Moderation Policies on Anti-Vax / Pseudo-Science and Extreme Fringe Beliefs

#128

I have a strong opinion based on experience…

This is a private board operated at the grace of one individual.

We are all here because of the standards of conduct and culture created by the leadership of this individual. We see that standard in every post he creates. It sets the tone that we all subscribe to. It’s why we’re all here.

I run two private community forums, and I used to own several apartment communities.Those communities taught me something important - one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.

When you have a bad tenant in your community, then the good people respond by leaving because they don’t want to be around the bad apple. If this is allowed to persist, the entire community devolves to the level of the bad tenant. It’s ugly and expensive to watch.

The solution is simple: you remove bad tenants before they can negatively impact the experience for the rest of the community.

If @RapAdmin doesn’t like what a participant is posting for whatever reason he chooses, then he should remove that post and/or the participant to preserve the quality and integrity of this community according solely to his standards.

He created the culture. He’s the judge and the jury. We like what’s here and want the culture preserved.

This is not a democracy.

14 Likes
#129

100%

Civil discourse and conflicting opinions can exist on a forum like this, without “democracy”.

6 Likes
#130

Agree with @Steve_Combi here. @RapAdmin has the right to do whatever he wants. And he has done a great job. He’s deleted posts and kicked out or suspended “bad apples”. This however, is different from arbitrarily deciding what is “pseudo science”. Especially since many educated people would consider Rapamycin as pseudoscience. Bad ideas are best dealt with by good ideas. Let’s keep good discussions going, and let’s stop beating this dead horse.

Btw, there are some slightly bad apples around but removing them wouldn’t be right.

5 Likes
#131

Against for several reasons.

#132

Likely because of my age but I can think of a lifetime of examples: evolution, nuclear weapons testing, STEM cell research, nuclear energy, SETI (in cold war period), women’s movement protesting research on sex differences, climate change. Some, more explicitly political than others but all having ideological perspectives having some basis in politics.

3 Likes
#133

True, but those issues don’t seem to come up much here in our forums these days. 99% of it (from my rough estimation) seems to be related to Covid Vaccines. So I think the policy of avoiding covid vaccination discussions (backwards looking), it will keep the political disagreements / arguments to a minimum.

And my focus in this statement is really the retrospective takes on Covid vaccines that are decidedly one-sided; e.g. this type of discussion rehashing old data that seems more political than scientific: CANARY In A COVID World

I’m not talking about new data from new research studies; for example I think the type of new information presented in this type of discussion is less political and more pure science oriented: Vaccines for longevity

I’m trying to parse the more scientific, less political aspects of covid vaccination from the more political. The goal here is to keep the forum focused on good science, around strategies and tactics for healthy longevity.

5 Likes
#134

I agree and also to your point, the breadth and depth to which the politics have penetrated professions more-or-less based on science. As one example, I see a disturbing number of vaccine-related anti-government and anti-science comments made by physicians and nurses on medical sites.

#135

I wish this were true, but I don’t think it’s the case. As we know, a lie travels around the earth before the truth even has its shoes on. In human psychology, there is a huge bias towards us believing the first thing we hear and we weight that more heavily, even in the face of better evidence.

The other problem is that online, it’s incredibly easy for a small number of people to totally derail a conversation or post lots of bullshit. So again, I think the intent, effort and credibility is what matters. If somebody wants to come here and say vaccines are bad and they actually have new evidence, that’s fine. But if they’re going to come out with the same ‘evidence’ that’s been debunked 20x already, they’re only adding noise.

Lastly, there’s also cognitive dissonance. There’s already been negative studies of Rapamycin, but we find reasons - the dose wasn’t right, daily administration isn’t any good, the formulation didn’t allow proper absorption etc etc. But, for example, if Matt K’s dog study fails to show an effect, do you think everybody here will quit Rapamycin? I bet they won’t, because it’s also partly ideological, just like how some people cling to keto, or carnivore, or metformin, or resveratol and it becomes part of their identity and value system. It’s very hard to let go of something you already believe, no matter how many good ideas you later encounter.

7 Likes
#137

There is no measles outbreak. The media loves to lie and people love to believe the lies.

IMG_0836
IMG_0836986×493 41.6 KB

3 Likes
#138

IMG_0439
IMG_04391290×1130 135 KB

Almost as many cases as last year only 3 months in.

