

The amateur scientist (that's us) - cwan
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/11/the-amateur-scientist-thats-us.html

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greyman
[No mention of longitudinal studies or long-term side effects.]

But as was also reported, the swine flu vaccine was being developed in a rush;
there just wasn't enough time to study the long-term side effects, and the
parents who worry about the vaccine not being safe can be actually right. But
I doubt Seth cares about that, all he thinks about is how to market it.

Now I don't say it is wrong to get a vaccine, but I think we should be careful
to not be influenced be marketers and ignore other facts.

~~~
mbreese
This isn't quite true. The vaccine was made in a rush, but it was done using
the exact same techniques that have been used for years to make the normal
seasonal flu vaccine. And I'd say that is probably the most widely used and
studied vaccine in history.

Instead of targeting the normal 'seasonal' flu variants, the h1n1 vaccine
targets h1n1. So, fears about the risks of this vaccine being any different
from the risks of the seasonal flu vaccine are pretty much unfounded.

(Disclaimer: I am a scientist...)

~~~
potatolicious
I think OP proved Seth's point quite well: there's a lot of scientific-
sounding drivel coming from armchair scientists that just don't hold up to
people in the know, but sound perfectly reasonable to laymen.

------
dhimes
_Audiophiles spend thousands of dollars rewiring the electrical lines in their
house with .99999% pure copper, ignoring the fact that the power from the
street is in the same old cables._

What is the pure copper supposed to help? I've not heard of this. Depending on
what it is supposed to do, it may not be so irrational (except for the fact
that most room acoustics are lousy and mess up all of your efforts in
electronics). After all, the power company only provides you energy, not
electrons. You just slosh the same old electrons back and forth in your wire.

Which is cool 'cuz those power company electrons would be coming from a long
ways away and would obviously be tired by the time they got to my house.

~~~
JeremyStein
> What is the pure copper supposed to help?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-end_audio_cables>

James Randi will give a million dollars to anyone who can tell the difference.

> electrons would be coming from a long ways

I know it was a joke, but electrons don't really move with alternating
current.

~~~
dhimes
_I know it was a joke, but electrons don't really move with alternating
current._

Well, ok, but if you're not going to let me be funny then we better at least
clarify for future readers: Electrons are actually moving _quite rapidly_
regardless of the type of current, it's just that they get scattered around a
bit and don't make much average progress (called _drift_ ). We get a lot of
charge moving per time (current) because there are a tremendous number of them
moving, not because their average speed is great.

In direct current, the drift velocity (or drift speed) stays in the same
direction. In alternating current, it switches direction with the frequency of
the applied voltage.

Typical values of drift speed are, if I recall correctly, of the order of
millimeters/hour.

[edit-- thanks for the link]

------
scotty79
There is a very long way form audiophiles to people who delay giving hastily
developed precautionary drug against illness that has 0.02% mortality rate on
diagnosed patients.

Audiophiles are just people who pay vast amounts of their expendable money for
feeling well. They are just plain stupid because if they changed their friends
and forgot the audio thing altogether they'd feel well at no cost.

Cautious parents just show reservation and that is not stupid at all.
Especially taking into account in haste preparations of the vaccine, major
amount of money that is going flow to pharmaceutical companies and information
noise generated by the media.

You don't want to be early adopter of potentially buggy solution if your kids
health is at stake.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
Stupid != irrational.

~~~
scotty79
I just say that mentioning audiophiles and swine flu vaccine in same article
makes me uneasy. And not acting on something you hear in media is neither
stupid nor irrational.

------
lionhearted
I'm a fan of Seth Godin, but:

> The challenge for people trying to market vaccines or highlight long-term
> side effects of various consumer choices is that it's much easier to spread
> a story about exploding cars or hair falling out than it is to spread a
> story of 'nothing bad happens' or 'no one got the swine flu and died'...

> PS if I was marketing the swine flu vaccine, I'd name it after a kid who
> died last season and put her picture on the release form.

Well, I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

~~~
scotty79
> PS if I was marketing the swine flu vaccine, I'd name it after a kid who
> died last season and put her picture on the release form.

Ah the old "Buy our stuff or your kid will die like this one" pitch. Always
works.

~~~
latortuga
Reminds me of the "Pass this law or...think of the children!" style of
politics.

~~~
mbreese
You can argue about if it is good or not, but there is no denying that it _is_
good marketing.

