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My impression is that importance of mask is well-studied and masks are regarded as one of the most important hygienic achievements right behind washing hands. T

My impression is that importance of mask is well-studied and masks are regarded as one of the most important hygienic achievements right behind washing hands. These are cold hard facts. Everything else is political wiggle-waggling. You may argue whether it is okay for a technocratic establishment to lie to people and manipulate them; but to pretend that they didn’t feed the public with half-truths is just ridiculous.

NikolaNovak 5y ago
I think we have wildly different understanding; and mine is very much evolving - as I feel is everybody else's. Masks right behind washing hands - honestly, until Covid, I clearly lived in ignorance and had NO idea that a) Surgical masks are tested and designed to protect others against exhale and b) N95 masks are tested and designed to protect occupant via inhale. Just that basic, yet absolutely crucial concept was unknown to me. I had very limited exposure to them across two continents and half a dozen countries, and it certainly wasn't part of my own education about most important hygienic achievement or practice across four different educational / political / health systems. That doesn't necessarily mean masks aren't crucial, but it perhaps doesn't make it obviously so either in context of daily public health. And then we have the mucky complex detail of aerosol vs droplet vs surface, sizing and staying power, etc. You are presenting / clearly strongly believe that (all?) masks are a binary, always-good, always-clearly-protective thing. My understanding/interpretation is that it's more complex than that; I am OK with scientists, when faced with a net new illness, inherently evolving the opinion and recommendations. I guess this is where you see a "technocractic establishment lying and manipulating". I look at wildly different countries with wildly different values, framework, goals, assumptions, methods, and yes "political wiggle-waggling", and most of those culturally politically different scientists following broadly similar path of learning and understanding. It is likely our frameworks and life paradigms are too different to come to an agreement - at some point we all, you and I included, fit inbound facts and perceptions into our root approach and beliefs.

NikolaNovak 5y ago

I think we have wildly different understanding; and mine is very much evolving - as I feel is everybody else's. Masks right behind washing hands - honestly, until Covid, I clearly lived in ignorance and had NO idea that a) Surgical masks are tested and designed to protect others against exhale and b) N95 masks are tested and designed to protect occupant via inhale. Just that basic, yet absolutely crucial concept was unknown to me. I had very limited exposure to them across two continents and half a dozen countries, and it certainly wasn't part of my own education about most important hygienic achievement or practice across four different educational / political / health systems. That doesn't necessarily mean masks aren't crucial, but it perhaps doesn't make it obviously so either in context of daily public health. And then we have the mucky complex detail of aerosol vs droplet vs surface, sizing and staying power, etc. You are presenting / clearly strongly believe that (all?) masks are a binary, always-good, always-clearly-protective thing. My understanding/interpretation is that it's more complex than that; I am OK with scientists, when faced with a net new illness, inherently evolving the opinion and recommendations. I guess this is where you see a "technocractic establishment lying and manipulating". I look at wildly different countries with wildly different values, framework, goals, assumptions, methods, and yes "political wiggle-waggling", and most of those culturally politically different scientists following broadly similar path of learning and understanding. It is likely our frameworks and life paradigms are too different to come to an agreement - at some point we all, you and I included, fit inbound facts and perceptions into our root approach and beliefs.