4 ms·

Agree about the effects on health and the economy, but I think there's more to consider than that. The health stuff isn't even so clear cut. Consider the psych

Agree about the effects on health and the economy, but I think there's more to consider than that. The health stuff isn't even so clear cut. Consider the psychological and social effects of mandating that people cover their faces. It's very valuable to be able to connect on the human level and to do so with a sense of freedom.

chx 3y ago
o_O People should become disabled and some even die just so you can see the other person's mug on the bus? Is this what you are saying?
- wholinator2 3y ago
  What about every single other risk we accept as humans alive on earth. This is just a kinda new one, why do you draw the line specifically at the airborne virus?
  - chx 3y ago
    Because this one is novel, we do not yet know how to cure the severe disability it causes and the disease is currently very widespread. And we have a really simple way to severely restricts its spread: wear an N95/FFP2 mask. That simple?
    - nradov 3y ago
      So what. Every virus was "novel" at some point. This one is nothing special. Most any severe infection can potentially cause post-viral fatigue syndrome in susceptible patients. That is hardly a valid reason for turning yourself into a paranoid germaphobe.
      - chx 3y ago
        You are missing on the current rate of covid infections which is very hard to know because there's no systemic testing any more and many people are asymptomatic. Last time the UK published this data in March, approximately 1 in 40 in the population tested positive and so the number of infected must be significantly higher. No other airborne pathogen is present in multiple percentages of the population. Also, the problem here is the generalization "any severe infection" -- many otherwise healthy, young people with a reasonably mild acute phase have developed debilitating long Covid symptoms.
        nradov 3y ago
        No, I'm not missing anything. I am aware of the data (questionable as it may be). There is no valid justification for your proposals. Time to move on.
        chx 3y ago
        Time to die.
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  I'm saying that covering our faces is also a health risk with long term effects in an already increasingly alienated society, and that we should weigh up the risks of long term regulations which diminish the most basic aspects of human contact.
ClumsyPilot 3y ago
> sense of freedom Western people are tbe most propagandised people on earth, they attach sence of freedom to inanimate objects like cars and someone's hairy beard
- ajju 3y ago
  In my experience not wanting to mask unless there is a meaningful sense of risk is a phenomenon equally strong in India (for example) and so I do not believe it has to do with the western propaganda. If you visited India after the first wave, most people masked, enforced by the police - as they should have. Soon after the 2nd wave (which was bad but resulted in near-endemicity(?)) - after vaccines where widely available and well accepted in India -and to this day, you will see a vast vast majority in India don't mask. A visible minority mask everywhere and are not looked down upon or derided because of it. There is no meaningful propaganda either way right now.
  - johnchristopher 3y ago
    > There is no meaningful propaganda either way right now. In Europe, in some places, there is and it's sometimes more or less subtle. Local supermarket I go to has a sign "masking is no longer mandatory but it's okay to wear a mask if it makes you feel safer". Which is not how masks are supposed to work (we were told to mask to protect others) and it shouldn't be about feelings. Meanwhile the cleaning cart station (that sprinkles cart bars with soap/disinfectant) is collecting dust in a corner. I think it would have been nice to keep that from the covid period. But no, we have to erase memories of it.
    - mrob 3y ago
      I think the "mask to protect others" message was a mistake. If you mask to protect yourself you can use a mask with an exhalation value, which is more comfortable. I suspect a lot of opposition to masks is from people who only tried valveless masks. And protecting yourself still indirectly protects others, because you can't infect others unless you are infected.
    - 3y ago

chx 3y ago

o_O People should become disabled and some even die just so you can see the other person's mug on the bus? Is this what you are saying?

wholinator2 3y ago
What about every single other risk we accept as humans alive on earth. This is just a kinda new one, why do you draw the line specifically at the airborne virus?
- chx 3y ago
  Because this one is novel, we do not yet know how to cure the severe disability it causes and the disease is currently very widespread. And we have a really simple way to severely restricts its spread: wear an N95/FFP2 mask. That simple?
  - nradov 3y ago
    So what. Every virus was "novel" at some point. This one is nothing special. Most any severe infection can potentially cause post-viral fatigue syndrome in susceptible patients. That is hardly a valid reason for turning yourself into a paranoid germaphobe.
    - chx 3y ago
      You are missing on the current rate of covid infections which is very hard to know because there's no systemic testing any more and many people are asymptomatic. Last time the UK published this data in March, approximately 1 in 40 in the population tested positive and so the number of infected must be significantly higher. No other airborne pathogen is present in multiple percentages of the population. Also, the problem here is the generalization "any severe infection" -- many otherwise healthy, young people with a reasonably mild acute phase have developed debilitating long Covid symptoms.
      - nradov 3y ago
        No, I'm not missing anything. I am aware of the data (questionable as it may be). There is no valid justification for your proposals. Time to move on.
        chx 3y ago
        Time to die.
AlecSchueler 3y ago
I'm saying that covering our faces is also a health risk with long term effects in an already increasingly alienated society, and that we should weigh up the risks of long term regulations which diminish the most basic aspects of human contact.

ClumsyPilot 3y ago

> sense of freedom Western people are tbe most propagandised people on earth, they attach sence of freedom to inanimate objects like cars and someone's hairy beard

ajju 3y ago
In my experience not wanting to mask unless there is a meaningful sense of risk is a phenomenon equally strong in India (for example) and so I do not believe it has to do with the western propaganda. If you visited India after the first wave, most people masked, enforced by the police - as they should have. Soon after the 2nd wave (which was bad but resulted in near-endemicity(?)) - after vaccines where widely available and well accepted in India -and to this day, you will see a vast vast majority in India don't mask. A visible minority mask everywhere and are not looked down upon or derided because of it. There is no meaningful propaganda either way right now.
- johnchristopher 3y ago
  > There is no meaningful propaganda either way right now. In Europe, in some places, there is and it's sometimes more or less subtle. Local supermarket I go to has a sign "masking is no longer mandatory but it's okay to wear a mask if it makes you feel safer". Which is not how masks are supposed to work (we were told to mask to protect others) and it shouldn't be about feelings. Meanwhile the cleaning cart station (that sprinkles cart bars with soap/disinfectant) is collecting dust in a corner. I think it would have been nice to keep that from the covid period. But no, we have to erase memories of it.
  - mrob 3y ago
    I think the "mask to protect others" message was a mistake. If you mask to protect yourself you can use a mask with an exhalation value, which is more comfortable. I suspect a lot of opposition to masks is from people who only tried valveless masks. And protecting yourself still indirectly protects others, because you can't infect others unless you are infected.
  - 3y ago