3 ms·

I've been trying with earnest to wrap my head around the answer to your last question. I saw the writing on the wall 4 weeks ago when the initial numbers starte

by sky_rw 7y ago

I've been trying with earnest to wrap my head around the answer to your last question. I saw the writing on the wall 4 weeks ago when the initial numbers started coming out and the cell phone videos of the CCPs response leaked through the firewall. I've been telling my friends and family what these numbers mean and what the implications of this are both medically and economically. The response I get is either "Stop watching fox news", "if it was really that bad big companies would be freaking out", "its just a flu", etc. I've come to the conclusion that, at least in the suburban USA, our lives are just so routine and comfortable that most of us cannot fathom any circumstance that would change it. We relegate such thoughts to the realm of fantasy with zombie movies and the like. It's either business as normal, or a situation you have no hope to prepare for so why bother. Not a mindset I share, likely because I didn't grow up with the guarantee of core needs. 4 weeks ago people would say "why would I keep a stock of n95 masks" like we used to all say "why would you bother locking a cockpit door".

bamboozled 7y ago
In an Asian mega-city right now. Most people also don't seemed panicked, so I don't think it has much to do with suburban life. Which does seem way safer anyway because it's much less population dense. Not sure I follow your sentiment really?
- robomartin 7y ago
  And they have ONE case: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/02/coronavirus-queues-at-supermarkets-as-panic-buying-ramps-up.html https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/02/coronavir... Panic is one of these binary things. A group of people can go from normal to freaked-the-hell-out-panicked at the flip of a switch. Pulling them back to normal is nearly impossible. That's why you want to get ready before the switch flips. Because, if you don't, you might just have to be out there with them, and things can get ugly fast. I have zero interest in that, less than zero, actually.
  - bamboozled 7y ago
    There is some times during this thing where I have actually panicked for sure. Its the first time in a while I could feel myself teetering on the edge of losing control and succumbing to a full blown panic attack. Reading the news is actually pretty scary. Even the way individual cases are being reported is freaky. I wonder how I'd feel if the same thing happened for every freak accident, flu death etc. Not trying to down play the severity of the virus, just amusing how much we can be influenced by the media.
    - robomartin 7y ago
      Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I don't know what might be available to you. I would urge you not to watch CNN, they are in full destroy-Trump fear mongering mode. It's sick. We are in the US. We watch BBC World News most of the time. Aside from that, the CDC (cdc.gov) is covering this well. Basically, if you can absorb reasonably scientific material the science news providers are a million times better than any news organization. Here's an interesting YouTube resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDYb_x54DM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDYb_x54DM
robomartin 7y ago
> "its just a flu" Yup, that's what they are saying. And it clearly isn't. I was at the store a couple of weeks ago and had this mental frame of reference where you are kind of watching from the outside while thinking "I wonder if these people understand what could happen here in a few weeks". I've talked to very well educated friends, some in the medical field, who are very dismissive and even think it is paranoid to think getting ready is a good idea. I don't get it. The point isn't to be paranoid. As I've put it in various conversations: I'd rather be wrong about making the assumption than discover the hard way I was wrong about not having made it. The assumption I made is that we might need to quarantine at home for 30 to 45 days. I made this decision about a month ago. I went out and got enough supplies for that as well as supplies relevant to the issue at hand (masks, gloves, disinfectants, etc.). I would say 95% of what I purchased (food and household items) are things we consume on a normal basis. So, we have a two month supply of food. It just means that, if I am wrong, we don't have to go to the market for a couple of months. No big deal. I've always had N95 masks around for work around the house and shop. This isn't a biohazard item, it's a normal industrial product. So even that isn't an out of the norm purchase. OK, so I have a bit more Clorox than we would normally stock. That's about the size of my "paranoid" purchases, more Clorox. Not sure why this is weird to some. Getting ready isn't that hard.

by sky_rw 7y ago

bamboozled 7y ago

In an Asian mega-city right now. Most people also don't seemed panicked, so I don't think it has much to do with suburban life. Which does seem way safer anyway because it's much less population dense. Not sure I follow your sentiment really?

robomartin 7y ago
And they have ONE case: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/02/coronavirus-queues-at-supermarkets-as-panic-buying-ramps-up.html https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/02/coronavir... Panic is one of these binary things. A group of people can go from normal to freaked-the-hell-out-panicked at the flip of a switch. Pulling them back to normal is nearly impossible. That's why you want to get ready before the switch flips. Because, if you don't, you might just have to be out there with them, and things can get ugly fast. I have zero interest in that, less than zero, actually.
- bamboozled 7y ago
  There is some times during this thing where I have actually panicked for sure. Its the first time in a while I could feel myself teetering on the edge of losing control and succumbing to a full blown panic attack. Reading the news is actually pretty scary. Even the way individual cases are being reported is freaky. I wonder how I'd feel if the same thing happened for every freak accident, flu death etc. Not trying to down play the severity of the virus, just amusing how much we can be influenced by the media.
  - robomartin 7y ago
    Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I don't know what might be available to you. I would urge you not to watch CNN, they are in full destroy-Trump fear mongering mode. It's sick. We are in the US. We watch BBC World News most of the time. Aside from that, the CDC (cdc.gov) is covering this well. Basically, if you can absorb reasonably scientific material the science news providers are a million times better than any news organization. Here's an interesting YouTube resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDYb_x54DM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDYb_x54DM

robomartin 7y ago

> "its just a flu" Yup, that's what they are saying. And it clearly isn't. I was at the store a couple of weeks ago and had this mental frame of reference where you are kind of watching from the outside while thinking "I wonder if these people understand what could happen here in a few weeks". I've talked to very well educated friends, some in the medical field, who are very dismissive and even think it is paranoid to think getting ready is a good idea. I don't get it. The point isn't to be paranoid. As I've put it in various conversations: I'd rather be wrong about making the assumption than discover the hard way I was wrong about not having made it. The assumption I made is that we might need to quarantine at home for 30 to 45 days. I made this decision about a month ago. I went out and got enough supplies for that as well as supplies relevant to the issue at hand (masks, gloves, disinfectants, etc.). I would say 95% of what I purchased (food and household items) are things we consume on a normal basis. So, we have a two month supply of food. It just means that, if I am wrong, we don't have to go to the market for a couple of months. No big deal. I've always had N95 masks around for work around the house and shop. This isn't a biohazard item, it's a normal industrial product. So even that isn't an out of the norm purchase. OK, so I have a bit more Clorox than we would normally stock. That's about the size of my "paranoid" purchases, more Clorox. Not sure why this is weird to some. Getting ready isn't that hard.