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by romeros 1392 days ago
The assumption is that the expert is wrong. Frequently some experts who hold contrarian opinions which are against the mainstream narrative are usually vindicated with time.

For instance lets say CDC recommends people to wash their hands with water/sanitizer. There is a group of experts who question the efficacy of it. These experts should not be punished. Least of by layman/politicians/lawmakers/noobs who have no clue about the subject matter.
2 comments
tragictrash 1392 days ago
I think usually is a very strong and very incorrect word here.

I understand what you're getting at, but I think you greatly underestimate the amount of incorrect assertions that need to happen before a sensible consensus is reached. Historically, in the body of science, we're wrong something like 99% of the time until someone gets it right.

Also, your comment is a straw man argument. The law isn't going to chastise people questioning existing mainstream views, only the ones spouting horribly incorrect information. Noone is saying it will do that, other than you and other commenters who didnt read the article.

Last, are you really questioning the benefit of washing our hands?

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landofredwater 1392 days ago
> Last, are you really questioning the benefit of washing our hands?

It's dishonest to call his position a strawman then take a strawman position that doesn't have bearing on the rest of your statement.

Along with that, this law was just passed. We don't yet know what it will and won't be used for. You're arguing about what it should and shouldn't be used for.

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kadoban 1392 days ago
> For instance lets say CDC recommends people to wash their hands with water/sanitizer. There is a group of experts who question the efficacy of it. These experts should not be punished. Least of by layman/politicians/lawmakers/noobs who have no clue about the subject matter.

They should not be punished if they are honestly wrong and are attempting to find the truth (or of course if they're actually right).

They should be punished if they are actively spreading disinformation, meaning they know or should know that it's incorrect.

We currently have a _lot_ of people spreading disinformation because it pads their pocketbook.

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