Just to address this. There is no evidence anyone produced HIV in a lab and then released it, accidentally or not, out into the world. Scientists have established a pretty robust causal chain for where HIV came from. It is plausible that HIV was spreading between humans before we even really had the field of Molecular Biology that would have allowed us to “make” HIV.
I didn’t say it was not natural. I simply said it would not surprise me if it were not. It’s interesting how even asking a question about things can become taboo.
But you didn't ask a question, you made a statement. There are only two reasons I can think of for why someone wouldn't be surprised if something that is almost certainly false turned out to be true.
1. That person is wholly ignorant of the subject and so nothing about that subject would surprise them because that individual has no reason to believe anything about it one way or another. As an example, it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that the Birch-Tate conjecture turned out to be false, because frankly I have no idea what that conjecture even means and so I have no reason to be surprised about it one way or another.
2. That person has expert knowledge about a topic that is not known by either the public at large or even by other experts in the field. Perhaps that person has devoted extensive and specialized research and managed to reveal a strong body of evidence that overturns the best commonly held understanding on that subject.
The reason I suspect you are being downvoted is because most people on HN think you're in category 1, that is you're someone who is not sufficiently informed on this topic to be surprised by it one way or another, and hence your comment comes across as revelling in your own ignorance.
If you're in category 2, then you have my sincere apology and I'd be genuinely interested for you to share your knowledge, but I somehow doubt that will happen.
Thanks for this :) Probably the best thing about the culture of science is that ignorance is often answered with polite explanation. Many scientists I know expect their own ignorant comments to be answered the same way. It is much harder to argue against a polite and well argued scientific response!
I merely said I would not be surprised, implying that I am not completely certain everything is as it is always commonly believed. If you feel the comment was dumb that’s your opinion and perhaps others share it but it’s hardly more than an opinion. I am quite aware of what real science is and what hurdles it has gone through for the past several hundred years to rid itself of political inhibition.
