Critical thinking and pandemics XI: comparisons

During the Covid-19 Pandem, some public figures and social media users tried to reduce the risk of Covid-19, comparing the number of deaths caused by the death of viruses. For example, an ordinary example indicated that 21,297 people died from Covid-19 to 3/25/25 and 113,000 people killed at the same time.

Downplaying was something important or serious that it seemed to be a rhetorical technique. These comparisons were rejected by experts that the virus was a serious threat. Comparisons were also often used to convince people the answer was too much and useless. Compare the causes of death is useful for how to use resources and reassessing threats, death comparisons must be made with critical eye. That was true in the last pandemic, and the next time it will be true.

Before considering the comparison between pandemic deaths and deaths of other reasons, it is important to determine the accuracy of numbers. If numbers are too exaggerated, if the discounts or otherwise are indecent, then comparison is weakened. Although numbers are accurate, the comparison should be critically evaluated. The methods I will discuss are what I use in my critical query class and are drawn in Moore and Parker Critical thinking text. When a significant comparison is done, you should ask four questions:

1. Is it missing important information?
2. Is it the same standard comparison being used? Are the same reports and recording practices being used?
3. Are items comparable?
4. Is the average comparison indicated?

4. The question is not applied, the other three. It is an important information missing in these comparisons that other causes of death are usually stable over time, the deaths caused by Covid-19 were exponentially grown. On March 1, they reported 53 dead on that day. 862 deaths were reported on March 16. On March 30, 3215 were newly dead. On April 8, only 1,997 deaths and 14,390 people believe that he died in the United States since Pandemia started. The death toll rose. On the contrary, despite the seasonal flus, they are not growing in this exponential way. That being the case, the comparison is a mistake. We can expect similar comparisons to be made in the next pandemic and should be against the wrong comparisons of that way.

Another mistake in the comparison is that there are many other reasons for flu and death are well established. The Covid-19 virus was still spreading when comparison was made. The new fire would be compared to a fire newly starting with a burning fire, claiming that the new fire was not as bad as the old fire.

Death numbers are also likely to be the death tolls of recent years. It is probably what the numbers reflect, probably the number of people died died based on previous years in previous years.

While death was a great death of Covid-19, Covid-19 The dead were also underestimated. Since the test was limited for a long time, some died of viruses did not report the cause of death properly. Even in the early days of the comparison of death, Covid-19 deaths were greater than reported. This has two problems with comparison. One is that other causes of death were specific due to Covid-19 deaths, then comparison is a mistake. The second is that Covid-19 deaths could be something else (such as flu / pneumonia). This would make a more accurate result than increasing the number of deaths for other reasons.

Although it seemed to be convinced at the pandemic comparison of other causes of death at the beginning, the exponential growth of deaths has been stolen from the comparison of its power perspective. On April 19, Covid-19 took Car Accidents, Cancer, Heart Disease and Flu / Pneumonia in 2018. Something ironically, a comparison of Covid-19 death ended what was the origin of the comparison.

We can expect similar death comparisons in the early days of the next pandemia. These comparisons may contain merits, often used as a rhetorical device to reduce the severity of a pandemic. That being the case, we should be against this tactic in the next pandemia.