This video is from a local town hall that is close by to where I live. He claims that the recommendations made by the CDC and others are completely false as it applies to how to effectively deal with the corona virus. This video is being touted on my FB feed and is immensely popular amongst the locals who live in my area. Is there any truth to what he says? If not, how can I refute it? I realize this seems like I’m a high schooler asking for answer to a homework assignment but I am not schooled in the science behind what he is espousing. Video here.
I haven’t watched it all yet (watching it now) but here’s a doctor’s response to the video.
He lost me almost immediately when he claimed the state board of health and CDC ignore science, and identified himself as a “functional medicine” specialist.
"There’s a reason that I’ve described functional medicine as the “worst of both worlds”. It combines the massive overtesting and overtreatment that can happen in conventional medicine with pure quackery, like “detoxification,” naturopathy, homeopathy, and chiropractic. It’s basically “making it up as you go along” with respect to interpreting the dozens (sometimes hundreds) of laboratory tests ordered by functional medicine practitioners, plus treating fake diseases, like “adrenal fatigue” or “leaky gut.”
It’s bad enough when purportedly mainstream docs fall down the rabbit hole with respect to Covid nonsense. Those already entrenched in quackery are even less deserving of attention.
First, the guy describes himself as a functional family medicine doctor. Functional medicine is a pseudoscientific system that ascribes all illness to interactions between environmental factors and the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems. It’s a form of quackery.
He claims that Covid is spread by aerosol particles that are too small to be filtered by masks. This is nonsense. The evidence is overwhelming that masks are very effective in preventing the spread of the disease. Masks aren’t all equally effective - a triple-layer cloth mask or an N95 mask is much more effective that, say, a gaiter. But this doesn’t mean that masks don’t work.
Then he seems to claim that viruses only make people sick when their immune systems are weakened or “deranged.” More nonsense. Healthy people with well-functioning immune systems get sick from viruses all the time.
He also claims that there are animal reservoirs for the Covid-19 virus, and because of this, no one can make the virus go away. He also says the CDC claims the disease can be completely eliminated. First, as far as I know, no one has identified any animal reservoir for this virus. Second, and perhaps more important, he’s making a straw man argument. Public health officials are not saying we can cause the disease to disappear completely. They are saying that we can greatly reduce the number of cases and the severity of illness if people wear masks and get vaccinated. In fact, only one human illness—smallpox—has ever been completely eradicated. But we have greatly reduced the incidence and mortality of many other diseases, such as polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, and rubella.
He then asks why, if the vaccines are so effective, there’s a breakout in the middle of the summer when “respiratory viruses don’t do that.” He completely ignores the fact that the breakout is almost entirely among the unvaccinated. This has been widely reported. I can only assume he’s being deliberately dishonest.
I gave up watching the video at around 2:25. I’ve had enough. The guy is a dishonest proponent of pseudoscientific nonsense.
I think the best way to refute this dodo is to quit reposting his video(s).
Where’s the fun in that?
What does this mean “touted on my FB feed”? Facebook friends of yours keep posting it? If that’s the case, just unfriend them.
You refute it by saying “YouTube videos do not PROVE anything”
While true, it’s not going to convince people it’s wrong. If you don’t actually address the arguments given, then it comes off as if you can’t do so.
That’s more the line I would use at the end, after debunking claims. For example, I might say, “Moral of the story: don’t get your health information from some guy YouTube.” I might also add “Any bozo can make a YouTube. Heck, I’ve posted a couple!”
Of course it’s not. If someone believes something because they saw a guy on YouTube or TikTok say it, no amount of “addressing the arguments” is going to convince them. It’s not even worth the effort.
As an example, a video on YouTube shows “ballot dumping”
addressing the argument: “You don’t know what that video is. Anyone could have made it. It might show something that happened in a different country 10 years ago”
answer: “Prove that it’s NOT ballot dumping”
I used to “debate” yahoos whose response to facts was, “watch this (30 min. to hour-long) YouTube video!”.
Nope. I don’t have time to waste plowing through such crap. Cite a particular point, or at least link to the part of the video you think is convincing.
I think you’re both right, in that dismissing YouTube videos off hand looks like you can’t respond, and addressing the internal arguments is maybe missing the main problem which is (lack of) critical thinking skills.
It always stuns me when people will believe long strings of claims, any one of which being true would be international headline news and be accompanied by a plethora of demonstrable evidence.
The real fight is against this “gut feel” reasoning. But sadly this is a tougher disease to fight than covid. It’s hard to rationally explain to someone why they should think rationally.
the hard part right now in refuting this crap is that those that accept it - are not likely to accept CDC or other evidence as a refutation - given that they have already chosen to ignore it because its ‘part of the evil cabalocratic plan to enslave everyone’.
You are wasting your time. Even if you could get them to agree with your facts, they wouldn’t change their thinking. They are deep in a cult and you aren’t going to break them out. It’s past time arguing with this crowd, just do what you need to do to protect you and yours.
Tell your friends “purple monkey dishwasher flump clump digeridoo “.
If they say they don’t understand, pretend that they really do, and they are in on “the secret “. Post a Scooby-doo video and say “this proves my point effectively “.
It depends on where you are discussing it. If it’s a random person online, just dismiss them. Who cares what they think? If it’s a friend, then try to explain that youtube videos don’t prove anything, and if they don’t see that, don’t be friends with them.
If it’s a close friend, just say “That’s nice. Are we going to drink these beers and get smashed or what?”
I like to try though, because even if the person you’re discussing with doesn’t understand critical thinking, or doesn’t want to, maybe other people reading the interaction might be swayed somewhat.
At one point or another we all had to learn critical thinking. I was into all kinds of woo when I was in high school. I have to believe others can be saved 
This is a very good point by point response to the video.
Cite? 
Not to sound like a broken record on the subject, but we badly need mandating critical thinking courses in schools, followed by a proficiency exam on the subject. Fail, and it’s too dangerous to let you out into the world on your own.
Ha – you know what I meant though. Those of us that think critically / skeptically had to learn to do so*, and have to make a conscious effort to stay on that track.
So that’s why I can still have hope for the others 
* Yes we instinctively think critically some of the time. But we also instinctively have lots of biases and blind spots for various reasons (that would take us off-topic)