Tag Archives: cherry-picking

The number of deaths averted

Posted on June 10, 2020 by

What are epidemiological models for? You can use models to inform policy and other decision-making. But you can’t use them to manufacture a number that you can advertise in order to draw praise. That’s what the government’s excuse appears to … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Science | Tagged cherry-picking, COVID-19, COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiological modelling, epidemiology, India coronavirus lockdown, novel coronavirus, novel coronavirus pandemic, self-fulfilling prophecy | Comments Off

Science journalism, expertise and common sense

Posted on March 29, 2020 by

On March 27, the Johns Hopkins University said an article published on the website of the Centre For Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), a Washington-based think tank, had used its logo without permission and distanced itself from the study, … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm, Science | Tagged ad hominem, authoritarianism, CDDEP, cherry-picking, common sense, complexity, coronavirus, COVID-19, epistemology, expertise, knowledge is power, novel coronavirus, Ramanan Laxminarayan, science journalism, Times of India | Comments Off

Distracting from the peer-review problem

Posted on February 23, 2020 by

From an article entitled ‘The risks of swiftly spreading coronavirus research‘ published by Reuters: A Reuters analysis found that at least 153 studies – including epidemiological papers, genetic analyses and clinical reports – examining every aspect of the disease, now called … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Uncategorized | Tagged bioRxiv, cherry-picking, COVID-19, Elisabeth Bik, peer review, preprint papers, preprints, Reuters, Smut Clyde, The Lancet | Comments Off

When deGrasse Tyson pulled a Pinker

Posted on August 5, 2019 by

Since this post was published, an upward-edited version has been republished on The Wire. Twitter is, among other things, that place on the internet where people fight over the tips of icebergs. There is often the presumption that what ends … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Science | Tagged cherry-picking, climate injustice, Enlightenment ideals, George Monbiot, human rights, humanities, incel, mass shooting, Neil deGrasse Tyson, optimism, pandemic, Quillette, Sandy Hook, Social Sciences, Steven Pinker, white nationalism | Comments Off

Looking for gemstones in the gutter

Posted on March 12, 2018 by

Just the other day, I’d mentioned to a friend that Steven Pinker was one of those rare people whose ideas couldn’t be appreciated by proxy, such as through the opinions of other authority figures, but had to be processed individually. … Continue reading →

Posted in Life notes, Op-eds | Tagged cherry-picking, Culture, Enlightenment Now, George Monbiot, history, Jerry Coyne, moral authority, ontology, Pharyngula, PZ Myers, scientism, sociology, Steven Pinker, Why evolution is true | Comments Off