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1. trog+(OP)[view] [source] 2021-05-07 07:15:09
> If we apply Occam's razor [1] decision between "Wuhan, however, is home of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a leading world center for research on coronaviruses" and "Wuhan, there is a wet market where under certain conditions virus can jump from bat to monkey to person" is relatively straightforward

Heh, what is the Razor or other applicable language construct when someone gives two options and then suggests there's one they think is obviously correct, without saying which one or why - leaving it completely opaque or confusing to the casual reader?

I legit do not know which of the two cases here you think Occam's Razor applies straightforwardly. I can make easy cases for both sides being the simplest explanation.

e.g., "it seems simplest that the leading world centre would have excellent safety protocols and thus the chaotic wet market in a region known for those viruses is more likely the source", vs "it seems simplest that human error in a research environment studying these viruses compared to a wet market where, if that was a likely vector, we'd surely be seeing these things way more often", kind of thing.

replies(3): >>wallac+r1 >>twobit+Su >>unisha+AA
2. wallac+r1[view] [source] 2021-05-07 07:29:40
>>trog+(OP)
> it seems simplest that the leading world centre would have excellent safety protocols

There’s an unnecessarily large assumption being made here. We can look at the Wuhan institute’s past and the history of comparable labs to get an estimation of lab leak frequency.

Similarly, there’s a whole bunch of context around things like: what kind of samples did the lab have in its freezers when covid was discovered? In the wetmarket case, what’s the transmission chain from a reservoir through to the market have to look like?

Once you compile all this context, then Occam’s Razor becomes a good tool. But before that it’s just a shot in the dark (kinda like you hint at). I’m not sure any single HN comment is really capable of giving sufficient context for this particular case.

3. twobit+Su[view] [source] 2021-05-07 12:25:43
>>trog+(OP)
If you knew that US state department had flagged safety concerns with Wuhan and claimed knowledge of infected lab workers, would that change your idea of the “leading world center”

https://2017-2021.state.gov/fact-sheet-activity-at-the-wuhan...

4. unisha+AA[view] [source] 2021-05-07 13:12:45
>>trog+(OP)
Occam's razor in terms of scientific theories means choose the theory with the fewest variables, not just compare guesstimated probabilities or something. From that, I would guess the poster means the lab leak is preferred as it has only one variable related to the possibility of a leak of viruses that are already there.
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