5 ms·

Opinion pieces? The first link is a study that measured the amount of droplets that each mask type blocks using optical equipment.

nickthemagicman 6y ago
You had one semi-legit study amongst all 10 or so links! The rest were editorial articles or blog articles! ONE! Talk about disinformation. Too bad it's a pointless study. Everyone knows masks stop droplets. But do masks stop Covid at a community level... given the fact that one is applying a plague vector directly to one's respiratory tract for a virus that stays on surfaces for days? Sweden and Norway had no mask mandate and they haven't had significant number of coronavirus deaths in months. Maybe 20 since July. And they both have less per capita deaths than America. Meanwhile 93% of Americans believe in mask usage and we're entering a third wave of coronavirus in America. I don't know. You can tell me if masks work or not. Good thing health experts are never wrong. Oh wait except for that Thalidomide thing and the flipper children. Oh and little mistake called the Tuskagee study. Other than that though they have a great track record! Lets trust the health experts unquestioningly and demonize people who want their reccomendations to be held to a higher level of scientific accountability!
- starfallg 6y ago
  If you actually looked at each of the other links, you'd noticed that they were all valid. I just picked the first one as an example of how seriously we should take your words at. Now you start going on a tangent with meta-analysis of statistical data, comparing Sweden with America with no appreciation of the difference in the culture, lifestyle and handling of the coronavirus and then attribute their relatively good performance just to the lack of a mask mandate? Give me a break, man.
  - nickthemagicman 6y ago
    If...editorial articles...count as valid scientific publications...than I'm going to write an editorial saying poop is gold, eat some taco bell, and retire! """comparing Sweden with America with no appreciation of the difference in the culture, lifestyle and handling of the coronavirus """ Where is the science regarding your claim that cultural differences invalidate country Covid rate comparisons. I see that in some of your historical comments on this site you compare different countries Covid rates despite their cultural and lifestyle differences. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=starfallg&next=22685666 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=starfallg&next=22685... Why does it not count in Sweden's case? Is one only allowed to compare countries when it supports your narrative? Can you please give me a break and be intellectually honest for two seconds?
- jjeaff 6y ago
  You are going to have to go way back in the medical literature to find many peer reviewed studies on masks. For the same reason it might be hard to find recent studies proving that blood letting is not efficacious. It's basic physics and statistics. A germ of a certain size can only fit through a certain size whole. Masks of any type will reduce the number of particles and thus reduce your chances of contracting. Same goes for your statistical likely hood of spreading to others.
  - nickthemagicman 6y ago
    Like I just said it's clear that masks stop particles. That part is obvious. What's not clear is if applying a plague vector directly on your face with a virus that remains active on surfaces for days is efficacious. Is it efficacious at the community level? It's basic epidemiology. You could be more pro-science and consider these things.
    - cyphar 6y ago
      Here's a study from the original SARS epidemic showing that people who had known contact with infected people there was a 70% lower chance of infection when they wore masks[1]. At this point, arguing that masks don't work is absolutely taking the piss -- you only need to look at countries like Japan (which made the political decision to not do widespread lockdowns unlike many other countries in Asia) to see that widespread mask usage clearly works. > Supporting the validity of this finding, there was a dose-response effect: by multivariable analysis, persons who always wore masks had a 70% lower risk of being diagnosed with clinical SARS compared with those who never wore masks, and persons with intermittent mask use had a 60% lower risk. Many persons who wore masks in the community did not use N-95 or similar highly efficient filtration devices, which have been recommended for use in the hospital setting. [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3322931/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3322931/
      - nickthemagicman 6y ago
        Did you read that study? Or did you just read the first paragraph summary? I'm seriously asking. Because if you read that study...which is a SURVEY of 100 or so people.. you would clearly not be using that as your bulletproof evidence that masks work. Did you just read the title? """At this point, arguing that masks don't work is absolutely taking the piss""' Fanatical beliefs with no evidence? Is Corona a cult? I look at countries like Sweden and Norway and know that masks mandates don't work.

