2020 and the rise of half-baked science
2020 and the rise of half-baked science Poor science goes viral Apparently, over 50% of the populations in some countries took to baking during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. ( Baking out of boredom: Home baking category report 2020 | Category Report | The Grocer ) So I think it’s only appropriate that baking should figure in anything I write about the year. Also, “half-baked” seems like a nice metaphor for a lot of what was put forth in the name of science. And by science I mean medical science, specifically related to COVID-19, of which I can claim to know a bit about. Of course, good science has helped us get effective drugs and vaccines over an unimaginably short time-span. But on the other hand, thanks to our collective desperation in the face of the pandemic, there was an all-round lowering of the threshold for BS . And poor science went viral. Flawed analyses and false promises First, there were the predictions, most of which were churned out by p...