[ This is post #2 in the series, “Finding reality in a post truth world.” ] In Part 1, I looked at some of the more prominent conspiracy theories, their prevalence, and the dangers they pose. In Part 2, I’ll examine the underpinnings of conspiracy theories, showing how they rest on cognitive fallacies that we
Month: September 2020
Conspiracy Theories, Part 1
[ This is post #1 in the series, “Finding reality in a post truth world.” ] QAnon is now part of mainstream politics in America, at least insofar as Trump is part of mainstream politics. At first a rarity, today people wearing “Q” tee shirts and displaying QAnon slogans at Trump rallies are ubiquitous. This
A New Direction
When I started the covid updates way back in March, data was scarce, and analysis of the data was even more scarce. That isn’t the case now at all. Not only are there sites like covidactnow.org, but the stuff put out by the various public health departments is much, much better than it used to be.
200,427
Many months ago, I was hoping this headline would never see the light of day. Over 200,000 people dead. Here’s what the man in charge of formulating the national strategy on the pandemic had to say about this. So I feel that we’ve done a tremendous job actually, and it’s something that, I don’t think
County catch-up
By now you hopefully recognize the charts from covidactnow.org, just in case I forget to put an attribution. Please note that only the raw charts come from covidactnow; all the arrows, callouts, and text boxes come from me. Just straight data today; I wore out my fingers responding to people yesterday! Election Day is in
Rage against the dying of the light
Most of you have heard about Bob Woodward’s new book, Rage. I realized that I had made an error about trump. I assumed that he downplayed the dangers of covid-19 out stupidity and arrogance. It turns out that he knew very well how dangerous the virus was, but decided to hide this fact from the
Gym rats and hospital data
No, this is not a post about how gym goers end up in the hospital. These are just the two main topics I’m covering today. Also, before the pandemic, I considered myself a “gym rat”. I hope you don’t view this as an offensive term. If you do, my apologies! For the gym rats On
Testing charts
The math of masks Several people have written to me that they have a family member or friend who is skeptical about masks but willing to learn. Here’s a great little video to help them understand why masks are so important and how many people wearing masks can help stop a pandemic. There’s some math
Vaccines – a perspective
This section is from BB, a healthcare consultant who’s been working with me for several months. He graciously provided the text for the following section, summarizing what’s happened up to now and what we might look forward to regarding vaccines. What else could possibly go wrong? The Trump Administration’s response to the covid-19 pandemic has
Will Labor Day lead to more cases?
I had a wonderful Labor Day weekend with my family, and had the luxury of not thinking every minute about covid-19. I felt a bit guilty about taking so many days off, but now I’m ready to resume my posts, much to the chagrin of a few redditors who might have been hoping I was
Local COVID Updates
Recent Comments