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Comment by ANewFormation | Hacker News Reader

This misses the context that Raoult alone has published more than 3000 papers and is one of the most highly cited researchers in his field. Take the combined sum of all the IHU authors and it's likely in the tens of thousands.

This is also why people increasingly believe whatever they want. Nobody is honest, everything is framed in the most exaggerated ways - which then makes it easy to undermine, and there's mass corruption everywhere on top of all of this especially in covid related stuff where you have geopolitics, politics, and hundreds of billions of dollars in profiteering stewing in one giant, and quite toxic, pot.

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people have always believed whatever they want. hence, it has been a game of persuation for eons. the most persuasive person was always listened to regardless of what they said.

science changed the game by insisting that it is not what we believe, but whats out there. But, it doesnt come naturally to most of us. we still love narratives, and are easily fooled.

I think it is very interesting how people talk about science as if it is (near) perfect, and that this perfection passes on to those who are believers in it.

I wonder what the causality is behind so many people ending up with this same conceptualization within their minds. It has an eerie resemblance to the behavior of people in other ideological groups, like religion.

regardless of where you are in the world, your race, religion, language, whether you are left or right in political leaning,

you are better off believing in newton's theories. it will help you build tools to navigate the world better and weapons to protect you.

If this applies at the individual level, I would love to read even an attempt at a proof.

One interesting aspect of science is that so much of what's true within it requires no proof, like religion. A lot of people try to get around this by saying that people aren't a part of science, but then they always seem to lose track of the thread when asked how science accomplishes anything without having either people involved, or the supernatural (which "doesn't exist" dontcha know).

My personal view is that science is our human “interpretation” of what’s “out there” Using a language (math) and a method (scientific method) which leave no room for doubt.

It is purely a human endeavor much like other arts we pursue - except in this art, we settle opinion/belief with a specific method. For a belief to be inducted into science, it has to endure rigorous tests.

Cs peirce attempted a proof here: https://www.peirce.org/writings/p107.html

At an individual level, I suspect, we fear the uncertainty that comes with the “irritation of doubt” and we also fear being a social outcaste. Therefore to optimize happiness we would rather stick with the beliefs of our tribe - however unscientific they may be - because they serve as a mental anchor. Hence the prevalence of religions and beliefs that are tribal.

Scientists are not superhuman, even in the golden era of science it was Max Plank that remarked, 'Science advances one funeral at a time.' And things have rather worsened since his era.

It's not science that really changed anything but rather humanity freeing itself from bias and opening itself to having a discourse and debate on practically any issue, without consequence - accepting all the discomfort that that entails.

But such eras are brief and can fade rapidly. The Islamic world was once a global leader in the sciences. Algebra = al jabr, Arabic numerals, alongside countless contributions to astronomy and other fields. Oh but how fast that candle of learning can be snuffed out when it becomes inconvenient.

> Raoult alone has published more than 3000 papers

Hum...

There's something very wrong with a figure like that.

I've heard he published 300+ a year since 2009 when the French research minister of that time changed how grant attribution worked. The majority of them in two different publications directed by two of his friends/coworkers.

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