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This is false. There’s a lot of evidence that mask usage reduces spread. The evidence ranges from the fact that masks almost certainly capture water droplets w

This is false. There’s a lot of evidence that mask usage reduces spread. The evidence ranges from the fact that masks almost certainly capture water droplets which are supposed to be major carriers of the virus to the fact that there is correlation between countries that wear masks having reduced spreads compare to ones that don’t. In fact, a recent study compared districts in the same state, grouping them by whether the district implemented mask mandates or not, and found that the ones that had mask mandates had significantly lower levels of COVID hospitalizations vs the ones that didn’t. There’s a LOT of evidence that masks reduce COVID spread. What there isn’t, is conclusive evidence that lets us say with a 95% degree of probability that masks work. Or carefully designed scientific studies that prove this. But evidence doesn’t just mean a double blind scientific study, and if we waited for that degree of confidence to make decisions in everyday life, or even in very significant arenas like business and politics, we would be making no decisions at all. The entire IT industry, a massive trillions of dollar industry, for example, has switched from waterfall to agile development on the basis of far less and weaker evidence that agile works better than waterfall than we have for whether or not masks work.

DenisM 6y ago
> evidence ranges from the fact that masks almost certainly capture water droplets That’s not evidence, that’s a hypothesis. And in its current form it can be empirically disproved: Some masks allow droplets through and others don’t. Most people have no idea which one they are wearing. https://youtu.be/Py6SCZHAUgQ https://youtu.be/Py6SCZHAUgQ Of those which don’t allow passage, many will simply redirect the exhaled air from going forward to going sideways with same number of droplets left in the air. For example a surgical mask does just that - my glasses fog up at every exhale.
bjourne 6y ago
> There’s a LOT of evidence that masks reduce COVID spread. What there isn’t, is conclusive evidence that lets us say with a 95% degree of probability that masks work. Or carefully designed scientific studies that prove this. Well, if we take the view that evidence doesn't require scientific studies then it is just your bullshit vs my bullshit. You say different levels of Covid hospitalizations in districts with mask mandates vs districts without. I say confounding factors. I say the U.S. has high levels of mask use yet still high levels of Covid spread. You say confounding factors. Etc. The entire IT industry is a great example because there is a massive amount of bullshit, cargo culture, and magic silver bullets that doesn't really work in it.

DenisM 6y ago

> evidence ranges from the fact that masks almost certainly capture water droplets That’s not evidence, that’s a hypothesis. And in its current form it can be empirically disproved: Some masks allow droplets through and others don’t. Most people have no idea which one they are wearing. https://youtu.be/Py6SCZHAUgQ https://youtu.be/Py6SCZHAUgQ Of those which don’t allow passage, many will simply redirect the exhaled air from going forward to going sideways with same number of droplets left in the air. For example a surgical mask does just that - my glasses fog up at every exhale.

bjourne 6y ago

> There’s a LOT of evidence that masks reduce COVID spread. What there isn’t, is conclusive evidence that lets us say with a 95% degree of probability that masks work. Or carefully designed scientific studies that prove this. Well, if we take the view that evidence doesn't require scientific studies then it is just your bullshit vs my bullshit. You say different levels of Covid hospitalizations in districts with mask mandates vs districts without. I say confounding factors. I say the U.S. has high levels of mask use yet still high levels of Covid spread. You say confounding factors. Etc. The entire IT industry is a great example because there is a massive amount of bullshit, cargo culture, and magic silver bullets that doesn't really work in it.