How to reason about COVID, and other hard things (Kelsey Piper)

Abstract

Journalist Kelsey Piper discusses lessons learned from covering COVID-19 in an interview on the Rationally Speaking podcast. Piper reflects on her own mistakes and corrects misinformation she had previously reported, such as downplaying the severity of the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China. She also talks about the challenges of evaluating scientific evidence and the role of experts in guiding public policy, arguing that laypeople should strive to understand the evidence themselves, rather than blindly deferring to experts. Piper also briefly discusses fluvoxamine and ivermectin as potential COVID-19 treatments, and her experience covering degrowth, an economic theory that advocates for a reduction in economic activity to promote environmental sustainability. – AI-generated abstract.