zlacker

>>datafl+(OP)
I think most people are confused because of CCP’s successful disinformation campaign, and also out of fear of being seen as prejudiced. The fact is that an epidemic with a corona virus (never before or since seen in the wild) with a peculiarly efficient ability to infect humans started in the _only city in the world with a lab where gain-of-function experiments on corona viruses_ is located. Just apply occam’s razor, and then you are done.

Every other theory requires involving many more unsupported hypotheses.

This would be obvious to the majority of the HN population in most cases, but the disinformation in this case is apparently quite effective.

>>uveste+0X
> Every other theory requires involving many more unsupported hypotheses.

No it doesn't.

All it takes is bats around farmed animals like minks or raccoon dogs.

That sets up a natural "gain of function" experiment with the bats passing viruses off to the farmed animals who pass it sequentially through the entire farm.

The humans who work at those farms then bring in human coronaviruses which could have recombined with the viruses in the farm.

You have large bioreactors doing gain of function experiments all over China right out in plain view, with Charles Darwin overseeing the lab work.

>>lamont+6G1
Except that after 15 months of global catastrophy and investigation, no evidence has been found in support of that.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it would seem that if 'minks' were the problem, there would be trail of evidence to pick up on.

Hence the notion of speculation / Occam's Razor.

>>jollyb+h12
Has China bothered seriously looking for that, or are they happy to distract by pointing the finger at Italy and making the argument over lab escape? I keep reading reports that China conveniently threw away all their wastewater samples and respiratory samples. I don't see much of an effort towards studying their farm animals or tracking down the bat origins.

There just hasn't been that much of an investigation. China seems to have done enough to provide an air of cooperation with WHO, while not producing anything solid.

For their domestic consumption they've also accomplished their propaganda goals. The global scientific community (outside of fringe articles like here) has generally dismissed the idea that it came from a lab, which China can amplify in front of its population. Then they just muddy the waters with the idea that it came in frozen seafood from Italy and they can move on. There's no incentive to investigating the zoonotic orgins.

And its the same thing here in reverse. Politically we just get articles like this to get people very made at China over the lab release hypothesis, which deflects from our own pandemic response.

Politically there seems to be very little will on the planet towards finding a zoonotic source.