Nothing as It Seems

Illustration by Anders Nilsen Here are a small number of interesting articles I’ve read over the past week that I think are worth considering. Aaron E. Carroll, “ When It Comes to Covid-19, Most of Us Have Risk Exactly Backward .” 28 Aug,  New York Times .  Risk-taking decisions are not all-or-none: if we loosen Covid restrictions in some areas, we should be increasing our restrictions in others.  Diana Fleischman , “ Practical Veganism .” 28 Aug, Works in Progress .  This essay makes the case that vegans and animal rights campaigners, instead of pushing for an all-or-nothing approach, should be more open to encouraging others to consume less animal products -- particularly factory farmed fish, eggs, and chicken -- as a strategy to reduce suffering.  Ronan McGreevy, “ Why are deaths and hospitalisations from Covid-19 falling so dramatically? ” 28 Aug, Irish Times .  Article considers a number of reasons why Covid-19 deaths are not rising despite cases sur...

Here are a small number of interesting articles I’ve read over the past week that I think are worth considering. Lee McIntyre, “ How To Talk to COVID-19 Deniers .” 18 Aug, Newsweek .  Five main tropes of science denial reasoning: 1 cherry picking evidence; 2 belief in conspiracy theories; 3 reliance on flawed "experts"; 4 insistence that science must be perfect; 5 illogical reasoning. Zania Stamataki, “ Is anyone safe from Covid-19? This is what we know so far about immunity .” 19 Aug, The Guardian .  A good summary of our current understanding of Covid-19 immunology. Tomás Ryan, “ Time to embrace zero-Covid policy .” 22 Aug, Irish Times .  Should Ireland consciously decide to live with Covid-19, or embrace a zero-Covid policy? Timothy Garton Ash, “ Belarus's struggle is a powerful reminder of the value of freedom .”21 Aug, The Guardian .  “I personally would love Belarus to become a liberal democracy, secure inside both the EU and Nato like its Baltic neighbours. ...