4 Likes
#139

Maybe I missed it, but I’ve never read an offensive comment posted by @Bicep. Anyone calling for his ouster should be sent to the gulag.

4 Likes
#140

Bicep is not being considered for a ban.

Even if someone has a different opinion than yours, they are free to express it (within reason). Relax everyone. :slight_smile:

5 Likes
#141

I would be opposed to Bicep being banned just based on his reports from the farm alone. Everytime I see one of his posts, I read it eagerly in case there are more farm updates. I don’t have a big bucket list, and climbing Mt. Everest is not on it, but I do have a faint hope that one day, perhaps when I’m 90, I can tour Bicep’s farm.

6 Likes
#142

Whereas I understand your point, I have to disagree again with you.
People on this forum may make arguments in favor of Rapamycin that you think are erroneous, but others will agree with you and everyone will have the freedom to decide what’s right.

The biggest problem with the COVID/vaccine issue was the lack of honest discussion of the many aspects of the issue. Things would have turned out much better in the long run if initial freedom of speech had been allowed.

8 Likes
#143

a lie travels around the earth before the truth even has its shoes on

I’ve also heard that the truth is like a lion, Turn it loose and you don’t have to defend it, it’ll defend itself. I would say this isn’t true in the short run, but over time we should get there.

In human psychology, there is a huge bias towards us believing the first thing we hear and we weight that more heavily, even in the face of better evidence.

The other problem is that online, it’s incredibly easy for a small number of people to totally derail a conversation or post lots of bullshit.

many times dealing with high, drunk, or people who have e.g diagnosed or undiagnosed schizophrenia

You guys’ thesis is that anybody that questions that vaccines have saved us from misery and death is stupid, on drugs or crazy. I don’t think you have done all the reading necessary to make that conclusion. “Turtles all the way down” by Mary Holland and Zoey O’Toole explains that vaccines are tested against a placebo that may contain the thing causing the side effects. It’s not a real placebo.

Also a virus continues to evolve until it causes less and less damage to the host. These childhood diseases were virtually gone when the vaccine came out. There is much question about what would have happened without them. These things are detailed in this book and a few others. I don’t really know who they wrote the books for if people are all stupid and high.

I actually hope you’re right about vaccines and RFK proves it. Otherwise this was a pretty stupid chapter in our history. But I do want to know.

people cling to keto, or carnivore, or metformin, or resveratol and it becomes part of their identity and value system

I’ve tried all these things and I think keto is important to teach your body to be flexible and burn fat more. I use it off and on. It seems to help.

I saw an interview with Sam Bankman-Fried in prison where he was asked if he’s learned anything in prison. He said he was shocked to learn that the violent criminals he’s in jail with are great at chess. He thought they all were stupid.

My advice, which obviously you can take or leave, is to watch any vaccine trials underway and make sure they are done right. To prove your point. Don’t take anybody’s word for it. Also read what the stupid and high people have written. Vax-Unvax Let the science speak, by RFK. I know he has a brain worm and is on heroin, so find his mistakes and save us all a lot of trouble.

2 Likes
#144

That is mostly the case but not necessarily true for all pathogens. If a virus has a long enough incubation time it can even evolve to become deadlier.

4 Likes
#146

Is this measles cases as of March 6 for each of the prior years or should we be multiplying 2025 by 6 to get the correct number? Either way, what the hell was going on under Bush senior?

Googled it:
Large outbreak in New York and Philly. CDC (1998): Measles Outbreak -- New York City, 1990-1991

Unvaccinated kids! (story from 2019): How A Measles Outbreak Was Halted In The 1990s : Shots - Health News : NPR

It was the biggest year since the early 1970s.

3 Likes
#147

Excellent depiction of the life health and saving power of a vaccine @LukeMV. Thanks for posting it. The small blips in 2025 are erupting in areas for which vaccination rates are so low that there is no effective herd much less individual immunity. The 2025 data also demonstrate the efficiency of the vaccine but you have to index the rate on the vaccination database.

4 Likes
#148

Here’s what on this board, people being ok with people dying needlessly from measles in 2025 directly from antivax beliefs, and also saying “here’s why this is great!”

#149

Please, share an example of when freedom of speech was not allowed.