Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!orion.cf.uci.edu!uci-ics!honig From: honig@ics.uci.edu (David A. Honig) Newsgroups: sci.bio Subject: Re: Mosquitos & AIDS Message-ID: <21689@paris.ics.uci.edu> Date: 26 Aug 89 22:45:41 GMT References: <1989Aug23.144136.27580@utzoo.uucp> <21596@cup.portal.com> Sender: news@paris.ics.uci.edu Reply-To: David A. Honig Organization: University of California, Irvine - Dept of ICS Lines: 37 In article <21596@cup.portal.com> mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson) writes: >Of course the chance of infection is non-zero. But bear in mind that the >chance is very low. Do you think you could start a forest fire with >a single match? It is important to tell the public the chance is zero >because any non-zero figure might cause an inappropriate reaction on the >part of the public. I can't believe you can overtly support hiding truth from the public. >For example, let's say mosquitoes (or if you read that article in Atlantic >Monthly, it seems more likely that lice would be a vector, rather than >mosquitoes) cause 1 AIDS case in the U.S. each year. Would you really >advocate quarantine for the tens of thousands of AIDS patients because of >that? Or the millions of HIV positive people? Regardless of my opinions on quarantine, I would like to know the facts. If someone hides the facts, why should I believe/trust them? If the facts are so insignificant, put lots of effort into emphesizing just how insignifcant, but don't lie. >Please don't call it suppressing the evidence. Call it benign neglect. >The sort of benign neglect we need more of, not less. We need it for the >infinitesimal risk from Alar, nuclear power plants, etc. Let's save >our scare stories for the real stuff, like tobacco and drunk driving. Well, what should we call it? That's what it is. Benign neglect? Yeah right. Let others decide for you. Great. Let the public know how low the risk is from nukes, pesticides, etc, and let them know the risks of the alternatives (eg, carcinogens and acid rain from coal, etc.) Don't surpress the evidence for any reason if you want the public to believe you. -- David A Honig