Jorge1907 <jorge1907 at aol.com> wrote
> Oh yes, again it's on the internet so it must be true.
>> Tom's ignorance of scientific and medical history dooms him to interpet
all
> phenomena as modern conspiracy. Anthrax epidemics have been recorded from
> antiquity. Koch's well known postulates were developed on the model of
> Bacillus anthracis infection of mice, but then, perhaps he and Pasteur
were an
> early part of the conspiracy! What do you think, Tom?
I think Jorge makes the mistake of underestimating Tom and the damage Tom's
posts can do. If Tom were ignorant and stupid, as so many internet posters
so obviously are, there would be no harm done, just a little otherwise empty
bandwidth made to vibrate. The problem is that he is, at the very least,
reasonably intelligent and moderately well informed. Contrary to what Jorg
seems to suspect, Tom's report that the late-Soviet anthrax epidemic was
caused by military researchers screwing up is correct. It sure sounds like a
paranoid invention, but it happens to be a real world event.
I share Jorge's conclusion that Tom's posts are wrong in conclusion and in
essence. This is not, however, because everything in them is incorrect. A
more likely explanation, imho, might be that Tom's reasoning from his
premises is distorted by psychological or political bias.
-dlj.
