The Rise of Unreason
The Ontario Health Coalition put out a press release a couple weeks ago about the sharp increase in people infected with measles here. There were 816 cases from October 2024…
scientific method
The Rise of Unreason
The Ontario Health Coalition put out a press release a couple weeks ago about the sharp increase in people infected with measles here. There were 816 cases from October 2024…
New and Improved Propaganda Machines
We carry propaganda machines in our pockets. Propaganda isn't just to misinform, but to distract us and exhaust the capacity for critical thinking. When you're struggling to decide between 25…
Everyone Seems Fine ≠ Long Covid is a Myth
Lots of people still really don't believe that some people have had their lives destroyed by Long Covid, and that they might too. And their loved ones. And sooner than…
Propaganda vs Real Risk Scenarios: Sickness is health.
Arijit Chakravarty is a biologist who uses biotech and math to understand and write about Covid. He wrote a very long thread that I'll abridge here: "Over the last five…
Masks or Longterm Illness in Children – It Shouldn’t be a Difficult Decision
Sara Novak recently wrote about the study that found 20% of children have Long Covid, aka PASC (Post Acute Sequelae of Covid) that I discussed in August, but Novak brought…
News Alert: Masks Work! Better Masks Work Better!
A new paper is out that definitively concludes absolutely, without question that masks/respirators reduce transmission of respiratory infections.It's important that this work is published, but it's a shame that it's…
News Alert: Masks Work! Better Masks Work Better!
A new paper is out that definitively concludes absolutely, without question that masks/respirators reduce transmission of respiratory infections. It’s important that this work is published, but it’s a shame that…
Our Curious Relationship with Covid Studies
Some questionable ethics in recent studies are making the rounds. The process and ethics of Didier Raoult’s work, which led to the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a Covid treatment,…
How to Know
We need to fight back on the idea that there’s nothing we can really know. When I taught, more and more I’d run up against the claim that there’s nothing…
Party Like It’s 1699
It feels like there are three realities out there. It’s not just three separate groups of people, because lots of people straddle a couple or even all these realities. One…
How Vaccines Work
Poilievre wants to make it illegal to have mandated vaccinations as a condition of employment and travel. He introduced the bill last June, and a second reading in the house…
The Science of Handwashing
I just watched Painkiiller about the Purdue Pharma, Sacklers, oxycontin scandal. It’s okay background viewing – less entertaining if you know the whole story already – except the occasional testimonials…
Science as a Way of Thinking
Some Carl Sagan on Charlie Rose: “We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and…
On Debating Science
Dr. Peter Hotez is a medical doctor in Texas who did his undergrad at Yale and his medical degree at Cornell. He has been successful at creating Covid vaccine technology…
Evidence on Both Sides
A school board in Winnipeg passed a motion to strongly recommend masking at school to protect from SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses currently affecting kids. Many of the comments on that…
All Natural Misinformation
This thread is from Dr. Kay M. Dingwell on her experience shifting from natural is necessarily best to incorporating some scientific research into her decision-making: I used to be vaccine…
On Finding Answers in Research
I recently posted, on social media, a list of studies showing the effectiveness of masks and of mandates. One commenter said he doesn’t trust studies because they could be biased,…
On Fostering Illusions and the Qualitative Leap
What do you do when well-meaning people dear to you advise you to ignore your doctors? (And what if the doctors are wrong?) I generally rally against non-scientifically verifiable medical…
On Slippery Arguments and Women at Google
You can read most of the infamous Google memo here, and for the record, I don’t think opening up this discussion should be a fireable offence, but I’m just concerned…