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There is the phrase "fighting the last war" which describes people who can't let go of old lessons learned when facing something new. In this case, remember th

There is the phrase "fighting the last war" which describes people who can't let go of old lessons learned when facing something new. In this case, remember that there was a time when people thought bacterial infections, like cholera, or parasitic infections, like malaria, were spread through bad smells in the air. Unfortunately there are scientists who overgeneralize the lesson that bacteria and parasites are not transmitted through the air into a dogmatic belief that nothing can spread through the air, even viruses, and those sorts of people were in charge at the WHO and CDC. > Early in the pandemic, the World Health Organization stated that SARS-CoV-2 was not transmitted through the air. That mistake and the prolonged process of correcting it sowed confusion and raises questions about what will happen in the next pandemic. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00925-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00925-7 It took domain experts two years to force those in charge to accept the truth that infected people do emit Covid into the air when they are just breathing normally, that the Covid they emit floats in the air for hours, and that people who inhale the virus do get infected. Which is why it's unwise to censor everyone who doesn't toe the party line. Not just illegal, unwise.

cvccvroomvroom 3y ago
To be fair, the droplets were down to nanometer size that N95 masks couldn't touch. It was Dunning-Kruger meeting wishful thinking meeting cognitive dissonance. It was more convenient to shout one narrative than dither before generating conclusive evidence. Theoretically, you could don a moon suit and be alright, but 100% lockdown of the world doesn't scale for long, although 4 weeks of a real, absolute lockdown (wasn't meaningfully enforced uniformly in the US) would've been fantastic.
- GeekyBear 3y ago
  To be fair, a properly fitted N95 mask is infinitely protective against an airborne virus compared to standing six feet apart, washing your hands, wiping down surfaces or wearing one of those paper masks held on by two rubber bands with open sides. However, it is my understanding that the UK's NHS did step up their game and require their equivalent of an N99 mask for frontline medical workers.
  - DanBC 3y ago
    > a properly fitted N95 mask is infinitely protective against an airborne virus People keep saying "airborne" as if that's the only route of transmission, but we know there are three routes - droplets in the eyes, air that you breathe, and fomites that you eat. Eyes and mouth are significant, and there's some evidence that these are more important than airborne transmission. The swiss cheese model does not say "use masks, ignore the rest, you'll be okay". It says "here's a package of measures and if you use all of them you reduce the risk".
    - GeekyBear 3y ago
      > People keep saying "airborne" as if that's the only route of transmission No. I am saying "airborne" as in the WHO issued a blanket statement that Covid was NOT airborne and the domain experts who asserted that it did indeed spread that way were crackpots. Does the WHO's statement, "FACT: #Covid19 is NOT airborne", ring a bell? > there's some evidence Feel free to provide it.
      - DanBC 3y ago
        Most infections were not from "airborne" transmission, but from fomites and particles. It's always weird when people say "show me the evidence" as if it's a win. You don't know what you're talking about, and now you want me to do extra work for you? No. Maybe do the work before you leap into the conversation.
        GeekyBear 3y ago
        > Most infections were not from "airborne" transmission Restating false information is not "proof". Even the White House has now explicitly stated the new scientific consensus that Covid is primarily airborne and started talking about the sorts of mitigations that can be successful when you finally admit how the virus is spreading. >The most common way COVID-19 is transmitted from one person to another is through tiny airborne particles of the virus hanging in indoor air for minutes or hours after an infected person has been there. While there are various strategies for avoiding breathing that air – from remote work to masking – we can and should talk more about how to make indoor environments safer by filtering or cleaning air. https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/03/23/lets-clear-the-air-on-covid/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/03/23/lets...
- Gartent 3y ago
  https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2022/04/08/the-dunning-kruger-effect-is-autocorrelation/ https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2022/04/08/the-dunning-k... Dunning Kruger is autocorrelation and does not replicate --- I am a bot

cvccvroomvroom 3y ago

To be fair, the droplets were down to nanometer size that N95 masks couldn't touch. It was Dunning-Kruger meeting wishful thinking meeting cognitive dissonance. It was more convenient to shout one narrative than dither before generating conclusive evidence. Theoretically, you could don a moon suit and be alright, but 100% lockdown of the world doesn't scale for long, although 4 weeks of a real, absolute lockdown (wasn't meaningfully enforced uniformly in the US) would've been fantastic.

GeekyBear 3y ago
To be fair, a properly fitted N95 mask is infinitely protective against an airborne virus compared to standing six feet apart, washing your hands, wiping down surfaces or wearing one of those paper masks held on by two rubber bands with open sides. However, it is my understanding that the UK's NHS did step up their game and require their equivalent of an N99 mask for frontline medical workers.
- DanBC 3y ago
  > a properly fitted N95 mask is infinitely protective against an airborne virus People keep saying "airborne" as if that's the only route of transmission, but we know there are three routes - droplets in the eyes, air that you breathe, and fomites that you eat. Eyes and mouth are significant, and there's some evidence that these are more important than airborne transmission. The swiss cheese model does not say "use masks, ignore the rest, you'll be okay". It says "here's a package of measures and if you use all of them you reduce the risk".
  - GeekyBear 3y ago
    > People keep saying "airborne" as if that's the only route of transmission No. I am saying "airborne" as in the WHO issued a blanket statement that Covid was NOT airborne and the domain experts who asserted that it did indeed spread that way were crackpots. Does the WHO's statement, "FACT: #Covid19 is NOT airborne", ring a bell? > there's some evidence Feel free to provide it.
    - DanBC 3y ago
      Most infections were not from "airborne" transmission, but from fomites and particles. It's always weird when people say "show me the evidence" as if it's a win. You don't know what you're talking about, and now you want me to do extra work for you? No. Maybe do the work before you leap into the conversation.
      - GeekyBear 3y ago
        > Most infections were not from "airborne" transmission Restating false information is not "proof". Even the White House has now explicitly stated the new scientific consensus that Covid is primarily airborne and started talking about the sorts of mitigations that can be successful when you finally admit how the virus is spreading. >The most common way COVID-19 is transmitted from one person to another is through tiny airborne particles of the virus hanging in indoor air for minutes or hours after an infected person has been there. While there are various strategies for avoiding breathing that air – from remote work to masking – we can and should talk more about how to make indoor environments safer by filtering or cleaning air. https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/03/23/lets-clear-the-air-on-covid/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/03/23/lets...
Gartent 3y ago
https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2022/04/08/the-dunning-kruger-effect-is-autocorrelation/ https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2022/04/08/the-dunning-k... Dunning Kruger is autocorrelation and does not replicate --- I am a bot