Author: Mark Alexander

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Please Do Carry On

I feel the same way about “bug hunters” in the gay community, those HIV-negative men who actively seek out poz guys to infect themselves. While HIV has become a “manageable” disease, the only reason I can see behind this insane behavior is that none of these guys lived through the 80s and 90s and watched their friends drop like flies; that none of them attended multiple funerals weekly for once vibrant young men who could’ve gone on to do so many wonderful things if their lives had not been cut short.

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One of the Most Dangerous Ideas…

One of the most dangerous ideas that has come about in the last 3 years is that all points of view are equally valid, and that Average Citizen (YOU) are just as equipped to judge which have merit as anyone else.

“Hear all sides and judge for yourself!” No. Full stop. I do not condone the death of Expertise, and neither should you.

I am an expert in very, very few things. But in those areas, my expertise is hard earned through study, work, experience, and aptitude. None of tit comes from attending Google University. But unless you are an expert in exactly the same area, your opinion is not just as valid as mine. It’s not.

And my opinion is not as valid as experts’ in other fields. That is why THEY ARE THE EXPERTS. So if our leading epidemiologists largely agree that “A” is correct, and a couple discredited doctors make a video that says “B” is correct, our response should not be, “I’ll listen to both and decide which makes sense to me.” Confirmation bias exists, and only fools think they are free of it. To paraphrase the author Isaac Asimov, your ignorance is not the same as their experience. Genuinely smart people look for answers from people who are smarter than themselves. Only ignorant people believe their guess is as good as anyone else’s.

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And I understand there are now groups of braindead Facebook (may Zuckerberg rot in hell for all eternity) zombies who are claiming that Germ Theory—goddamned motherfucking GERM THEORY—isn’t real and is just is some kind of liberal plot to enrich drug companies.

I week for our species.

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