nickthemagicman 6y ago

You had one semi-legit study amongst all 10 or so links! The rest were editorial articles or blog articles! ONE! Talk about disinformation. Too bad it's a pointless study. Everyone knows masks stop droplets. But do masks stop Covid at a community level... given the fact that one is applying a plague vector directly to one's respiratory tract for a virus that stays on surfaces for days? Sweden and Norway had no mask mandate and they haven't had significant number of coronavirus deaths in months. Maybe 20 since July. And they both have less per capita deaths than America. Meanwhile 93% of Americans believe in mask usage and we're entering a third wave of coronavirus in America. I don't know. You can tell me if masks work or not. Good thing health experts are never wrong. Oh wait except for that Thalidomide thing and the flipper children. Oh and little mistake called the Tuskagee study. Other than that though they have a great track record! Lets trust the health experts unquestioningly and demonize people who want their reccomendations to be held to a higher level of scientific accountability!

starfallg 6y ago
If you actually looked at each of the other links, you'd noticed that they were all valid. I just picked the first one as an example of how seriously we should take your words at. Now you start going on a tangent with meta-analysis of statistical data, comparing Sweden with America with no appreciation of the difference in the culture, lifestyle and handling of the coronavirus and then attribute their relatively good performance just to the lack of a mask mandate? Give me a break, man.
- nickthemagicman 6y ago
  If...editorial articles...count as valid scientific publications...than I'm going to write an editorial saying poop is gold, eat some taco bell, and retire! """comparing Sweden with America with no appreciation of the difference in the culture, lifestyle and handling of the coronavirus """ Where is the science regarding your claim that cultural differences invalidate country Covid rate comparisons. I see that in some of your historical comments on this site you compare different countries Covid rates despite their cultural and lifestyle differences. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=starfallg&next=22685666 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=starfallg&next=22685... Why does it not count in Sweden's case? Is one only allowed to compare countries when it supports your narrative? Can you please give me a break and be intellectually honest for two seconds?
jjeaff 6y ago
You are going to have to go way back in the medical literature to find many peer reviewed studies on masks. For the same reason it might be hard to find recent studies proving that blood letting is not efficacious. It's basic physics and statistics. A germ of a certain size can only fit through a certain size whole. Masks of any type will reduce the number of particles and thus reduce your chances of contracting. Same goes for your statistical likely hood of spreading to others.
- nickthemagicman 6y ago
  Like I just said it's clear that masks stop particles. That part is obvious. What's not clear is if applying a plague vector directly on your face with a virus that remains active on surfaces for days is efficacious. Is it efficacious at the community level? It's basic epidemiology. You could be more pro-science and consider these things.
  - cyphar 6y ago
    Here's a study from the original SARS epidemic showing that people who had known contact with infected people there was a 70% lower chance of infection when they wore masks[1]. At this point, arguing that masks don't work is absolutely taking the piss -- you only need to look at countries like Japan (which made the political decision to not do widespread lockdowns unlike many other countries in Asia) to see that widespread mask usage clearly works. > Supporting the validity of this finding, there was a dose-response effect: by multivariable analysis, persons who always wore masks had a 70% lower risk of being diagnosed with clinical SARS compared with those who never wore masks, and persons with intermittent mask use had a 60% lower risk. Many persons who wore masks in the community did not use N-95 or similar highly efficient filtration devices, which have been recommended for use in the hospital setting. [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3322931/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3322931/
    - nickthemagicman 6y ago
      Did you read that study? Or did you just read the first paragraph summary? I'm seriously asking. Because if you read that study...which is a SURVEY of 100 or so people.. you would clearly not be using that as your bulletproof evidence that masks work. Did you just read the title? """At this point, arguing that masks don't work is absolutely taking the piss""' Fanatical beliefs with no evidence? Is Corona a cult? I look at countries like Sweden and Norway and know that masks mandates don't work.