Well, my level of annoyance at you for making misleading and poorly-sourced claims is definitely coming to a middle.
Mildly annoying is your vague specification of “end of spring” as the endpoint. More annoyingly, after spending some time investigating your newest vaguely-sourced claim, I found that Wikipedia tells me—on the page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic_in_the_United_States—that the US had 593 deaths, as of September 3, 2009. Someone else helped me find https://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t091112.htm, which gives an estimate of 3,900 as of October 17, which is still under 4,000 and implausibly late for “end of summer”. (I don’t think this is really material to the outcome of the bet, but it is a demonstration of exactly the same sorts of issues I’ve had with your previous comments.)
However, if you’re still willing to make the bet, still 1:1, using the actual figure of 593, and let’s specify May 31 as what seems to be the consensus last day of spring, I am happy to do that. $50 is fine, but it has been pointed out to me that betting on the coronavirus is considered to be in poor taste, which seems fair enough. So I ask that, if I win, my winnings be in the form of a donation to the Against Malaria Foundation, or another GiveWell top charity of your choice, with receipt provided. For your side, I would suggest something similar, but I will pay cash if you so desire.
Well, my level of annoyance at you for making misleading and poorly-sourced claims is definitely coming to a middle.
Mildly annoying is your vague specification of “end of spring” as the endpoint. More annoyingly, after spending some time investigating your newest vaguely-sourced claim, I found that Wikipedia tells me—on the page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic_in_the_United_States—that the US had 593 deaths, as of September 3, 2009. Someone else helped me find https://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t091112.htm, which gives an estimate of 3,900 as of October 17, which is still under 4,000 and implausibly late for “end of summer”. (I don’t think this is really material to the outcome of the bet, but it is a demonstration of exactly the same sorts of issues I’ve had with your previous comments.)
However, if you’re still willing to make the bet, still 1:1, using the actual figure of 593, and let’s specify May 31 as what seems to be the consensus last day of spring, I am happy to do that. $50 is fine, but it has been pointed out to me that betting on the coronavirus is considered to be in poor taste, which seems fair enough. So I ask that, if I win, my winnings be in the form of a donation to the Against Malaria Foundation, or another GiveWell top charity of your choice, with receipt provided. For your side, I would suggest something similar, but I will pay cash if you so desire.
Deal?