine scientists said vaccines were not much good he would lose his job.

 

Where are the independent experts?

 

What percentage of 100yo people took most vaccines?

[bignok]

8 minutes ago, placeholder said:

False

Paleolithic Diet

It is clear that "Stone Age" humans did eat a variety of high-quality foods that were rich in nutrients and fiber. Compared to this diet, modern diets provide much less variety and are loaded with artificial sugars and salt.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482457/

I find that hard to believe in many cases. Inland people didnt have much seafood and catching animals wasnt easy.

[rattlesnake]

This is the guy who chickened out when RFK Jr. challenged him to a debate. If he's such a hot shot and RFK is such a loony, he should have taken the opportunity to humiliate him and show the world how "science" is so far superior to "conspiracy theories". It's more likely he was afraid of being exposed for what he is, a hypocritical Pfizer sales rep with lots of dubious interests.

 

The title of his book is very telling and encouraging. The pharmaceutical establishment can feel the tide is turning and that is a very good thing.

[rattlesnake]

18 minutes ago, placeholder said:

False

Paleolithic Diet

It is clear that "Stone Age" humans did eat a variety of high-quality foods that were rich in nutrients and fiber. Compared to this diet, modern diets provide much less variety and are loaded with artificial sugars and salt.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482457/

It's not just about diet. The introduction of clean water and sanitation systems was pivotal in increasing life expectancy.

[still kicking]

30 minutes ago, bignok said:

Not sure what the point is. Average age back then wasnt high.

Tell that my grandfather who did at the age of 113 

[bignok]

Doctors live up to 10 years shorter than average

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6611328/

[bignok]

1 minute ago, still kicking said:

Tell that my grandfather who did at the age of 113 

Back 5,000 years ago?

[tgw]

stupidity meets social media ...

 

result : instead of being just ignorant, the stupid nowadays find some drivel they are happy to believe.