[zephyrthenoble]

Watching this unfold on HN has been eerily similar to watching r/UFOs whenever someone comes forward with "proof" of UFOs/coverups/whatever. I never want to rain on anyone's parade, as proof of ETs or room temperature superconductors would be great, but the hype only serves to obfuscate the truth. At this point, I'm prepped to disbelieve because of the obvious over-hyping.

People want these things to be true so bad that they will twist every detail to fit the narrative they want. It would be funny, if it weren't so sad.

[hindsightbias]

At least superconductors are a real thing.

[zephyrthenoble]

That's a fair point. Maybe people did react similarly, but the LK-99 hype was at the very least grounded in scientific methodology.

I should keep that in perspective and be a little less harsh.

[saalweachter]

Eh, you should still be a little harsh, though.

A common thread in a lot of these stories is people pushing the idea that The Authorities are not to be trusted. The government is lying to you about UFOs! The scientific establishment has been sitting on room temperature superconductors for 20 years!

And sure, question authority.

But also question the people telling you to question authority.

Because contrarians are just ripe for affinity fraud, and while most of that affinity fraud is centered around alt-med, the cultivation of a pervasive distrust of authority is part of what enables the scam.

[postalrat]

"but the hype only serves to obfuscate the truth"

Is that true? Do you think the Koreans or anyone would have made more progress finding the truth without the hype?

[zephyrthenoble]

Are you implying that people on Hacker News saying LK-99 is a superconductor helped the scientific community in some way?

[hackinthebochs]

Who on HN said that with enough confidence and credibility to do enough damage to the conversation such that it would be better had the conversation not happen at all?

[chpatrick]

Did it "obfuscate the truth"?

The truth was only discovered because the hype made a lot of scientists investigate the material.

[mgfist]

The interest and intrigue around LK-99 made science cool. There will be all kinds of positive knock on effects of this - least of which is that we got down to the bottom of LK-99 years before it would've happened if the preprint never got published.

[malux85]

Strawman argument - You are reducing the comment to "Hacker News" when thats not at all what they said, they said "The hype".

For sure the hype caused a lot more focus on reproducability attempts than it would have got otherwise.

[mrguyorama]

Do you honestly believe HN discussing this had ANY affect on ANYONE?