What is base rate?
The taxi problem (classic example of the base rate fallacy) There are two taxi companies in a city: one is GREEN, the other is BLUE. 85% of taxis are blue…
How Long Does Immunity Last After COVID-19?
There are currently four identified coronaviruses in circulation. Knowledge about the re-infection process with these endemic viruses may reveal characteristics common to all human coronaviruses. It is generally assumed that…
Is it true that we only use 10% of the brain?
Many people believe that we only use a small part of the brain. In an online survey conducted in the United States, the majority (65%) of the more than 2000…
Pyramid of scientific evidence: why the quality of evidence is important
One of the most important issues in the interpretation of different scientific studies is the degree of evidence that each represents. The pyramid of scientific evidence is an excellent representation…
What is a Covid case? What do the numbers tell us?
Is it correct to classify positive test cases as “new infections”? What do the numbers tell us? In the previous article on the Covid-19 cases we talked about the doubts…
What is a Covid case? The false positives and the non-infectious positives
Every day we are informed about the number of new infections by the “new coronavirus”, also known as “Covid-19 cases”. However, do the reported cases all correspond to infected people?…
What is a pandemic?
Pandemic refers to an epidemic that has spread to several countries or continents, generally affecting a large number of people (CDC- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). or It is…
What is evolutionary incompatibility?
What we are today is the result of millions of years of evolution. All of us are the result of an unbroken family line (of ancestors). For this it was…
What is science and why is it so important?
The emergence of modern science was one of mankind's greatest achievements. The scientific method has provided the accelerated production of evidence-based knowledge.
The availability bias
The heuristics of availability is one of our most important evolutionary legacies. It represents a process of cognitive simplification that leads us to perceive the frequency of certain events based…
Does it make sense to compare “the Spanish flu of 1918” with the Covid-19 epidemic?
Many articles, statements and videos have compared the current pandemic with the 1918 pandemic, also known as the “Spanish Flu”. They even state that we can learn important lessons about…
A imunidade à Covid-19 é duradoura?
Existem atualmente quatro coronavírus identificados em circulação. O conhecimento sobre o processo de reinfeção com esses vírus endémicos podem revelar características comuns a todos os coronavírus humanos. Em geral é…
