Denouncing Prominent Medical Fascist Peter Hotez
Recently, a vaccine fanatic named Peter Hotez published an article in the journal Nature, in which he states that "counter-messaging" is not enough to deal with "anti-vaxxers", and that the GOVERNMENT must get involved and forcefully "dismantle" his intellectual opponents for him.
Despite labeling his opponents as "aggressive", the language in his article is itself rife with terminology that is downright militaristic.
It's one of the most disturbing articles I've ever read. Have a look at it here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01084-x
After reading it, I composed a letter with feedback to share with Nature. Here's what I said to them:
Hello. I’d like to offer feedback about your recent article, titled “COVID vaccines: time to confront anti-vax aggression”, dated April 27th, by Peter Hotez. Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01084-x
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I’ve always considered Nature to be a foundational institution of the modern scientific community. And that’s why I was dismayed and shocked to read such an article, in which the author, Mr. Hotez, calls for his intellectual opponents to be treated as terrorists.
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In science, we find out the truth by searching, testing, re-testing, and – most importantly – debating those who disagree with us. When I have a hypothesis, testing my own is only half of the battle – for I must also entertain criticism from others, who might have spotted an error I overlooked, or identified a confounding variable I failed to identify. This is why rigorous debate is a cornerstone of science.
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Intellectual opponents, criticism, dissent, and competing hypotheses are valuable. They enrich us. And engaging with them is essential to the discipline of science.
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In contrast, the forces of intimidation and censorship are as diametrically opposed to the principles of science as it’s possible to be. In publishing an article calling for deploying the national counterterrorism intelligence apparatus to deal with competing hypotheses, this journal has debased itself.
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Let’s extrapolate this trend, and see what kind of world it leads to. Perhaps Mr. Hotez will have his way, and Homeland Security will make sure no one publicly disagrees with him ever again. Next, perhaps the Russian FSB will do the same, but in reverse, silencing everyone on Mr. Hotez’s side. Then, we can have two mutually exclusive “scientific” worlds, in which each only listens to itself, and blocks out the other, like two giant echo chambers.
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Next, perhaps Iran, emboldened by the West’s embrace of intellectual theocracy, will use this opportunity to consolidate its own. And then all the tin-pot African autocrats will unpredictably silence a hodge-podge of various viewpoints, as it suits them, following our example – with no more room for us to criticize them, without being hypocrites.
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And, by and by, the scientific community can become like a global gang-war. Each team puts on a jersey, declares their unfaltering loyalty to one theory or set of theories, and fights the other side – with weapons. And instead of proving our theories with reason and empiricism, we can simply intimidate and silence our opponents – and that can be how Science works, from here going forward.
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We can even call it a form of “rational deduction” – because we’re literally “deducting” our opponents. One by one, we find everyone who disagrees with us, and “deduct” them from the conversation. When all opponents have been jailed or frightened into silence, and all opposing hypotheses have been scrubbed, erased, and made impossible to find, OUR theory will be the only one left standing. Thus, it will be proven.
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This is how science can work, if you want it to.
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Do you?
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If not, I urge you to issue a public apology, denouncing Mr. Hotez and his authoritarian attitude.
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Do that, or History will look back on this journal as “part of the problem.”
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I have confidence that you’ll do the right thing, and thank you in advance.
You can share your feedback as well, by emailing nature@nature.com
Please let them know how you feel.