Apr 14

No Und

Extremely poor understanding of risk and meta-risk.

Probably not anything more than that.

Apr 14

NC

Ya’ll have not read your Nancy Cartwright and it shows.

Math worship is deeply weird.

Apr 13

Add ‘Er Some

Ah, this won’t matter to anyone. Most have the risk assessment capability of Kermit the Frog on Adderall.

Apr 13

No Inch

It’s a huge mistake to withdraw the J&J vaccine, for a variety of reasons.

I am trying very hard to have faith that there was a good reason for this decision, and the CDC/FDA did not withdraw one of the vaccines over such a small number of reported adverse reactions. Because if that’s truly all there is to the story, the harm they will do in giving fuel to anti-vax skepticism will outweigh any good they might do by studying these reactions.

I’d gladly take the J&J vaccine — the risks are so tiny. If nothing else, just reserve that one for men.

Can’t give the anti-vaxxers an inch. And this will probably cost an extra 20,000-40,000 lives, and possibly far more.

Apr 13

Infantilization

Jesus Christ what the fuck.

Approximately 90% of women in the US are under 5’7″.

So, guys, that means if you want to demonstrate that you are not a total pedo, you must be sure to pick one of the 10% of women who are 5’7″ and above.

Apr 13

LLife

The lockdown lifers are wailing, affronted at anyone having a good time. But they know no matter what, there is always another bed to hide under, always another mask to layer atop the other 50.

Apr 13

Mask Error

Eh, most people don’t really know anything or think deeply about why (or how) anything is the case. They follow the cues of their friends and families, or what they see or hear on the news. Even this, though, they usually misunderstand.

Could humans be smarter and better thinkers? Maybe. But the reality is that right now in general we are not.

Apr 12

People Are People

The Naked Sun.

I read this novel long ago, maybe when I was 8 or 9. I’d almost completely forgotten it. It presaged the liberals’ wished-for perma-lockdown future.

Asimov portrays in The Naked Sun a world focused on avoiding physical contact with other people. The Solarians practice physical distancing, and interact with each other largely through technology. They live far from each other, spread out across a sparsely populated planet. People are taught from birth to avoid physical contact, and live on huge estates, either alone or with their spouse only. Face-to-face interaction (referred to in the book as “seeing”) is seen as a repugnant chore….Sex is only practiced for reproduction when replacement of a citizen is necessary, and is considered a chore even more repugnant than seeing. A character remarks that to be in the same room with another person is “most unpleasant…. I feel strongly as though something slimy were about to touch me.”[3]:113 A doctor has to “get hardened” to it….The Solarians’ phobia against in-person contact is so strong that a character commits suicide to avoid it.

Sound like any people you know? At least a lot of them are moving that direction for sure. Not bad for 1956.

Apr 12

Flat Out

What’s particularly weird about the Fat Acceptance movement is that because I’ve been fat, I can say authoritatively that you feel like a fucking rusty garbage can when you’re fat.

You don’t need a goddamn doctor to tell you it’s unhealthy. It’s perfectly clear from living in your own body.