Category Archives: Uncategorized

Yes, you should fact-check

Yesterday, I posted the fairly innocuous image above on the TLoS Facebook page, and the results were both fascinating and horrifying. Numerous people took time out of their day to embarrass themselves by doubling down and attacking fact-checkers, often with … Continue reading

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Overpopulation or overconsumption? It’s both, and it’s complicated

Before you start reading, open worldometers.info and take a screenshot (this will give you the world population right now; we’ll come back to it later). Our world is facing enormous environmental challenges. Climate change is roaring forward at a terrifying … Continue reading

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Joe Rogan and the problem of false balance

This is going to be a relatively short post because I only have one simple point that I want to make. Namely, “balance” does not mean presenting conspiracy theories and nonsense alongside facts as if they are equivalent. This is … Continue reading

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The “99% survive COVID” argument is deceptive and completely misses the point

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the argument that “99% of COVID patients survive” has been repeatedly used as an excuse to oppose public health measures including mask mandates, lockdowns, and, more recently, vaccines. It asserts that because COVID has a ~99% … Continue reading

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The problems with anti-vaccers’ precautionary principle arguments

Invoking the precautionary principle is a favorite tactic of anti-vaccers, anti-GMO activists, and various other groups that are prone to opposing scientific advances, but there are numerous issues with this strategy. The exact definition of the precautionary principle is a … Continue reading

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