Examples of “causal fallacy” are everywhere. One of the earliest examples is of course human sacrifice, of which the War on Drugs is a modern-day variation, that is the belief that sacrificing billions of dollars and countless human lives is somehow preventing a global health crisis (most African Americans who are in prison are there for petty drug offences). To be fair though, anyone can be victim of causal fallacy, including the President of the United States, although in his case, should we be surprised?
President Joe Biden said he was feeling great and had got through COVID with only mild discomfort, he said Wednesday morning, but he suggested Americans should wear masks indoors as the nation grapples with the latest infectious variant.
And he paid tribute to vaccinations, which he said allowed him to stay in the White House in contrast to President Donald Trump who had to be airlifted to hospital.
[…] “I got Covid. I worked from upstairs of the White House … for the five-day period. The difference is vaccinations of course.”
Of course. It’s not like it could be something else, like, I don’t know, a much weaker strain?
[…] Biden tested positive last week.
On Wednesday his doctor, Kevin O’Connor, said he had tested negative on Tuesday evening and again in the morning of his sixth day.
The president used the occasion to urge Americans to get vaccinations and boosters, and warned that the pandemic had not ended.
The White House said Biden was infected by the BA.5 variant, which is responsible for a fresh surge in cases around the world, and the president urged extra caution.
Nothing like a bit of fear porn.
[…] The White House has said Biden will follow CDC protocols when he returns to work, including wearing a face mask.
“He will wear a well-fitting mask for 10 full days any time he is around others”, O’Connor said. Biden first tested positive on Thursday of last week.
Biden’s doctor also said the president would “increase his testing cadence” as part of his monitoring for signs of long Covid. He did not detail how often the president would be tested.
He is the second president to test positive for the highly infectious disease. Then-President Donald Trump tested positive for Covid in October 2020, before vaccines were available. He was later revealed to have been seriously ill. He had gone to Walter Reed hospital for treatment.
Biden was vaccinated and double-boosted when he finally caught Covid, having avoiding it throughout the two-year pandemic.
[…] “I’m feeling great. I hope that comes across well. I hope I look as great as I feel,” he noted.
The president also completed the five days of his Paxlovid treatment on Tuesday.
Which is used to fight Covid infections. Hmm….
So there you have it, even the President of the United States is not immune from the causal fallacy, and also everyone else who believes that the Covid vaccine has prevented them from getting Covid or greatly reduced the severity.
How do you prevent yourself being a victim of the causal fallacy? You simply list all possible causes, no matter how improbable, and whittle them down to just one. If you can’t whittle it down to just one then you pick the most likely one of the few that are left.
But still, to many people, the belief that vaccines work is better than believing they’ve put their own health at risk for nothing, which is kind of like the “sunk cost fallacy”…