[astrange]

Cynical engineers are required to believe in it because it's 1. "the opposite of the current thing" 2. contains more rationality than the other leading hypothesis (i.e. more of what happened was planned, rather than an accident) 3. and lets them blame a person rather than a bat.

An ironically fitting end for them would be that it is true, they get all similar research banned, and then the next virus is zoonotic and nobody is prepared for it due to not doing any research.

edit: added "ironically"

[z7]

Unfalsifiable speculation about the psychological motives of people proposing a hypothesis, a retribution fantasy on the "fitting end" for such cynical deviants, plus an inversion of what side of the investigation was subjected to censorship? Nice combo.

[thunky]

That's pretty dark.

A nicer thing to wish for is that it leads to better safety an accountability protocols.

[tgv]

None of the gain-of-function research has been any help at all in the CoVID pandemic, nor in the SARS outbreaks. I also fail to see how it could have helped. What particularly helpful insight or technique came from that particular lab in Wuhan?