This whole thread and the moderation thread is just disappointing. I refrained from posting in either for the same reason I didn’t follow Trump when I was on twitter. I don’t want to give him oxygen.
Can someone just be the bigger person and walk away and stop posting?
I have a somewhat different take. I don’t think certain people feel like they deserve to attack whoever they want. I think certain people feel like some posters are bad posters who deserve any attack that comes their way. And they are way too confident in their ability to identify who is a bad poster.
Jal is probably telling the truth about having the impression that CaffeineNeeded was discounting the opinion of UK scientists because of a lack of concrete proof. Whether that impression was accurate is not one I feel comfortable judging.
With the exception of the posters who behave in a manner indistinguishable from playing devil’s advocate for sport (or those who openly stated they are doing so), I take everyone in this forum as expressing what is true for them. We are speaking in good faith.
I may not agree with the manner in which they express themselves or the veracity behind their claims, but I do not doubt anyone’s sincerity in expressing what is true for them.
I think he means a combination that may involve one or the other but sometimes both.
Sometimes it is better to just say “please stop” and see what happens. Particularly in normal dynamics where we are not at each other’s throats, though it may be hard as yet to imagine such a time. I think it is good for us to stand up for and with each other publicly. Not as taking sides on any particular issue, because the thing we are taking sides on is the well-being of each other and our community.
I can also see clear situations where you are right and you’d want to flag it and say nothing.
Your description of the response you got in that thread is wrong and bordering on absurd. And no, just because something is published in the Bee Bee See doesn’t mean you’re blameless for posting it uncritically. There is bad science journalism out there, and that was some. The guy quoted may be a scientist, but he’s acting unscientifically by asking countries to alter policy based on conjecture and not evidence.