COVID-19 & the Problem of Groupthink

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Groupthink occurs when pressures to agree are so strong that they stifle critical thinking and common sense.

Climate Change Anxiety

Very interesting article in the latest Rolling Stone on climate change and its impact of young peoples’ mental health. It talks about pre-traumatic stress disorder. “Behind their signs and placards, their anger and frustration are clear. What is harder to see is their anxiety, the psychological burden of those “oh no!” thoughts that threaten to arise, the private moments of panic and fear felt by a generation that cannot remember a time before the planet’s future was imperiled.

The Thought Police & The Virus

“Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever. Sooner or later they were bound to get you. The mind should develop a blind spot whenever a dangerous thought presented itself. The process should be automatic, instinctive. Crimestop, they called it in Newspeak.” George Orwell “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”

The Brave New World of Surveillance 5G Street Lights

Last year the Signify company unveiled the perfect surveillance street light of future – a column bristling with high technology capabilities including Wi-Fi, 5G connectivity and Internet of Things sensors. A must for every budding dictator.

The Current Coronavirus Disease May Be a Once-in-a-Century Evidence Fiasco

Prof. John Ioannidis of the Stanford University School of Medicine, is professor of medicine and epidemiology and population health. On March 17 in STAT he posed some very intriguing points about the virus that seems to have crippled the world. Here’s an extract: