Slack / Private Message Drop — page 614

[Robert Garry] Maddening that Biden admin seems to have at least partly bought into this shit. [2021-03-21 16:41:07] [Robert Garry] Maybe someone should pass this on to Jessie. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/the-conspiracy-theorists-problem-isnt-what-they-believe/618285/ "The psychological traits that lead one down the conspiracy-theory rabbit hole are to some extent present in most of us. We all like to listen to people who agree with us. We are all prone to reject unwelcome evidence. We are all more engaged by dramatic stories than by gritty policy detail. And we all like to feel that we have insights into the world that others lack. Nobody likes to feel that they are being taken for a fool, so doubting early and often can seem like the smart thing to do. And if we want to think clearly about the world, skepticism is a good thing." [2021-03-22 06:25:20] [Robert Garry] www.usatoday.com/in-depth/opinion/2021/03/22/why-covid-lab-leak-theory-wuhan-shouldnt-dismissed-column/4765 985001/?build=native-web_i_p [2021-03-22 06:28:49] [Robert Garry] BSL3/4 labs are dangerous - shut them all down - don't build anymore and by all means stop going out into nature and bringing dangerous viruses back to such porous facilities. [2021-03-22 06:29:47] [Robert Garry] Wait - OMG - you're telling me there are dangerous viruses out in nature? [2021-03-22 07:52:59] [Kristian Andersen] Lipsitch just tweeted it (and Tami...) - I'm surprised it took Marc so long to post one of these articles... (I pinged him way back in February of last year to see if he had heard anything - he hadn't, but they had had a lot of conversations about "dangerous pseudotyped viruses" (it was clear he didn't know the difference - which is a little surprising to me)) [2021-03-22 07:53:08] [Kristian Andersen] shared file(s): Screen Shot 2021-03-22 at 7.50.54 AM.png [2021-03-22 07:57:55] [Andrew Rambaut] So annoying it has been taken up by the GOF debate (which I have some sympathy with) - no one (except the real crazies) are suggesting this is GOF research surely? [2021-03-22 08:01:31] [Kristian Andersen] Mixing up the two is deeply problematic - the NIH was asking me about this too a year ago and I made it clear that now wasn't the time to reignite the GOF debate since people get confused. I'm not sure even Marc understands the difference between GOF and basic research, but I'm sure he considers everything that went on at the WIV to be GOF (it's not - most GOF has been done in Baric's lab). [2021-03-22 08:01:44] [Kristian Andersen] "most, if not all" [2021-03-22 08:48:06] [Robert Garry]