COVID-19: Information and Misinformation

 There is an informative JAMA publication by Dr. Bruce Miller that addresses the current state of information regarding the pandemic. The interference of misinformation with information is described as a severe threat to such complex public health issues. An array of symptoms include antimask behavior, antivaccine beliefs, conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19, and vocal support by elected officials for unproven therapies. Some articles pointed out that only 50% heed the recommendations to wear a mask in public places. The relationship between antiscience viewpoints and low science literacy underscores new findings regarding the brain mechanisms that form and maintain false beliefs. Here is the summary of this publication:

Science Literacy Is Essential

Schenley Park

9/22/2020

Dark Matter

Mercurial, I flow the earth

I breathe with the ones who came before me

Sanguine, I paint the halls of life

The cold storm of ages embraces my solemn soul

My work has begun...

Image: October,12, 2020

The Second Coming

 Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; The centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the earth,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

William Butler Yeats

My Personal Take on Noir

 My affinity for noir movies is something I acquired through my limited exploration in cinema. It was one of the pleasant self-educational paths I took and the reward was so sweet.

It is hard to pinpoint why I like noir cinematography, aesthetics, or scenarios but there are some points that might be relevant. 

I feel beneath the grey gloomy veneer of the noir picture there are certain elements that are integral to the genre:

The question of individuality: probably the overarching presence felt constantly is that individuals facing the challenges on his own. No room for fancy comrades and mighty organizations and corporations backing him up. 

The question of morality: you will see the protagonist following a moral code and is persistent in obedience regardless of the outcomes.

The question of ultimate redemption: maybe this part is controversial but my understanding is that noir movies do not follow the happy-ending trends and more focused on picturing personal fulfillment. The hero is delivering according to his/her principles and you can see that being the only intact facet of the story.

Alternatives to Schools

 This was another hard and gut-wrenching report related to the COVID-19 crisis.

As schools are being closed in some regions of the developing world, child are being sent to the street, exploited as sources for cheap labor. 

While hunger is stalking children from Afghanistan to South Sudan, young girls in sex works and pregnancies shooting up in Uganda.

This happens while other sectors of society (bars, gyms, subway, etc.) have been allowed to reopen, begging the question: what is the root of all this discordance.  

Hubris

There are different ways that you can hone your position; different ways to exhibit your talents, demonstrate your wits. The ideal scenario is that you earn this position by respect, honor, and originality of your work and your character; far from sloganeering and scheming, there are ways way more effective to connect and persuade. 

Multiple times, while walking around Scaife Hall, Presby, or Monti, from lab to office, from Medical Arts to De Soto, I mentioned this to myself. 

Pandora's box

 " It is the greatest temptation of the rational faculty to glorify its own capacity and its own productions and to claim that in the face of its theories nothing transcendent or outside its domain need exist. "  Excerpt from Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life 

 I think this is very relevant to the matters we deal with on a regular basis in the academic milieu. Interestingly, the story is the same where you are amongst ideological fanatics in political or religious campaigns. There is an aversion to dialogue and affinity to seal the codebook of life in your limited lifetime. The tradeoff is understandable: the state of calm in return for blinding yourself to the (often convoluted) truth.