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Suggested readings, 29 November 2020

 

Here are some interesting articles I've read over the past week that I think are worth checking out.

"At a time when humans are threatening the extinction of so many other species, it might not seem so surprising that some people think that the extinction of our own species would be a good thing. Take, for example, the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, whose founder believes that our extinction would put an end to the damage we inflict on each other and ecosystems more generally."

Alberto Giubilini and Vageesh Jain, “Should COVID-19 vaccines be mandatory? Two experts discuss.” 25 Nov, The Conversation. 
"Only through widespread vaccination will we reach herd immunity -- where enough people are immune to stop the disease from spreading freely. To achieve this, some have suggested vaccines should be made compulsory, though the UK government has ruled this out. But with high rates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK and elsewhere, is this the right call? Here, two experts to make the case for and against mandatory COVID-19 vaccines."

Fintan O'Toole, “To counter vaccine sceptics, we must understand them.” 28 Nov, Irish Times. 
"Only if we understand the social resistance to vaccines, not just as individual selfishness or stupidity but as a historical and cultural phenomenon, can we think about how to counter it."

Lawrence Krauss, “Why Is Scientific Illiteracy So Acceptable?” 23 Nov, Quillette. 
"When it comes to public perceptions of medical or scientific prowess, I blame in part science fiction programs on television or in feature films that give the illusion that faced with a technical problem, sufficiently talented scientists and engineers can both ascertain the cause and create a solution in hours instead of years or decades. That is just not the way science often works. Most important scientific developments are not revolutionary. More often than not they are baby steps taken along a long road of discovery." 

"[A] 2007 literature review on the beliefs of alternative medicine users showed that they often had the following characteristics: postmodern, rather than conventional belief systems; an appreciation of health approaches perceived as 'non-toxic' and holistic; a belief in psychological factors as a cause of illness; and a view of themselves as both unconventional and spiritual."

David Goodhart, “The Left’s obsession with subjectivity.” 23 Nov, UnHerd. 
"Our knowledge of the world is usually some sort of balance between personal experience and abstract ideas. And it is my contention, perhaps not a very original one, that in recent years the balance has been tipping away from the realm of the objective towards personal experience."

Richard Marshall, “Tyrannies of Opinion et al.” 25 Nov, 3:16. 
Interview with philosopher Russell Blackford on free speech, liberalism, tyrannies of opinion, and secularism.

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