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@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz · 2 weeks ago

"... a wide variety of “theories of everything” that have arisen from non-expert humans prompting large language models (LLMs) with a repeated series of inquiries, where the LLM will agree that the human’s ideas have merit and will fawningly tell the human that they’re truly onto something profound.

This is not 'vibe science' the way one might be able to 'vibe code' ..."

#EthanSiegel, 2025

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/10-scientific-truths-unpopular-2025/

No it absolutely is! For exactly the same reasons.

#MOLE #AI

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 2 weeks ago

Similarly;

"Germs, particularly in the form of protists, bacteria, and viruses, are the most common underlying cause of transmissible infectious diseases in human beings."

#EthanSiegel, 2025

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/10-scientific-truths-unpopular-2025/

Take out the word "underlying" and I absolutely agree. The symptoms of these diseases are definitely being caused by overgrowths of one microbe or another. The question is, what causes that overgrowth?

(1/?)

Big Think

10 scientific truths that somehow became unpopular in 2025

Scientific truths remain true regardless of belief. These 10, despite contrary claims, remain vitally important as 2025 draws to a close.

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 2 weeks ago

The dominant germ theory of disease assumes that the mere presence of some species of microbe in the body inevitably leads to overgrowth.

On this basis, antibiotics are given to patients with the goal of killing the entire population of microbes. Or vaccinations, to give the body the microbe's genetic signature so it can kill them itself, like circulating a suspect's mugshot to police so they can recognise and arrest them.

(2/?)

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 2 weeks ago

But I'm sceptical about whether the mere presence of a microbe in the body is the *underlying* cause of an overgrowth that leads to disease. Some people, described as "asymptomatic carriers" can have the microbe in their body but don't get sick at all. So maybe there's multi-factorial causation at work here?

What other factors might determine whether or not a microbe can reproduce in a person's body, and how rapidly, and whether or not the body can respond to prevent overgrowth?

(3/?)

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 2 weeks ago

Now, I admit that I only took a 101 biology of plants paper at uni, so there may be something really important I'm not aware of here. But one of the things we looked at in that class was the effect of micronutrient deficiencies on plants.

The technicians for the paper had grown a set of plants, all from the same batch of seeds. But had intentionally put each one in a growing medium that lacked one micronutrient, so we could observe what effects different deficiencies had on plant growth.

(4/?)

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 2 weeks ago

The teacher explained to us various ways that these deficiencies could make a plant more vulnerable to attack by insects or other microfauna, for example by weakening the surface layer and making it easier to bite into. Or reducing its ability to secrete biological toxins (like nicotine and caffeine) that normally reduce predation.

Also how deficiencies could make a plant more vulnerable to invasion by microbes, whether bacterial or fungal, and less able to suppress their reproduction.

(5/?)

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 2 weeks ago

You can see where I'm going with this. I'm extrapolating, and again, I could be missing something important due to my lack of advanced biology education.

But it seems logical to me that the same principle would apply to animals, including humans. That the mere presence of a microbe is not the underlying cause of a disease-causing overgrowth. That a number of factors might need to be in place for that to happen, such as deficiencies in key nutrients.

(6/?)

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