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This is a shameful article with really shitty argumentation starting from the title: It is absolutely an old person problem predominantly. Mortality of youth

This is a shameful article with really shitty argumentation starting from the title: It is absolutely an old person problem predominantly. Mortality of youth is tiny so any order 1 multiplier is still tiny. Any discussion that tries to obscure that crucial point is trying to delude you. "Now if we were to compute the effect on life expectancy, note that the effect acts across the board: a 30 year old loses more than 50 years of life, an 80 y.o. loses about a decade, etc." What is this saying? I'm 30 so I should expect to die soon? Or I should have expected to live to 110 but now I will live to 60? Or maybe he's not got a clue how to apply the mortality weight integrated over time? "If Covid is an old person problem, deserving to be ignored on that account, let’s treat cardiology, oncology, urology, and most of internal medicine in the same manner." Who is saying this? Wild strawman. "you treat the current elderly the way you would like to be treated when you grow older. For even psychopaths will be older some day." I fully expect my savings to be plundered by the continued growth of for profit health care. What I do to my immune system today had better be with my own future in mind.

brodouevencode 5y ago
As much of a fan of NNT as I am this was a wildly disappointing article. My inner optimist hopes that this was intentionally put together to be incoherent in order to provoke some other conversation which would be his real aim (but that's almost assuredly not it).
- peteradio 5y ago
  I don't know what to make of it, I'm addressing it at face value. But it is so weird to think a guy that is into long-tail thinking is calling people who are doing exactly that psychopaths.
nojokes 5y ago
Actually he has correct perspective. Yes, more older people die. But higher risk to die young should be not overlooked. I never thought that I could die because of simple respiratory illness. I have been sick many times but each time I assumed that regardless of the seriousness of the illness, I will recover. COVID-19 puts it into different perspective.
- peteradio 5y ago
  His perspective put forth is much more than Covid affects some 30 year olds. Are you also in agreement that: targeted care == let people die and people who believe it a rational approach are actually psychopaths?

brodouevencode 5y ago

As much of a fan of NNT as I am this was a wildly disappointing article. My inner optimist hopes that this was intentionally put together to be incoherent in order to provoke some other conversation which would be his real aim (but that's almost assuredly not it).

peteradio 5y ago
I don't know what to make of it, I'm addressing it at face value. But it is so weird to think a guy that is into long-tail thinking is calling people who are doing exactly that psychopaths.

nojokes 5y ago

Actually he has correct perspective. Yes, more older people die. But higher risk to die young should be not overlooked. I never thought that I could die because of simple respiratory illness. I have been sick many times but each time I assumed that regardless of the seriousness of the illness, I will recover. COVID-19 puts it into different perspective.

peteradio 5y ago
His perspective put forth is much more than Covid affects some 30 year olds. Are you also in agreement that: targeted care == let people die and people who believe it a rational approach are actually psychopaths?