Is it just me or are people particularly rude in the past 48h?

No, it's not only you.

We have quite a number of questions with no prior research being done and people which are pretty demanding.

Do you people think this question is on-topic. It is not strictly off-topic because it is a reference request but there are other issues. Please read my comment.

@WYSIWYG - I think this question is over-interpreted by many folks. As such, the question may be labor intensive, but the fact that one dude starts yelling at me because i am pointing him to the fact he is not addressing the question does not mean the question is at fault. if you read carefully, it's simply asking for an article in French. Not the greatest question around but not bad enough to need closure, i guess. But perhaps you are in need of other folks' opinions :)

@AliceD It is not about asking a french article. I am afraid that it will transform into an unscientific debate on anti-vax vs vax and it will be too much for us to handle.

Yes, me too

I think we should close and remove this topic.

And don't open this box of pandorra...

I think it is an interesting question, but I will not further impinge on your expert opinions gentlemen :)

Vote to kill!

Interesting in which terms?

Well the whole issue on the wakefield study etc. as I explained already. it's part of science ethics, which has always intrigued me. it may be personal. Nonetheless, many upvotes so I am not alone I guess

Quite frankly, science is all about discussion, and questions raising discussions I tend to upvote instead of closing them.

Wakefield is still causing a lot of harm - and trying to make himself a martyr...

@AliceD The question should be asked differently in that case

yup

this will trigger a debate

and next thing you see would be a link to this question shared in facebook by antivaxers

Yes but with my answer and Corvus' being the highest in the list - let them share it, by all means :)

The wakefield study is destroyed verbally

You are seeing too many bears down the road :)

not only verbally - scientifically.

But again, I shouldn't argue with you guys

it was a complete fraud and fabricated

oh yes

already some people are posting nonsensical answers there. Protection will not help. Someone with 1000+ rep in Christianity SE will post an answer here.

We have to close it for greater good :P

Before the graduation we were faster with that...

I know.. !! just because we have graduated we should not be easygoing

no, definitely not

@AliceD What is this thing about not arguing? I didn't get it.

Oh, I'm feeling a bit newbie'ish around here

So I meant perhaps i should keep my mouth shut and go with the flow :)

@AliceD Haha.. Why?? I don't think you lost many privileges after graduation.

Well... I lost quite a bit of priviliges! But I am more speaking time-wise

Rep-farming is one thing, understanding site health and site progress is another :)

@AliceD Not really. Very few active users are older than you. Chris, me, terdon, madscientist and perhaps Remi. Remi is not generally involved in politics :D

no, really, that's fine.

:)

You are not really a newbie.

I'm skeptical

:)

@AliceD Join skeptics SE :P

Still feeling as one at times

sorry for the bad joke

And even if, there is no reason why people which are here longer have more weight in the discussion

@WYSIWYG I was thinking of joining, but it looks a tad too broad for me :)

@Chris Well, I think that some folks tend to put weight in the scale they might not totally deserve

I think everybody has the same right in the discussion

@Chris - you might be right, but in this specific case time-wise experience may count

For example the last answer to the question is very doubtful indeed.

It may grow out of control quickly

sure

I think we should understand that closing a question doesn't just mean that it is off-topic. It is also to prevent long unnecessary threads (as in case of dupes).

okay.. I'll cya in a couple of hours

going for a swim :)

Mind you, I do believe there is a case to be made against specific vaccines. The flu one comes to mind. That doesn't mean there are any arguments whatsoever to be made against vaccination in general.

I agree with @terdon. Also, I'm quite a fan of having such mock debates in school, since it's one thing to be convinced that you're right, and a totally different one to be able to defend your standpoint credibly

None of this makes the question a good one, of course. Asking for references is generally problematic but asking for credible sources for a bogus claim in a specific language is really not a very useful question.

the OP does ask for the wrong thing, I agree

Because there are no credible sources against vaccination overall

Yeah.

anyone around?

Hmm, chatty time. Hi @WYSIWYG.

hi @FaheemMitha.. My simulations are still running :x

so there is nothing much to do

@WYSIWYG There are always things to do. Catch up with your correspondence. Watch some Hindi film songs on TV (if you like that sort of thing, I don't).

I saw this video today..

That last is based on my recollection that you are Indian. If you are not, you will probably find the suggestion quite strange.

@WYSIWYG Did it have a couple running around trees and singing?

Well.. I swam, had dinner, took a stroll

then cycled to lab

so see that simulations are still running

well I don't like the recent bollywood songs..

pathetic.. and on any damn catchword

@WYSIWYG they seem to have changed in the last 20-25 years. I remember them being quite different. Much quieter.

Now they have armies of people on what look like sound-stages.

The video I am talking about is the above one- amoeba eating a stentor

@WYSIWYG Maybe. I wouldn't know. And I don't understand the lyrics, anyway. To me it all sounds the same.

@FaheemMitha why don't you understand?

do you mean they are not worth understanding

so your brain automatically ignores them :P

@WYSIWYG Well, I don't follow Hindi that well. I can manage with spoken. The singing stuff is harder.

@WYSIWYG No, though that may be true.

@WYSIWYG I don't know. I'm not sure if my language understanding is so selective.

But I rarely hear it anyway. They play it at the gym I go to, sometimes. When they aren't playing cricket.

@FaheemMitha What language are you most comfortable with..

@WYSIWYG I only really know English.

I would have said "mother tongue".. but I am not very good with my mother tongue.

@FaheemMitha But do you know other languages?

@WYSIWYG Not really. I can understand Hindi somewhat, and make myself understood (in Hindi), more or less. Why?

@FaheemMitha Generally. Was asking if you like learning languages.. Knowing more than one language is generally good

Indeed it is. Each language adds another layer and a different perspective to how you see the world.

@terdon Do you speak greek or french or both?

Apart from english of course

@WYSIWYG Sure, it's a good idea to know more than one language.

I'd say I'm not good at languages. My memory isn't up to it, for one thing.

@WYSIWYG Greek, English, Spanish, French and Catalan. In order of proficiency. I can understand Italian and Portuguese as well.

@terdon Nice.. you are a multilinguist :)

I recently learnt to write and read persian script... Don't know the language though.. I like the script.. looks very beautiful

@WYSIWYG I had little choice in the matter. I was raised a bilingual (Dad's American, Mom's Greek) and spent 7 years in Barcelona and 4 in France. You pick them up.

French, Italian and Spanish are similar right

little variation

Yes. They're all Latin languages so if you speak a couple, you can easily pick the others up.

And German and Dutch are similar?

I want to learn japanese. Started self learning when I was in college but then did not proceed much

@WYSIWYG Yes, Germanic languages.

@terdon But I think English is the most evolved of all languages. Evolved in the sense of a lot of adaptation

English incorporated words from many languages

@WYSIWYG Bah, not enough people and not enough time. Consider Mandarin. Or Hindi, for that matter.

English is more a hybrid than a lot of langauges. In that respect it has similarities to Hindi, for example.

Supposedly makes it a good language for poetry. But a nightmare to spell.

That it is.

I think that Persian is also good for poetry- at least there have been many persian poets

Japanese sounds quite suitable for threatening someone. (no offence intended)