Nothing as It Seems

© Aleksander Kalka/Zuma Press/Avalon | Officers face a picket at the Polish News TV building on Feb 10 Here are some interesting articles I've read over the past week I think are worth checking out. Joel de Ceulaer and Maarten Boudry , “ Why Easing Restrictions Will Lead to More, not Less, Collateral Damage . ”  26 Feb ,  Areo .  "[T]o claim that the cure is worse than the disease, as many lockdown sceptics have, is to make a grave mistake. To see why, we have to ask what would have happened without the lockdowns and other restrictions."  Ian Leslie,  “ How to have better arguments online . ”  16  Feb,  The Guardian .  "People skilled in the art of disagreement don’t just think about their own face; they’re highly attuned to the other’s face. One of the most powerful social skills is the ability to give face; to confirm the public image that the other person wishes to project. In any conversation, when the other person feels their desired face is being accepted and c

Here are some interesting articles I've read over the past week I think are worth checking out. Julian Savulescu and Abie Rohrig , “ Covid-19 human challenge trials will play a crucial role in vaccinating the developing world . ”  12 Feb ,  Daily Telegraph .  "In the war on Covid-19, we should allow altruistic competent adults to volunteer for life-saving research which poses risks to them that are on par with those we already take on in everyday life." Sarah Lynch and Kanneboyina Nagaraju,  “ 6 important truths about COVID-19 vaccines . ”  18  Feb,  The Conversation .  "We are an immunologist and pharmacist. Here are some of the facts behind some of the common myths that we have heard about the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines from patients, friends and family members." Jemima Kelly ,  “ How ‘fact-checking’ can be used as censorship . ”  18 Feb,  Financial Times.   "Used correctly, fact-checking contests falsehoods in ways that complement free speech. But free speec

Here are some interesting articles I've read over the past week I think are worth checking out. Joe Humphreys , “ Why Covid dissidents need to be understood, not demonised . ”  4 Feb ,  Irish Times .  Interview with Katherine Furman, a philosopher and public policy researcher based at the University of Liverpool: "Lockdown has come with severe economic hardship here. For instance, foodbanks have reported a dramatic increase in their use. This is something social scientists will need to study to properly understand what was going on here, but I think it would be too quick dismiss protesters here as merely being ‘law-breakers’". Dominic Wilkinson and Jonathan Pugh ,  “ Is it ethical to quarantine people in hotel rooms? ”  11 Feb,  The  Conversation .  "Mandatory hotel quarantine is probably ethically justified, but there are also strong ethical arguments to follow other countries in granting some exemptions to the hefty fee." Christina Fleischer,  “ Ten things you

Here are some interesting articles I've read over the past week I think are worth checking out. Pat Leahy , “ United Irelanders need to stop talking to themselves . ”  30 Jan ,  Irish Times .  "[U]nited Irelanders have a lot of persuading to do. At the moment they seem to be talking mostly to themselves. But they will have to reach beyond nationalists if they are to assemble a majority." Peter Singer ,  “ Give up the meat - I’ve been doing it for 50 years . ”  31 Jan,  The Age .  "We stopped eating meat because we did not want to support the cruelties inflicted on farm animals, but even in 1971, concern for animals was not the only reason for avoiding factory farmed animal products." Alberto Giubilini,  “ The UK should share the vaccine with the other countries – but only after all the vulnerable have been vaccinated . ”  3  Feb,  The Conversation .  "Vaccination delays in other countries translate into lives lost. So once the UK has vaccinated its most vul