The Case of HIV and AIDS

Abstract

For a decade, there has been increasing concern about “AIDS,” and a virus called “HIV” which is said to cause “AIDS.” Having named this virus “HIV”—Human Immunodeficiency Virus—contributes to making people accept that “HIV is the cause of AIDS.” However, to an extent that undermines classical standards of science, some purported scientific results concerning “HIV” and “AIDS” have been handled by press releases, by disinformation, by low-quality studies, and by some suppression of information, manipulating the media and people at large. I am not here concerned with intent, but with scientific standards, especially the ability to tell the difference between a fact, an opinion, a hypothesis, and a hole in the ground. As we shall see shortly, there does not even exist a single proper definition of “AIDS” on which discourse can reliably be based. One difficulty, of which most people are not aware, lies in faulty terminology and different impressions by different people of what “AIDS” means. Thus a morass about HIV and AIDS has been created. I find it difficult to write systematically about this morass without becoming part of the morass.