Philipp Markolin, PhD Profile picture
Mar 1, 2023 12 tweets 15 min read Read on X
NEW EXCLUSIVE from me:

#Denounce, #deny, #deceive - 6 common tactics of media manipulators and why they work to sabotage public discourse

Read:
protagonistfuture.substack.com/p/denounce-den…
It is time to stop being naive about online discourse.

“The discourse holds so many traps for the unwary. It’s a bit like financial scams and gambling that are a tax on the financially naïve. A similar tax is being levied on the intellectually naïve.” —  @ArthurCDent

1/
@ArthurCDent In the article, I lay out 6 common #manipulation tactics and why they work to sabotage discourse on scientific topics.

First up is "just asking questions" or "#sealioning", which uses social expectations and #framing effects to distort conversations.

2/
@ArthurCDent Second, we look at the power of sensationalist stories and baseless rumors.

Why does a compelling #fiction win over nuanced #truth every time?

3/
@ArthurCDent Third, we move on to "#anomaly hunting", a practise that gained incredible popularity on social media.

What is it? Why do people do it? Why is it not legitimate?

4/
@ArthurCDent Fourth, we take a look at fake experts and media #biases.

Why do #contrarian opinions get preferential treatment? Where do the media and even established #journalists predictably go wrong?

5/
@ArthurCDent Fifth, we look at emotional manipulations through #moralizing discourse.

Why are we so susceptible to moral #outrage and moral #panics? What is moral #grandstanding?

6/
@ArthurCDent Sixth, it get's visceral.
We look at #toxic behaviors that try to #repress, bully or #threaten experts out of fact-based conversations.

From #poisoning the well to #character assassinations, this is nothing for the feeble minded.

7/
@ArthurCDent If you do not want to be easily #manipulated, or if you are wondering if discourse is #inauthentic or not, please read this article:

8/
protagonistfuture.substack.com/p/denounce-den…
@ArthurCDent If you do not have the time to read through everything, I compiled some high-resolution infographics to summarize the tactics against #vaccine, #climate and #origin science.

Feel free to consult, use and share them.
PDFs can also be found for free in the article.
@ArthurCDent If you do not like substack, my article can also be found on medium, here is a friend's free access link:

protagonist-science.medium.com/denounce-deny-…
@ArthurCDent And because I often get insulted and harassed for my science communication work (see tactic 6, 'mudslinding'), here is a disclaimer of why I am doing it:

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More from @PhilippMarkolin

May 15
Decent article from @benjmueller at NYT about the administration's political decision to defund EHA.

He ends on a curious note 🔽

"Why now, 3 years after all the banalities the HHS cites to justify the farce were already known?"

I have some thoughts

1/
nytimes.com/2024/05/15/hea…
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It is a critically important election year, so the Biden WH can not afford to have this emotional issue with large visibility be a differentiator between the parties.

They have to act as the ones driving accountability so the Republicans can not weaponize it against them

2/ Image
No party or politician gives a hoot about Ecohealth Alliance, it is a small non-profit with no political weight or power

Cutting off its funding makes politicians look good; they can pretend to hold "bad people" accountable in a bi-partisan fashion & not ruffle many feathers

3/ Image
Read 8 tweets
May 3
There will be a ramp-up of media coverage to bring the false #lableak myth back to the attention of the masses; right when the general election heats up.

Multiple reasons for this, first and foremost the political need for emotional activation of potential voters

A short🧵 Image
As I have written previously, the #lableak myth is a powerful emotional narrative that profits from the many incentive asymmetries in our modern information ecosystems.

This ensures not only attention, but retention in public discourse.

Read:


2/ protagonist-science.com/p/a-tale-of-tw…
Image
Emotional myths that provide a simple explanation for why a large, traumatic world event like a pandemic had to be the cause of some shadowy powerful actors are appealing; they offer an agent to blame, and the illusion of control of these phenomena.

They win some people over.
3/
Read 15 tweets
Apr 13
The Furin-cleavage site (#FCS) in SARS-CoV-2 is one of the most misunderstood genetic elements in the whole #originsofcovid story.

#lableak proponents consider it a "pandemic trigger" that was recklessly inserted by #GoF researchers

Do they have a point?

A thread
1/ Image
Especially an unfunded research proposal from 2018 called DEFUSE that got played up by amplifiers empowered imaginations.

So before we jump into the FCS itself, a quick sidebar here 🔽

While DEFUSE is irrelevant, it hightlights two telling misconceptions

2/ Image
First, the common confusion that the introduction of a single genetic element has the power to make a pandemic pathogen

Second, the deliberate deception about how likely it is that nature or engineering came up with the FCS insertion

Let's clear them up.
3/
Read 16 tweets
Apr 11
🚨🚨 Did SARS-CoV-2 come from gain-of-function research? And if so, will we ever find out?

I have been on a scientific journey for a definitive answer that took me to the cutting edge of #covidorigin science.

Here is what I found
➡️ open.substack.com/pub/protagonis…
It is fair to say that virology has been seen with suspicion and experts are distrusted.

How much of this is self-inflicted, and how much is driven by forces beyond science?

The idea of arcane gain-of-function experiments creating flask monsters is powerful, it evokes fears. Image
But outside the heated spotlight of speculations & accusations, a scientific question still needs a scientific answer.

Some say the true origins will never be found, and some governments explicitly root for that outcome.

But if you gift me your curiosity, we'll prove them wrong Image
Read 6 tweets
Mar 9
Very interesting paper from Jijón S. et al., using a population-dynamic approach (not a whole genome seq. approach) to date the first spillover event of the Wuhan outbreak

--> Nov.28

This is a methodologically independent confirmation of previously published estimates.

1/ https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011934
The idea is to look at how an epidemic progresses (based on branching) and infer these dynamical parameters from known progressions

Once the model is calibrated, it can be used to estimate a time window when the first infection likely occurred; which might be before the tMRCA
2/
Image
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This is a complementary approach to phylogenetic dating that uses the mutational divergence over time to calculate back when the first cases likely occurred.

Overall, it matches previous estimates. So nothing new?

Let me quickly explain why I think this is important work:

3/
Read 6 tweets
Jan 5
As 2024 ushered in a new year of myth, #manipulation & magical thinking, too few have adjusted to counterbalance the #vulnerabilities of our broken information ecosystem

During US elections, this might spell democratic backsliding as online #discourse will be weaponized

A 🧵
1/
The disruption of our information technology broke a few things we needed as guardrails for democracy, such as the free flow of information & journalistic principles for information sharing

Today, gatekeepers have changed to:
#Algorithms, #influencers & #audience demand

2/
The dynamics and incentives between those three largely shape what information average citizens get to see

This is problematic because info #shapers are not aligned with public interest or democracy, but rather with the pursuit of #popularity, #persuasion, #profit, or #power

3/
Read 11 tweets

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