[nephihaha]

Unfortunately there is a lot of cargo cult science around. I am not just referring to alternative viewpoints (which vary in validity), but even things from mainstream outlets masquerading as mainstream science.

One such example was businesses claiming physical cash was unhygienic while promoting dirty touchscreens for ordering. Real science has indicated that many of these touchscreens are covered in bacteria if they are not cleaned regularly.

The Daily Mail has been telling us that the Yellowstone supervolcano is about to blow for nearly thirty years now at least. Maybe one day it will, but hasn't yet.

[pjc50]

> The Daily Mail has been telling us that the Yellowstone supervolcano is about to blow for nearly thirty years now at least.

That's the Daily Mail, though. They platformed Andrew Wakefield, a misrepresentation of science that has a massive body count.

A more serious question for Silicon Valley is the San Andreas fault.

[nephihaha]

I would argue that the heavy handed censorship we saw in the early 2020s fuels the likes of Andrew Wakefield though. There was plenty of cargo cult science during that period, notably the U-turn on masks (in early 2020 people were being told they were ineffective) and many others. I suspect that was down to supply and demand. There were plenty of other unscientific ideas out there, and not all from the anti-side. People respect ideas more when they come from people with power. Allowing Amazon and pizza delivery access to everyone's door was not good epidemic control by any metric. I could specify other things.

Freedom of expression is important because it is not just members of the great unwasjed who promote ridiculous "science".

Yes, I agree about San Andreas. A problem for all California.