4 ms·

I think it's kind of unlucky in some ways that Covid affected the old/unhealthy so disproportionately. I feel like we would have responded in a much more assert

I think it's kind of unlucky in some ways that Covid affected the old/unhealthy so disproportionately. I feel like we would have responded in a much more assertive and effective way had that not been the case. More people who were not in the risk groups would (ironically) have been saved, and we'd be a lot further on the road to recovery. Not a lot of young people know a huge amount of people in the risk groups, it's easy to dismiss if it hasn't affected someone you know.

arto 5y ago
"It's only grandma."
altcognito 5y ago
“Good news” the variants, b117 and p2 are more likely to infect younger populations.
klmadfejno 5y ago
We would have reacted more assertively because that would have been a much bigger problem. We're lucky it was this way.
- philosopher1234 5y ago
  You give us too much credit. Hold the size of the problem constant and spread the effects to more demographics. I guarantee there would have been a bigger response. We’re not that rational.
- sweezyjeezy 5y ago
  I didn't necessarily mean a bigger death count, just a more equally distributed one (like the Spanish flu). I think the end outcome could have been better for all demographics, and the world would be further on the road to recovery. With Covid it was easy people to think it wasn't really a big deal, it reduced the appetite and compliance necessary to keep the pandemic contained.
shortstuffsushi 5y ago
This seems obvious though; a lot of people assert that Covid isn't "that serious" - if it affected a larger swath of the population with more consistently negative outcomes, of course they would have taken it more seriously and responded more in line with that. I feel like that was their entire point?
- sweezyjeezy 5y ago
  OK - how about same amount of people, but more equally distributed like the Spanish Flu?
gen220 5y ago
Our surprisingly-terrible reaction to COVID, due to the reasons cited in this thread, made me think of an (I think) interesting book/show plot. What if there was an epidemic virus, that, within a year +/- a few months of contraction, killed hosts over the age of X (20, 50, 70), regardless of underlying health conditions. It raises some interesting questions! The three I’ve come up with so far: (1) what does a society look like, without (mature, older, very old) people? What surprising positive and negative evolutions occur? (2) how would our current societies react to the gradual onset and eventual global expansion of such a disease? (3) if we found a cure for the disease a few (now, shorter than previously) generations later, who would take it? It’s kind of similar Lord of the Flies, except instead of a shipwreck, it’s a disease and it happens gradually, to preexisting societies and cultures.
- tzs 5y ago
  Set X to 30, and make the cause of death deceptive euthanasia, and you've got the movie "Logan's Run" [1]. Make X 21 and you've got the book "Logan's Run" [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run_(film) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run

arto 5y ago

"It's only grandma."

altcognito 5y ago

“Good news” the variants, b117 and p2 are more likely to infect younger populations.

klmadfejno 5y ago

We would have reacted more assertively because that would have been a much bigger problem. We're lucky it was this way.

philosopher1234 5y ago
You give us too much credit. Hold the size of the problem constant and spread the effects to more demographics. I guarantee there would have been a bigger response. We’re not that rational.
sweezyjeezy 5y ago
I didn't necessarily mean a bigger death count, just a more equally distributed one (like the Spanish flu). I think the end outcome could have been better for all demographics, and the world would be further on the road to recovery. With Covid it was easy people to think it wasn't really a big deal, it reduced the appetite and compliance necessary to keep the pandemic contained.

shortstuffsushi 5y ago

This seems obvious though; a lot of people assert that Covid isn't "that serious" - if it affected a larger swath of the population with more consistently negative outcomes, of course they would have taken it more seriously and responded more in line with that. I feel like that was their entire point?

sweezyjeezy 5y ago
OK - how about same amount of people, but more equally distributed like the Spanish Flu?

gen220 5y ago

Our surprisingly-terrible reaction to COVID, due to the reasons cited in this thread, made me think of an (I think) interesting book/show plot. What if there was an epidemic virus, that, within a year +/- a few months of contraction, killed hosts over the age of X (20, 50, 70), regardless of underlying health conditions. It raises some interesting questions! The three I’ve come up with so far: (1) what does a society look like, without (mature, older, very old) people? What surprising positive and negative evolutions occur? (2) how would our current societies react to the gradual onset and eventual global expansion of such a disease? (3) if we found a cure for the disease a few (now, shorter than previously) generations later, who would take it? It’s kind of similar Lord of the Flies, except instead of a shipwreck, it’s a disease and it happens gradually, to preexisting societies and cultures.

tzs 5y ago
Set X to 30, and make the cause of death deceptive euthanasia, and you've got the movie "Logan's Run" [1]. Make X 21 and you've got the book "Logan's Run" [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run_(film) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run