Topic: Science

The Inconsistent Messaging Behind Lockdowns

– October 22, 2020

“We would all be better off if an honest and principled conversation can take place. If lockdowns are found to be undesirable based on all the various considerations from the science to the economics, then we can move on to more productive conversations. There is no need to flip flop, censor, misconstrue, confuse, or otherwise argue as if this were some political debate where winning is more important than the truth.” ~ Ethan Yang

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

“Superstition in the Pigeon”: Can Lockdowns Really Stop Death?

– October 19, 2020

“We are faced with a virus with a 997 out of 1000 survival rate. We have done harder things before. We can only be free of this plague by remembering something we have always known: neither we, nor our favorite politicians, have control over death.” ~ Stacey Rudin

Crisis, Economic Education, Science

The Real Pandemic: Mass Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy

– October 19, 2020

“Given the coercive powers of the most important MSbP sufferers, the said governors, mayors, bureaucrats, etc., this pandemic–the MSbP pandemic–is wreaking untold havoc. We need more people to say we aren’t going to take it. We need more people to push back. We should not be in the thrall of the mentally ill.” ~ Craig Pirrong

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

Is Cowen Right about the Great Barrington Declaration? Part 2

– October 19, 2020

“Cowen is right that governments have reacted by scaring people. That’s one reason the Great Barrington Declaration is important. It seeks to tell people not to be so afraid unless they’re particularly vulnerable.” ~ David R. Henderson

Classical Liberalism, Crisis, Science

Is Cowen Right about the Great Barrington Declaration? Part 1

– October 17, 2020

“Cowen’s big-picture criticism of freedom is less like Strauss (one of his favorite words) and more like Schrodinger’s Cat. He claims, in the last few paragraphs of his article, that the declaration ‘tries to procure maximum liberty for commerce and daily life’ and that its conception of human nature ‘raises the question of whether it even qualifies as a defense of natural liberty.’ Which is it?” ~ David R. Henderson

Crisis, Healthcare, Science

John Snow vs. The John Snow Memorandum

– October 17, 2020

“No thinking person today would question John Snow’s methodology or conclusions but every day more and more thinking people are rejecting the self-serving lockdown policies espoused by the signers of the John Snow Memorandum by declaring for Great Barrington instead.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Crisis, Healthcare, Science

The Year of Disguises

– October 16, 2020

“It boggles my mind when there is some notion that by wearing a face covering you are actually doing a ‘service’ to your neighbor and therefore everyone has to protect everyone by this. Actually, the opposite is true. You are now becoming an additional potential source of environmental contamination. You are now becoming a transmission risk; not only are you increasing your own risk but you are also increasing the risk to others.” ~ Roger W. Koops

Government, Healthcare, Science

Matt Hancock is Wrong about Herd Immunity

– October 15, 2020

“The Great Barrington Declaration proposes a solution for how we may proceed in the face of such uncertainty. It suggests that we exploit the feature of this virus that does not cause much harm to the large majority of the population to allow them to resume their normal lives, while shielding those who are vulnerable to severe disease and death.” ~ Dr. Sunetra Gupta

Healthcare, Media, Science

The Fake Signature Canard

– October 15, 2020

“As the data show, the lockdowners’ troll campaign accounted for almost half of the fake submissions – the very definition of an attempt to manufacture a news story. While they likely thought they scored an internet victory of some sort by cynically deflecting attention away from the disastrous public health effects of their own botched pandemic response, all they achieved was putting their own increasingly desperate tactics on full public display.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

What’s Behind The WHO’s Lockdown Mixed-Messaging

– October 14, 2020

“Tedros aligned himself not with democracies and their fundamental principles but with an autocratic dictatorship, the same dictatorship that helped him assume power within the WHO. Together, using logical fallacies and pseudo-science, they betrayed international law governing human rights, the WHO’s own stated principles, and committed crimes against humanity on a massive scale.” ~ Stacey Rudin

Crisis, Healthcare, Science

Lockdowners Speak with Privilege, and Contempt for the Poor and Working Class

– October 12, 2020

“Undoubtedly, Gonsalves is an excellent scientist, but his opinions about the course of action we should take in response to the coronavirus have nothing to do with his professional qualifications, and everything to do with his political views. To the extent that he has attempted to smear Bhattacharya, Gupta, and Kulldorff as acting to further some covert right-wing political agenda, this is simply a classic case of Freudian projection.” ~ Jenin Younes

Books, Science

Harford Brings Statistics To The Masses

– September 29, 2020

“I share Harford’s deep commitment to figuring out what’s true. His calls for keeping an open mind, for being curious about scientific questions, results, and numbers, for carefully noticing your emotions on a topic – all supremely useful advice from which most of us can benefit. Abandoning or doubting all statistics you encounter is not wise or clever; it’s giving up logic and evidence in a complicated world. It’s a ‘retreat into believing whatever makes us feel good.'” ~ Joakim Book