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Comment by bb123 | Hacker News Reader

I find it strange that even on HN we seem to fall into the trap of holding up people's opinions who ostensibly know nothing special about the subject. This guy is an engineer not a public health expert, why are we holding his thoughts and advice in particular esteem?

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Because he’s on the ground in one of the hardest hit areas, and has no (that I can see) incentive to lie. The media, where he is getting his info from, also has no (that I can see) incentive to overstate the situation. Sometimes you have to consider anecdotal evidence - sometimes there is no other option in a crisis like this.

That is a good point, I am still skeptical that he should be handing out advice though. I would also disagree that the media has no incentive to overstate the situation. The Italian PM has specifically asked them to tone down their reporting as it was causing panic.

> The Italian PM has specifically asked them to tone down their reporting as it was causing panic.

That doesn't mean they are being untruthful, though.

> Because he’s on the ground in one of the hardest hit areas, and has no (that I can see) incentive to lie.

But that doesn't make him an unbiased observer. If anything, it's only human nature to magnify once own suffering and the suffering of people around during a crisis like this.

People know him, and people are interested in what people they know have to say. The fact that it's in an unrelated context adds novelty, which also attracts interest. I don't think it implies particular esteem.

It's probably not a good HN submission, though, unless there's something unusually substantive. Especially on the most-covered topic of the moment.

Maybe because he is relaying stats which are not (widely?) reported at least in UK media, and by being “famous” his account is validated and we trust him to at least accurately relay information from Italy? Does not seem so unreasonable to me.

The advice is "The only way to stop the infection is to stay at home and to limit the contacts at every cost." I'm pretty sure that anybody observing the current events is qualified to give that advice.

Other than that - the guy is a celebrity and people are interested in hearing celebrities speak, which is why outlets like twitter are so popular to begin with.

Are you an expert on giving or taking advice or contemplating the thoughts of others? If not, why shouldn't we completely disregard what you're saying here?

This. Reminds me of Jurgen Klopp being asked about coronavirus and he had the best response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBCzWDxaLiw

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