‘Accuracy nudge’ could curtail Covid-19 misinformation online

9 points by Amygaz 5 years ago | 5 comments
  • taxicabjesus 5 years ago
    Who decides what information is accurate?

    There are many purveyors of misinformation. I think the CDC and the WHO are rather dishonest about viruses. All they recommend is washing hands and wearing gloves and "social distancing", so that we can "flatten the curve" and "slow the spread" and survive long enough for a vaccine to become available for "herd immunity", so that we can prevent old people who are likely to die of something soon anyways from dying of Covid-19.

    I refuse to believe that Science hasn't figured anything else out about how to be healthy. One doctor's video about Chloroquine said it works by carrying zinc into cells [3]. Maybe zinc supplements would be preventative? I don't know, I'm just a simple retired taxi driver. Why doesn't the CDC provide an official list of known anti-viral lifestyle adjustments, to help us all be resilient against inevitable viruses?

    There is a difference between official misinformation, well-intentioned Chicken Little-ism, and those who are just along for the ride and follow whomever they find most credible.

    Chicken Little [0] meant well, he was just a simple chicken who didn't understand what he experienced, and was adept at recruiting followers to his simplistic ideology: The sky is falling! The terrorists are coming! The super-virus is going to kill us all!

    Official misinformation is when the news media deliberately misleads its audience: "Cheeto Hitler only got elected because the Russians helped him", when in fact Hillary Clinton manipulated the DNC [1] to be the Democratic party's presumptive nominee in spite of her having a fraction of Bill Clinton's charisma. Imagine how that election would've turned out if the Democrats had held a primary rather than a coronation. IMHO Cheeto Jesus/Hitler (Donald Trump, depending on your perspective) won the election because he ran an smart campaign, unlike his opponent [2].

    My latest readings of the situation in Italy is that they are likely to have to restate the cause of death of many of their recently deceased, so that Covid-19 is only a factor instead of the primary cause. I don't think they'll admit to irresponsible medicine: oxygenating and ventilating old people to death.

    But it's too late: official misinformation has grabbed onto the preliminary statistics and used it to shut down the economy. In a video I watched earlier today, a German doctor said Covid-19 (SARS v2) is not even as potent as SARS v1 or MERS (the super-viruses of years past). Maybe I'll find that video and submit it here.

    People believe things fervently, and it's difficult to get us to believe more accurate things. Accuracy is objective, but also a matter of perspective. Most of us are just along for the ride.

    [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henny_Penny (Europeans: 'Henny Penny'. Americans: 'Chicken Little')

    [1] https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-b...

    [2] Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign - https://books.google.com/books?id=OmS0DgAAQBAJ

    [3] Chloroquine Is a Zinc Ionophore - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4182877/

    • elliekelly 5 years ago
      > Why doesn't the CDC provide an official list of known anti-viral lifestyle adjustments, to help us all be resilient against inevitable viruses?

      They have.[1]

      TLDR: Wash your hands, practice social distancing, and cough/sneeze into your elbow instead of your hands.

      [1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-si...

      • taxicabjesus 5 years ago
        I clicked your link, then followed to "if you are sick" [1], and found the advice to be non-helpful for helping people prevent and recover from viral sicknesses.

        I'm interested in advice to help people become more 'resilient' against viruses:

        > resilient [adj] 1. Capable of returning to an original shape or position, as after having been compressed. See Synonyms at flexible. 2. Able to recover readily, as from misfortune. -https://www.thefreedictionary.com/resilient

        I proposed that Zinc might be helpful. Vitamin-D is also indicated on account of the season. Vitamin-B1 may be indicated for people who smoke and/or live in an area with especially polluted air (Wuhan, northern Italy).

        The experts should be telling us what to eat and how else to take better care of ourselves while we're sick. But they default to 'don't catch the virus, if you do you'll probably be fine, if not hopefully the medical system will help.' Why can't they give more helpful advice?

        [1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/st...

        • skylanh 5 years ago
          Because that's too complicated a message to send.

          At a broad, high level, the message has to be simple and direct: stop (modes of) transmission (touching eyes, washing hands, being around people), quarantine yourself, self-isolate yourself, just stop!

          Those simple and direct actions cover everything they need. Maybe that's pareto's principle.

          Getting into vitamins, whatever, minor optimizations, how do you propose that works when literally everyone understands "America has an obesity problem--stop eating so much", and yet there America is.