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I get the importance of following science in weird times like these. But, if the author of articles agrees people should still wear masks, what is the end game

I get the importance of following science in weird times like these. But, if the author of articles agrees people should still wear masks, what is the end game of this article? The people who want to open back up economies using masks instead of appropriate other precautions, will not read this. The people who will read this and understand it will not change their views. The people who will read this and misunderstand it will just add to the negativity and confusion by claiming that no one should wear masks. Maybe I'm just going into a depression spiral, but what's the point?

sct202 7y ago
This is how I feel at work sometimes; like someone will say something kind of wrong but mostly right or their rationale for something is a little bit off. Is it really worth derailing a meeting over?
- marcosdumay 7y ago
  This is the worst. If you correct them you'll derail the meeting for a short time and look bad. If you don't correct them, there is a risk somebody will follow their premises into some conclusion that leads to very bad actions, and you won't be able to explain why, derailing much more than a meeting.
SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
If it were discovered that people systematically refuse to correct false claims about the efficacy of masks, that would hurt confidence in mask recommendations much more than any individual article could. I agree that a headline like "Cloth masks are effective, but Masks4All is doing bad science" would have been better.
bcoates 7y ago
The author of the article did not say that "people should still wear masks", he said "I’m not claiming that people shouldn’t wear masks". If you want something more actionable, "behave as if nobody was wearing a mask" which is absolutely not the position the #Masks4All guy is taking; he is promoting people in physical proximity but wearing masks as appropriate.
rsynnott 7y ago
While I don't know much about anyone involved, the danger of telling people "wearing masks is really effective" if you can't back it up is that it may encourage changes to peoples' behaviour. Even if you also tell them to socially distance anyway. "Wear a mask, but it probably doesn't do much" is much more reasonable and responsible messaging. Totally anecdotally, but when I'm walking to the supermarket, I find I have to step into the bus lane (the roads around here are basically empty right now) to avoid the mask people way more often than the non-mask people; a lot of people behave as if wearing a mask makes it okay for them to walk in the middle of the footpath in such a way that keeping 2m distance from them is impossible without stepping into the road.
martingoodson 7y ago
Author here. Would your behaviour be different if you knew that a cloth mask lets through 30 to 97% of COVID-19 particles rather than thinking they can filter almost all infective particles? If so, this article is for you. (For example, perhaps you would lobby your government to ramp up production of surgical masks for the general population.)

sct202 7y ago

This is how I feel at work sometimes; like someone will say something kind of wrong but mostly right or their rationale for something is a little bit off. Is it really worth derailing a meeting over?

marcosdumay 7y ago
This is the worst. If you correct them you'll derail the meeting for a short time and look bad. If you don't correct them, there is a risk somebody will follow their premises into some conclusion that leads to very bad actions, and you won't be able to explain why, derailing much more than a meeting.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago

If it were discovered that people systematically refuse to correct false claims about the efficacy of masks, that would hurt confidence in mask recommendations much more than any individual article could. I agree that a headline like "Cloth masks are effective, but Masks4All is doing bad science" would have been better.

bcoates 7y ago

The author of the article did not say that "people should still wear masks", he said "I’m not claiming that people shouldn’t wear masks". If you want something more actionable, "behave as if nobody was wearing a mask" which is absolutely not the position the #Masks4All guy is taking; he is promoting people in physical proximity but wearing masks as appropriate.

rsynnott 7y ago

While I don't know much about anyone involved, the danger of telling people "wearing masks is really effective" if you can't back it up is that it may encourage changes to peoples' behaviour. Even if you also tell them to socially distance anyway. "Wear a mask, but it probably doesn't do much" is much more reasonable and responsible messaging. Totally anecdotally, but when I'm walking to the supermarket, I find I have to step into the bus lane (the roads around here are basically empty right now) to avoid the mask people way more often than the non-mask people; a lot of people behave as if wearing a mask makes it okay for them to walk in the middle of the footpath in such a way that keeping 2m distance from them is impossible without stepping into the road.

martingoodson 7y ago

Author here. Would your behaviour be different if you knew that a cloth mask lets through 30 to 97% of COVID-19 particles rather than thinking they can filter almost all infective particles? If so, this article is for you. (For example, perhaps you would lobby your government to ramp up production of surgical masks for the general population.)