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25 November 2020
From Keith Macpherson, Clevedon, Somerset, UK
There are worries that anti-vaccine sentiment may hamper the use of inoculation to combat the coronavirus and get life back to near normal ( 14 November, p 8 ). However, no one has really mentioned the vaccination certificates that will undoubtedly be required for international travel to fully resume. Individuals will surely have to present …
25 November 2020
From Jack Podmore, London, UK
Do the UK's vaccination plans – or those of any other country – take into consideration the millions of UK residents (or similar in other nations) who have already been infected by the virus and probably have some level of immunity? The UK has bought enough of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine for 20 million …
25 November 2020
From John Cantellow, Derby, UK
Sylvia Terbeck's article about how moral actions can differ from moral decisions reminded me of the work of Daniel Kahneman and others, who found some behaviour was largely determined by non-conscious processing that was fast and intuitive ( 31 October, p 23 ). Conscious processing was slower and gave a different, fabricated explanation for the …
25 November 2020
From Peter Slessenger, Reading, Hampshire, UK
When it comes to the thought experiments about either diverting a runaway trolley so it kills one person or letting it continue so it kills five, I know exactly what I would do in those circumstances – panic.
25 November 2020
From Annie Macdonald, London, UK
As a psychotherapist with 25 years' experience, I was intrigued by the idea that dreams could have a single purpose ( 7 November, p 34 ). I have seen that dreams are more than just noise. Context is all. The purpose and the meaning of one individual's dream will be different to a similar dream …
2 December 2020
From Peter Reid, Plymouth, Devon, UK
Investing in education for girls is vital. It leads to women who have a bigger say in the number of children they have. For many high-income countries, pure self-interest is enough to aim for spending the recommended 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid.
2 December 2020
From Andy Bebington, London, UK
Referring to wealthier nations, you write about a "slow-burn issue of a growing 'dependency ratio': a large, ageing, economically inactive population supported by tax receipts from a dwindling band of working people". Presumably this is because we oldies, who do a lot of volunteer work, don't get paid for it, so are "economically inactive"? Who …
2 December 2020
From Ernest Ager, Exmouth, Devon, UK
The importance of general education in reducing the overall birth rate is clear. However, an additional element of education is generally missed. If it can be agreed that a continually rising population isn't good for Earth as a whole, then a directed worldwide programme of education on this point should be implemented.
2 December 2020
From Tim Mead, St Keverne, Cornwall, UK
During my life, global population has tripled. This goes against the idea, raised in the leader related to your feature , that we know what works to limit population growth, which should perhaps carry the caveat "if it weren't for human nature". What chance is there that human nature will change, that we will overcome …
2 December 2020
From David Richardson, London, UK
You point out that many nations will soon have falling populations. Let us rejoice in this. For the record – {06 December 2020} • In our population feature, the source of the cholera outbreak in Soho, London, in 1854 was the contaminated water from a communal pump, not the pump handle itself.
