Suggested readings, 21 February 2021

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 speech is about letting people be wrong as well as right. We must limit the checking to facts, which is tricky enough, and not opinions that the checkers don’t happen to like."

Adam Vaughan, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster review: Bill Gates's call to arms.” 13 Feb, New Scientist.

Gates may not be the perfect messenger, but he has written a fine primer on how to get ourselves out of this mess."

Nick Bostrom and Matthew van der Merwe, “How vulnerable is the world?” 12 Feb, Aeon.

Sooner or later a technology capable of wiping out human civilisation might be invented. How far would we go to stop it?

Matt McManus, “Reading Edmund Burke Shows That Conservatism Is All About Defending Traditional Hierarchies.” 14 Feb, Jacobin.

"The fundamental problem with Burkean arguments...is that their hostility to so-called rationalist abstraction and appeals to affect and the profound unknown are only sustainable for those who already feel the way they do. This is why Burkeanism has been described as less a philosophy than an outlook or attitude."

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