The Guardian's Science Weekly podcast - 2 November 2018 - What role should the public play in science?

That's what he was implying for sure, and 'sly' is the word. But he is falling into a trap of his own making, because one day all this is going to come back and be cited as evidence I think. These tweets over the months reveal so much about his mind set and his disturbing perceptions of patients, especially his profound lack of insight into what it is like to have ME, or even to be any sort of patient. I begin to wonder if others (SW etc) can see a fall coming, and might be happy for MS to be the fall guy, being as he seems to have such an aptitude for it. Maybe he is being told behind the scenes what a great job he is doing, and not to give up, while others hope the sh*t flies past them one day?! He's not someone I can feel sorry for.

 

Clearly, he doesn't understand that Work = Power * time.

That is, even with low available power, much can sometimes be achieved if the work can be carried out in small increments and/or over much more than the usual amount of time.


It's the sort of thing that would be obvious to a physicist.

 

Ditto.

 

that is what the whole benefits system revolves around; 'if they can do x,y,z,....get to a testing centre miles away, climb stairs, fill out massive forms' etc etc. But what is not taken into account is the effort involved to comply and the cost to health as a result, and of course the fact that there is no alternative.
catch-22

 

My emphasis

Yes, one wonders what MS thinks happens to the people who need benefits in order to live, and who have a disease like Motor Neurone Disease, which is a "respectable" one that people like him (I'm guessing here) do actually believe in. Are they supposed to "do the decent thing" and just die, if they can't get to a testing centre?

 

I've posted the essence of my letter to The Guardian's Science Weekly team on my blog: https://lucibee.wordpress.com/2018/11/07/the-guardians-science-weekly-podcast-on-2-november-2018/

 

I did write to Ian Sample, and commented that many "patients" were or even are still skilled professionals, and that I would be happy to help him understand the problems with the trial and with the Cochrane analysis. I even gave him a link to the first PACE video.

I have not yet had a reply, even an acknowledgement.

 

Oh dear Graham, I didn't know you were capable of such vicious harassment.

 

That is very good @Lucibee. I especially like:

 

A long time ago a girlfriend of mine told me that there was a new joke in California about saying "thank you" when people actually meant "f*ck you"...

https://twitter.com/user/status/1059086801229438980

 

Weeping for those people who have given their all for us patients. Sharpe et al know nothing about our illness. Cruelty all along the line from them, and ignorance. Praying for Karma.

 

This attitude is surprisingly common and seeing Sharpe's general contempt for us, I'd say yes, absolutely. Very Malthusian, I'm sure they rationalize that it's just the right thing to do.

This is also one of the reasons why UBI will be so revolutionary. Not enough people understand how widespread being unable to work is and how it leads to abject poverty. Out of sight, out of mind. There seems to be a perception that disability is a problem we have largely taken care of. Reality is very far from this.

 

http://www.dramabutton.com/