Anyone who has been paying attention to the developing COVID-19 crisis in the United States will have noticed a puzzling and damaging paradox. While political leaders claim to be taking action against the pandemic based on the best scientific advice available, when this advice conflicts with what they perceive to be in their own best political interests, they reject it. Worse, they denounce the advice being given as bad science and the advisers as being bad scientists. The attacks seem to become additionally virulent when a scientific advisor changes his or her mind.
Continue reading Biting the Hand that Treats You. Unwarranted Assaults on Healthcare AdviceCategory Archives: Education
Teaching Online – 10 tips for a better experience
In these viral times, a lot of universities will need to switch to video teaching, and for many teachers, this is a new experience. Here are two videos with tips on how to become a better video teacher. I have used video conferencing extensively since the mid-‘90s and also mentor young teachers.
The first video focuses on the video experience itself—and is valid for anyone using video conferencing to get a message across.
I’d Rather Be Wrong Than Be Corrected
Some time ago I heard the story of an eminent scientist (I don’t remember the discipline) who had developed a controversial ground-breaking idea, which had been under attack for several years. Each time it was attacked, he had been able to successfully repel the criticisms.
Continue reading I’d Rather Be Wrong Than Be Corrected
How to Deal with Post-truthism
The Oxford Dictionaries proclaimed “post-truth” as its 2016 word of the year. It defines post-truth as an adjective “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” According to the editors, use of the term “post-truth” had increased by around 2,000 percent in 2016 compared to 2015, largely in relation to Brexit—the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union—and the United States presidential election. Continue reading How to Deal with Post-truthism