[gazzini]

I wonder if stuff like this has an outsized effect on the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, or the general “anti-science” crowd.

I know many of these people, and they’re not actually against science at all — they just believe that the “science” being preached at them is simply political fodder or, at the very least, is intentionally biased to fit a narrative.

Ideally, they’d be able to mentally allow for different authorities / scientific foundations to exist, and 1 bad Apple shouldn’t ruin the whole bunch. Unfortunately, “scientists == corrupt” is an easier (and more provocative) conclusion when stuff like this happens.

[tcbawo]

Someone I know sent me a link to a 'peer-reviewed' paper 'proving' that hydroxycloroquine cut mortality rate 'in half' from the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. However, a cursory look at the data shows a large median age discrepancy between the populations receiving treatment -- the no HCQ group was significantly younger. The vast majority of people have outsourced their opinions to 'trusted sources'. And a sizable fraction suffer from massive confirmation bias.

[LatteLazy]

Those people start with conclusions and only find "evidence" by accident and when it supports those conclusions.