Episode 20: Death-o-meter

As the COVID-19 death-o-meter gradually lurches higher with an ever increasing death count, reaching allegedly unprecedented levels, the developed world is in a state of near-complete lockdown, with citizens under what amounts to be house arrest, living in fear of being the cause of someone else's death by slow COVID suffocation. The messaging from governments, the WHO and the mainstream media are consistent and clear: citizens must given up their freedoms in unprecedented ways to fight an invisible omnipresent enemy that threatens to kill the weak and frail among us; if you don't comply, you are an unethical, selfish enemy of humanity. You must conform, or else. In this episode we deconstruct the messaging surrounding COVID-19 and bring clear, rigorous scientific thinking in the midst of this crazy COVID chaos. We reveal how public messaging is scientifically engineered, how health authorities are using fear, extreme computer model projections, the presentation of speculation as fact, and claims of scientific consensus to manipulate your behavior and worldview. Prepare to be deprogrammed!

Episode Timeline & Notes

0:00:00 - Introduction

• YouTube | Trudeau responds to question about wearing non-medical masks | COVID-19
• YouTube | Speaking Moistly Remix - Official 2020 anthem by anonymotif
• YouTube | COVID Staycation
• Issues, Etc. | 1073. Psychedelic Drugs – 4/16/20
• Issues, Etc. | 1113. Responding to Listener Email and the Issues, Etc. Comment Line, 4/20/20 (@34:45)

0:07:16 - Behavioural Research for behavioral engineering

• YouTube | COVID-19 update: Trudeau warns of potential enforcement measures
• Nature | How behavioural science data helps mitigate the COVID-19 crisis
• YouTube | Simpsons S22 EP6: The Full Monty - (House Cat Flu)

0:18:42 - Be Afraid - Fear Tactic

• BBC News | Coronavirus: Paris bans daytime outdoor exercise
• Brian Williams - Our Job Is to Scare People to Death | No Agenda 1230 Clips
• YouTube | New Rule: Panic Porn | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
• National Post | Officials can't explain why emergency alert didn't go out as gunman tore through Nova Scotia
• YouTube | Senator Dr. Scott Jensen
• YouTube | Perspectives on the Pandemic | Dr John Ioannidis of Stanford University | Episode 1

00:31:45 - Media/Governmental Overstatements

• YouTube | COVID-19 is 10 times more deadly than swine flu: WHO | AFP
• YouTube | Perspectives on the Pandemic | Dr John Ioannidis of Stanford University | Episode 1
• STAT | A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions wit