Suggested readings, 23 August 2020

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. But that will not happen any time soon, mainly because Vladimir Putin won’t let it, but also because there is currently no majority for it in the country itself. The Belarusian opposition wisely insists this is not a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the west”.

William J. Perry and Tom Z. Collina, “Who Can We Trust With the Nuclear Button? No One.” 22 Aug, New York Times.
“Unsettling as it may be, Mr. Trump has the absolute authority to start a nuclear war. Within minutes, the president could unleash the equivalent of more than 10,000 Hiroshima bombs. He does not need a second opinion. The defense secretary has no say. Congress has no role. Yet it would mean the end of civilization as we know it.”

Tom Chivers, “What worms can teach us about the AI apocalypse.” 19 Aug, UnHerd.

Can we do more good in the world by donating resources to help alleviate global poverty or by reducing the chance of an AI apocalypse?

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