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Originally Posted by Lightspeed
It figures you think building computers is just a case of plugging in pre-built components. Like silicon chips are just plucked from trees.
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What do you know about what I learned?
I was actually talking about describing a CPU with Verilog and implementing the actual logic of each instruction and turning it into a chip design with computer aided tools. Which I did mostly when I was drunk, along with some sober mornings. I can't say I've etched silicon myself before, but I understand the process in principle, or at least the older processes (we studied the design and manufacture of MOS chips in ECEN302). Some kid from YouTube (teenager, or at least younger than we) built a [low res] chip fab in his basement (I think I've posted it, or maybe I shared it on Twitter), so it's not impossible, just big, expensive, and dirty [chemicals]. The point is it's not actually that difficult or mysterious once you understand the basics. One person can comprehend the entire process, even if some parts are still treated as a black box. I'm interested in chip design because I hate my current job.
Which is not to say I don't get what you're trying to say - or that I'm claiming to be the silicon master - it's just a bad example because computers are the most logical things we know - it's basically math and logic in synchronized circuits, operating deterministically. It's feasible for an experienced individual to design and troubleshoot silicon and have it actually do what it's supposed to. Of course errors can still be made - like the Pentium floating point bug. Testing is important.
Human bodies are far more complex and far less understood than computers. It's much harder for an individual or a team of vaccine manufacturers, or even the hive mind of medical professionals to know exactly what the outcomes will or will not be of a novel mRNA vaccine across the entire human population with all their varieties of health and genetic conditions. Or to say with absolute certainty "this is absolutely fine, it's safe and effective - trust the science". It's one thing to make the statement as a marketing slogan, it's another to state it as an accurate description of the characteristics of a vaccine which doesn't stop COVID and also sometimes kills people. That's likely why we usually test vaccines first, and normally only give them to people when they've been proven to be safe and effective, rather than vague promises by the manufacturer who then write up contracts saying "no guarantees, no promises, no refunds, and no liability", and who also have a history of fraudulent behaviour and an interest in money.
We also now know that Pfizer themselves had
never tested whether it stopped transmission before it was pushed on people and the messaging of "protect others" was used as a bit of psychological trickery to make it our social duty rather than just something we should decide for ourselves. If governments listened to WHO's advice [that knew Pfizer hadn't tested it but promoted it on the basis of "social duty"], then it would be accurate to say your government never intentionally lied to you, they just spread misinformation without realizing it.
I'm not here to convince you the vaccine isn't safe, I'm just pointing out it's still experimental, and people coming out reporting things which aren't good news for the vaccine shouldn't be ignored just because it's not good news. If you're convinced that we know everything about the vaccine now, and we should not investigate any of these reports, then you're a pretty shitty "scientist". If you put your faith in the healthcare community and wanted to inject shit, or you did it to protect others because you were lied to, those are perfectly valid decisions. Just like refusing is a valid decision, because it was untested and we could see it wasn't working and we had heard it was fucking with people.
It's one thing to decide whether to inject it or not - that's a personal decision. But you can't just "decide" it's safe and ignore any new negative information about it. That's no longer the realm of science and just becomes dogma.
sidbo: You generally die in your local timezone, unless you're a neckbeard or on an aircraft, in which case you always die in UTC.