We Just Got More Evidence That Long COVID Is a Brain Injury
The exact nature of long COVID is still coming to light, but we just got some of the best evidence yet that this debilitating condition stems from a brain injury.
Using high-resolution scanners, researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford have shown microscopic, structural abnormalities in the brainstems of those recovering from COVID-19.
Signs of brain inflammation were present up to 18 months after first contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
"We show that the brainstem is a site of vulnerability to long-term effects of COVID-19, with persistent changes evident in the months after hospitalization," the authors of the study conclude.
https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae215
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I wonder if you're on to something there. What if they do get a hit of dopamine every time they think they're being clever even though they're completely wrong, and so they deliberately lean towards all the crazy that makes them think they're being clever just for the dopamine? That would explain a lot about the MAGA crowd, as they are actually physically addicted to the crazy in that case,
"The loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room." — Frank Lucas Many dumb people I've met simply get off by hearing themselves talk. They 100% get a dopamine hit every time the make a "point".
Yes and there is one other aspect. When they get into this conspiracy shit, there is a whole community of people ready to welcome them. They are congratulated for seeing the light and joining the movement. This fulfills a social need for a lot of these people, who are lonely or in some cases estranged from family.
This process of feeling like you’ve drawn back the curtain on life, and, in the same stroke found “your people” is incredibly exhilarating to them. It’s like a whole new day in their lives. And THAT’S why they’ll defend their crap beliefs to the death. Because giving them up means going back to the humdrum world where they are just a nobody again.
There's also a large community of conspiracy haters ready to welcome anyone who believes anything an authority figure says. They are congratulated for seeing the light and joining the movement. This fulfills a social need for ... etc.
Is there? I don’t know of anyone who gathers together to bad mouth conspiracy theorists
There are many in this thread. I replied to one.
People who casually dismiss conspiracy theories are exactly as bad as those who unquestioningly believe them.
the occams razor is a crucial part of scientific thinking for a reason.
the space of all possibilities is infinite. the space of what people believe and say is enormous. the space of what is actually truth is comparatively smaller, unrelated and uncaring about either of those.
you can't possibly consider everything everyone says - especially if what they are saying keeps changing as they see fit. you'll just burn out if you try and end up in endless "discussions" with the people who are "just asking questions"...
that doesn't mean i should dismiss or ridicule people, but it does mean i will not spend a single heartbeat thinking about another "proof" that the earth is flat or controlled by lizard prople or something.
Holy shitballs. NO. Occam's razor may lead you to a solution faster, but the scientific approach is to exhaust all possibilities. Occam's razor implies the sun goes round the earth. It is not scientific.
Of course you can. You may assign it a credibility of almost 0, but you can still consider a theory. In science this process is decentralized and heavily delegated.
Then they become even less credible.
Well, at least you were open enough to consider one argument.
Honestly, I was on board with the lizard people right up to the point David Ike insisted that it wasn't a metaphor.
Did you see someone whose social life is built around dismissing conspiracy believers or did you just reply to someone who rejects conspiracy thinking? I suspect it’s the latter.
Did I say there was someone whose social life is built around dismissing conspiracy believers? No.
I'm point out that people who automatically reject conspiracy thinking have exactly the same mentality and online support groups as those who blindly believe them. I illustrated this by mirroring their exact words.
Go back to the furst comment of yours that I replied to. You claim there’s a community of anti-conspiracy people and what Im suggesting is that the conspiracy thinkers are a ral community. If you buy into flat earth there are conventions to go to, merch to buy and shows to listen/watch that are all part of the flat earth community.
Skeptics don’t have that in the same way. My unwillingness to accept Bigfoot isn’t because im searching to belong but the Bigfoot hunter might be.
Yep. On reddit there was a organized group called themselves top minds of reddit r/tmor
Only in that people post in the same subreddit.
Agreed. But doing that you aren't automatically a member of the sasquatch search community nor do you automatically believe that Hitler survived and moved to South America.
Conspiracies are separate (generally).
The people who don't take official explanations as gospel are the Skeptics. One should not dismiss flat earthers until a ship has been observed disappearing over the horizon.
If you automatically dismiss something because someone calls it a debunked conspiracy then you are not a skeptic.
My unwillingness to believe the tech companies privacy statement doesn't push me to join a community
Again conspiracy theorists have IRL events and a culture whereas “Best Minds of Reddit” is a subreddit and not a community. They aren’t the same thing. People identify as flat earthers, JFK conspiracists et al whereas no one identifies as an anti-conspiracy theorist
People interested in a common topic may meet IRL, but that's a specific community. Topics don't overlap. There is no all encompassing conspiracy theorist community. The closest example I can find is Conspiracy Con which has not run for more than a decade.
Anyone who automatically dismisses a topic because some calls it a conspiracy theory is anti-conspiracy theorist.
My point is that r/tmor is just as equal a community as r/conspiracy
And Im not claiming parts of reddits are communities but ratger IRL comspiracy groups come with a community like any group that organizes around beliefs do. Your claim is that anti-conspiracy people are a community and they aren't
My claim is that the anti-conspiracy people are very similar to the conspiracy theory people. The amount of community spirit, in real life meetings, self congratulation and dogmatic beliefs are broadly the same.