Why pandemics and climate change are hard to understand,
and can we help?

Alan Dix

Computational Foundry, Swansea University, Wales

North Lab Talks, 22nd April 2020 and Why it Matters @ Festival of Ideas, 30 April 2020

Working paper based on this talk.


The complex issues that define our age, Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and Brexit cause confusion amongst politicians and vice chancellors as well as the general public. I will explore some of the cognitive barriers to understanding these issues including diffuse responsibility, exponential growth, essentialist thinking, and network feedback effects.  More important I will ask whether as HCI researchers and interaction designers, we can contribute towards tools and techniques to help.

Keywords: cognitive bias, quantitative-quantitative reasoning, numeracy, Covid-19, coronavirus, climate change

 

 

Why pandemics and climate change are hard to understand, and can we help? from Alan Dix


 

image of SARS-Cov-2 virus

SARS-CoV-2 (wikimedia)

 


http://alandix.com/academic/talks/Covid-April-2020/

Alan Dix 21/4/2020