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I don’t believe anyone here has claimed there is only one variable that explains any countries better or worse ability with regard to this pandemic, or anything

I don’t believe anyone here has claimed there is only one variable that explains any countries better or worse ability with regard to this pandemic, or anything for that matter. Edit to add: okay, so a sibling comment claims the reason is a Confucian, culture. But that’s narrow, everything is always multi-factorial. It’s good to see and discuss one aspect, but not at the expense of other considerations.

mistermann 7y ago
> I don’t believe anyone here has claimed there is only one variable that explains any countries better or worse ability with regard to this pandemic, or anything for that matter. I don't believe I said "anyone here has claimed there is only one variable that explains any countries better or worse ability with regard to this pandemic." I propose that something very interesting is going on here, at the object level. I also propose, more speculatively and provocatively, that something very interesting is also happening at the meta-level: a reluctance to discuss the phenomenon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  That's fair. I just didn't really see where you were coming as a reply to the original comment, where you'd written "prior outbreaks ... only variable" and the parent comment was talking about "civil society (and) social capital".
  - mistermann 7y ago
    I really don't intend to be argumentative, but I'm not seeing at all what is hard to understand about my comment. Is it not generally accepted that Asian cultures tend to be more conformist and "harmonious"? If it was about the "prior outbreaks" part, that commented was making a reference to the ~common belief that the superior outcome for Asian countries was solely the result of their past experiences with SARS, etc. In retrospect, I should have made that reference explicitly, apologies for that.

mistermann 7y ago

> I don’t believe anyone here has claimed there is only one variable that explains any countries better or worse ability with regard to this pandemic, or anything for that matter. I don't believe I said "anyone here has claimed there is only one variable that explains any countries better or worse ability with regard to this pandemic." I propose that something very interesting is going on here, at the object level. I also propose, more speculatively and provocatively, that something very interesting is also happening at the meta-level: a reluctance to discuss the phenomenon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant

TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
That's fair. I just didn't really see where you were coming as a reply to the original comment, where you'd written "prior outbreaks ... only variable" and the parent comment was talking about "civil society (and) social capital".
- mistermann 7y ago
  I really don't intend to be argumentative, but I'm not seeing at all what is hard to understand about my comment. Is it not generally accepted that Asian cultures tend to be more conformist and "harmonious"? If it was about the "prior outbreaks" part, that commented was making a reference to the ~common belief that the superior outcome for Asian countries was solely the result of their past experiences with SARS, etc. In retrospect, I should have made that reference explicitly, apologies for that.