Critical thinking about COVID: new video series

Over the past few months, I’ve been deep-diving into COVID misinformation. At this point, the typical joke I’d make is I’m doing this so you don’t have to but I don’t think any of us can avoid the sheer flood of COVID misinformation we’re all being bombarded with.

While the world is on tenterhooks awaiting a vaccine for COVID, we do at least already have a vaccine for COVID misinformation. The key to inoculating ourselves against fake news is critical thinking – by learning the techniques of denial, we develop “cognitive immunity” and are less vulnerable to being misled. So to build public resilience against COVID misinformation, I’ve started a video series Critical Thinking About COVID. Here’s a short video introduction to the series:

In the next few months, I’ll be posting a series of videos – each one looking at a specific denial technique or logical fallacy. My first video looks at anecdotal thinking and how it’s been used to promote the drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID despite the growing body of scientific research showing dangerous side-effects.

The purpose of my Critical Thinking About COVID series is two-fold. My immediate goal is to neutralize COVID misinformation, which is extremely damaging. False arguments about COVID contribute to people ignoring social distancing measures, endangering themselves and their community.

My longer-term goal is to build public resilience against all forms of misinformation. Research from my own studies and others find that when you inoculate people against the techniques of misinformation, it gives them immunity against misleading arguments across a range of topics. My hope is that in countering today’s COVID misinformation, we will build resilience against tomorrow’s science denial.