Epistemic neglection before the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil

Abstract

The epistemic neglection attitude before the covid-19 pandemic brought several obstacles as an epistemic addiction, especially when it comes to the importance of following the safety protocols by the population. Information about the risks of the new coronavirus has been distorted and causing doubts, a key element for epistemic malevolence. This work sought to contextualize the epistemic neglection and bring a paradigm of its concept in the face of the pandemic, listing cases and addressing them. With more than 160 thousand confirmed deaths, to think that Brazil handled the situation well demonstrates neglection during the pandemic. Fallacies and hypotheses disconnected from reality brought chaos and disorder proving to go against science. Brazil still suffers from the consequences of this period and runs the risk of postponing its end even more. Because even with scientific advances showing that there are possible vaccine successes against the new coronavirus, decisions and measures during the pandemic indicate a negative and dangerous position. One way to deal with this paradigm is to formulate awareness strategies based on critical and direct science education, in which there is communication adapted to the public avoiding data manipulation and disqualification of studies with real methodologies.