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The normally extremely anti-racist newspapers in Sweden have some very weird racist thoughts about the use of masks in Asia. It's just plain idiotic. The think

by tpmx 7y ago

The normally extremely anti-racist newspapers in Sweden have some very weird racist thoughts about the use of masks in Asia. It's just plain idiotic. The thinking tends to go something like: "Oh, that's just asians doing things without any scientific grounding out of group think. I know that because I read an article in The Guardian which said that wearing a mask is not a 100% protection against getting infected, so because of that they are ignorant." The messaging has also become confused by journalist-activists attempting to do some public good by saying masks are meaningless, just so that the public doesn't hoard the masks that the people in healthcare needs.

dmlittle 7y ago
> wearing a mask is not a 100% protection against getting infected Most things are never 100% safe. Wearing a seatbelt does not guarantee you won't be injured in case of an accident, it's still something everyone recognizes it's a good thing to wear. I wonder what the tipping point is in terms of something being silly to do vs. it makes sense to do it for the general public. I would guess that social stigma plays a big role in it.
- StavrosK 7y ago
  It's an example of fallacious thinking, "if it's not 100% effective, that means it's 0% effective".
  - mantas 7y ago
    Yet test-test-test mantra is beloved even if it's far from 100% either. I've a feeling that West may prefer to externalise work vs Far East taking personal responsibility. Someone has to do tests, but god forbid I wear mask.
  - notahacker 7y ago
    Yep. There are certain circumstances when if it's not completely effective, don't bother might be a valid heuristic, like taking completely unnecessary risks simply because you have a mask to reduce them. But reluctance to wearing masks in the West isn't coupled with a commonsense avoidance of risks altogether..
  - ksk 7y ago
    And then you end up with proposing hand-towels, bandanas and scarfs ...

by tpmx 7y ago

dmlittle 7y ago

> wearing a mask is not a 100% protection against getting infected Most things are never 100% safe. Wearing a seatbelt does not guarantee you won't be injured in case of an accident, it's still something everyone recognizes it's a good thing to wear. I wonder what the tipping point is in terms of something being silly to do vs. it makes sense to do it for the general public. I would guess that social stigma plays a big role in it.

StavrosK 7y ago
It's an example of fallacious thinking, "if it's not 100% effective, that means it's 0% effective".
- mantas 7y ago
  Yet test-test-test mantra is beloved even if it's far from 100% either. I've a feeling that West may prefer to externalise work vs Far East taking personal responsibility. Someone has to do tests, but god forbid I wear mask.
- notahacker 7y ago
  Yep. There are certain circumstances when if it's not completely effective, don't bother might be a valid heuristic, like taking completely unnecessary risks simply because you have a mask to reduce them. But reluctance to wearing masks in the West isn't coupled with a commonsense avoidance of risks altogether..
- ksk 7y ago
  And then you end up with proposing hand-towels, bandanas and scarfs ...