
German court orders measles sceptic to pay 100,000 euros - happyscrappy
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31864218
======
Rockslide
Clickbait headline alert! As the article also states, this dumbf..k offered a
bounty of 100k to anyone who could prove that the measles virus actually
exists. He refused to pay, a doctor brought it to court, and he won. Still,
negating the existence of measles or viruses in general doesn't cost a cent in
Germany.

~~~
CmonDev
I guess the dream of a scientocratic society proactively punishing ignorance
won't materialise. Denying evolution? 10 lashes!

~~~
allendoerfer
Evolution is indeed just a theory - the one every scientist sees as the most
likely - but still a theory.

Edit (reply-limit): Thanks readerrr and cremno, valid points, will consider it
in the future.

What I meant was, there have been theories before the current theory of
evolution. For example Lamarck's one, which is long considered false but
lately some aspects of it are reintroduced. If we would punish everyone for
denying evolution we would be unable to advance it.

And of course this has nothing to do with teaching children biology. Of course
children need to be taught evolution there.

~~~
readerrr
You are using an incorrect definition of the word. Theory used in science[0]
means:

 _a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as
correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a
class of phenomena_

and not:

 _a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to
experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are
regarded as reporting matters of actual fact_

We have a separate word for the latter: a hypothesis.

[0]:[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory)

------
antr
tl;dr

\- Biologist offered €100,000 to anyone who could prove that measles is a
virus.

\- The biologist believes the illness is psychosomatic.

\- The reward was later claimed by a doctor who gathered evidence from various
medical studies.

\- The court ruled that the proof was sufficient.

\- Biologist has to pay up to the doctor.

------
Eric_WVGG
I filed a complaint with the BBC over their use of the word “sceptic” in place
of “denier”.

~~~
tomjen3
That seems like a bad idea - the last people I want in charge of The Official
Story is newspapers, and of these the BBC in particular.

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alricb
The biologist in question is Stefan Lanka, who's also an HIV-denier:
[http://www.virusmyth.com/aids/index/slanka.htm](http://www.virusmyth.com/aids/index/slanka.htm)

------
readerrr
How does that bounty work legally? Publicly( if a website counts as such )
declaring a reward for something isn't a legal contract.

~~~
rostigerpudel
It is, if upon written request, the terms are confirmed by the one offering
the bounty. This has happened here. The originally reporting newspaper has
this to say (translation by me):

"[...] The doctor had noted the biologist's 100.000-Euro-Offer on the
internet. At the start of the trial, he stated that he had requested (and
received) written confirmation of the bet. He sent the documents to the
biologist - together with his account number. Still, he did not receive the
money and proceeded to sue. [...]"

Original article here: [http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.kurioser-
masern...](http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.kurioser-masern-
streit-mediziner-
bekommt-100000-euro.394bf099-c9bd-4f59-b75a-d5dd25477005.html)

~~~
readerrr
Thank you, that makes it credible.

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NoMoreNicksLeft
The libertarian in me was about to be pissed off that they were fining him for
skepticism.

But it looks like the dumbass actually offered $100,000 for someone to prove
it, and the courts merely held him to his promise. Thanks German Court System
for not being completely retarded this time.

~~~
Mithaldu
"this time"?

Most of the things i see the german court system do are completely fine,
especially in comparison to the american one. I'm curious why you'd specify
"this time".

~~~
xaqfox
Probably for exactly the same reason you specified, "especially in comparison
to the american one". Most court activity anywhere is banal and "completely
fine", which never gets reported on.

