Rogan and Gupta

Recently there was an exchange between Joe Rogan and Sanjay Gupta on Joe's show. It involves the controversial subject of Covid 19 treatments. Let us explore the use of language in this story and how it applies to the Cargo Cult belief system. 

Stromectol is an anti-parasite human medication. DuraMectin is an anti-parasite horse medication. Both have, as the active ingredient, Ivermectin. Each drug has a name. They each have distinct ingredients. They are produced in separate locations by separate companies. They both use Ivermectin as the active ingredient. 

Was it accurate that Joe Rogan took a horse medication versus a human medication? Did CNN lie?

As you know, The Cargo Cult Scientist is interested in the truth and how we get at it. What we know in this case is that Joe took an Ivermectin drug prescribed by his doctor. We know that CNN people said that Joe took a horse medication. If (and we don't know this) Joe took Stromectol, we could ask CNN a different question. Is Stromectol a horse medication. If they say yes, then the onus is upon them to prove that point. The argument they will make will be that Ivermectin is the active ingredient used to treat horses for parasites. We would then be arguing whether or not an active ingredient is the same as a drug. 

Why does it matter? We human beings have different ways of dealing with the truth. If it suits our narrative we eagerly accept the truth and use it to make people think positively about our narrative. If it does not suit our narrative we downplay the truth. We find ways to discredit the truth. If we are clever we can fool people into focusing on the positive nature of our narrative while ignoring the negative impact the truth has upon our narrative.

This is a major factor in the Cargo Cult thought process.  If the positive aspects of the narrative outweighs the negative aspects of the truth, people will accept the narrative. 

"I think that there's a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right." -Alexandria Ocasio Cortez

There is a reason why the scientific method has provided the world with so much. Human selfishness gets some people more than their fair share. It can also lead to a lifetime of unhappiness. Science only seeks to know the truth. Facts are used as tools to learn, not to manipulate the understanding of others. Being concerned about what is "morally right" is the purview of scoundrels. 

Joe Rogan put Sanjay Gupta on the spot. He didn't ask Gupta if CNN had lied. He told Gupta that CNN lied and he asked if that bothered him. Gupta finally had to admit, "They shouldn't have said that." In other words, a news agency should not intentionally lie. True.