by J. Jerrald Hayes | Aug 3, 2020 | Right Wing Lunacy, Science, Science Denial, Vaccination
We wondered: Could the inability of anti-vaxxers to accurately appraise their own knowledge and skills compared to those of medical experts play a role in shaping their attitudes about vaccines? This inability to accurately appraise one’s own knowledge is called the...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Aug 1, 2020 | Coronavirus, Critical Thinking, Science Based Medicine
In a conversation last weekend I said despite my vaccine advocacy in the case of a vaccine for COVID-19 I said I would not want to be amongst the first to get vaccinated when “they’ come up with a vaccine because of how it is being rushed to market. Thinking about it...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Aug 1, 2020 | Cognitive Bias, Critical Thinking, Irrational Thinking
Arguably one of the most important lessons on critical thinking I have ever seen articulated! This is exactly what I mean when I say, when I come to the relazation, that I AM NOT SO SMART… “…Even those of us with excellent critical thinking skills...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jul 27, 2020 | Coronavirus, Science, Science Based Medicine
We Thought It Was Just a Respiratory Virus We were wrong. By Ariel Bleicher and Katherine Conrad UCSF Magazine Summer 2020 Illustration: Anna & Elena Balbusso In late January, when hospitals in the United States confirmed the presence of the novel coronavirus,...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jul 26, 2020 | Astrology, Skepticism
There was a time in my life where I gave some credibility to Astrology but I think by the time I was in my 30s any faith I may have had in it was gone. Last night with an open mind I engaged conversation with a brilliant and charming sincere believer in astrology and...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jul 22, 2020 | • Politics, Racism
Perspective | The truths ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ tells about white people I was probably 15 or 16 when I first read Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird.” I may have seen the movie before then (one I have watched countless times since)....
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jul 20, 2020 | Critical Thinking, Irrational Thinking
How to talk to conspiracy theorists-and still be kind On May 4, a slick, 26-minute video was released, alleging that the coronavirus was actually a laboratory-manipulated virus deployed to wreak havoc so that a resulting vaccine could be used for profit. None of that...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jul 17, 2020 | • Politics, Journalism & Media
Fox News pushed coronavirus misinformation 253 times in just five days Fox News repeated coronavirus misinformation 253 times in its weekday coverage from July 6 through 10, including claims that undermined scientific research about the pandemic, eroded trust in...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jul 2, 2020 | • Politics, Donald Trump
Jones only recently became one of those children. “I’ve been on the side of evolution my whole life,” he confesses. Not so much the science end, he wanted me to understand. His had been the partying wing of agnosticism. Then his fiancé persuaded him to start attending...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jun 28, 2020 | • Politics, Behavior, Cognitive Bias, Psychology
Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds The economist J.K. Galbraith once wrote, “Faced with a choice between changing one’s mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy with the...
