HPR3445: True critical thinking seems to be the key

Counter Point

This show is a counter point to: hpr3414 :: Critical Thinking may make You Critical of the Covid Crisis

A response to Critical Thinking may make You Critical of the Covid Crisis

(HPR episode 3414, produced by CoGo and released on 2021-09-02)

Defining terms

• What is Critical Thinking?
  • The Wikipedia definition begins: "Critical thinking is the analysis of facts to form a judgment."
  • It goes on to say: "The subject is complex, and several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or evaluation of factual evidence."
  • See the references below.

Note the use of the terms fact, factual evidence and unbiased analysis. It is my contention that HPR episode 3414 fails in these regards in several places.

• What is an "experiment"?
  • Wikipedia’s definition begins: "An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated."

The term experiment is often used incorrectly in episode 3414. A better term would be observation or anecdote

• The virus:
  • The virus is a coronavirus. There are many viruses classified in this way.
  • The name of the virus is SARS-CoV-2. The SARS part stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the type of disease caused by the virus. CoV signifies that it is a coronavirus and the 2 means it’s the second SARS-type corona virus to have caused problems in the recent past. The other one, just called SARS occurred in 2003.
  • The name of the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is COVID-19. The letters COVID define it as a coronavirus disease. The 19 part is because it was first discovered in 2019.

• References:
  • Wikipedia article on Critical Thinking
  • University of Greenwich: What is critical thinking?
  • Wikipedia article on Experiments

Long notes

Follow this link to read the detailed notes associated with this episode.

Collected references:

1. Wikipedia article: Critical thinking:
   • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking
2. University of Greenwich article. What is critical thinking?:
   • https://www.gre.ac.uk/articles/ils/critical-thinking
3. Wikipedia article: Experiment:
   • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiment
4. Where does the six-foot guideline for social distancing come from?:
   • https://qz.com/1831100/where-does-the-six-feet-social-distancing-guideline-come-from/
5. Wikipedia article: Social distancing:
   • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_distancing
6. How effective is a mask in preventing COVID‐19 infection?:
   • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7883189/
7. Why Masks Work BETTER Than You’d Think:
   • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y47t9qLc9I4
8. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Ventilation and air conditioning:
   • https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-ventilation-and-air-conditioning
9. Ventilation and air conditioning during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic:
   • https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/equipment-and-machinery/air-conditioning-and-ventilation/index.htm
10. False Perception of COVID-19’s Impact on the Homeless:
    • https://www.factcheck.org/2020/05/false-perception-of-covid-19s-impact-on-the-homeless/
11. Vitamin D3 as Potential Treatment Adjuncts for COVID-19:
    • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7697253/
12. Graphic Outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: case report:
    • https://www.bmj.com/content/326/7394/850
13. Response to - Graphic Outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: case report:
    • https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/29/coronavirus-may-be-killed-higher-body-temperature
14. Childhood Vaccination and the NHS:
    • https://peopleshistorynhs.org/encyclopaedia/childhood-vaccination-and-the-nhs/
15. COVID-19 false dichotomies and a comprehensive review of the evidence regarding public health, COVID-19 symptomatology, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, mask wearing, and reinfection:
    • https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-021-06357-4
16. Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines side effects and safety:
    • https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/safety-and-side-effects/
17. TWiV 802: "Another epitope with Shane Crotty":
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEB4oxO9F1A
18. UK parliament discussion on 2m rule.
    • https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-06-15/debates/AE7AB431-1668-4AAA-AA32-8A0B83124D30/details
19. Government minister retracts mask claim.
    • https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,john-swinney-apologises-for-sharing-covid-face-mask-graphic
20. Nature paper on masks and aerosols.
    • https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-72798-7
21. Our World in Data.
    • https://ourworldindata.org/covid-cases
22. Nature paper on COVID-19 and T cells.
    • https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2550-z
23. Antibody waning and COVID-19.
    • https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/covid-19/news/article.aspx?id=1415

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