1/6
Sure, we can laugh at hypochondriac morons wearing triple-masks all day while walking outdoor alone. We can mock the absurd superstitious rituals of scared folks rushing to wear masks while entering a restaurant, then taking them off after 30 seconds in order to eat and ...
3/6
... since they bear the direct cost of their funny rituals, which is itself a good skin-in-the-game feedback loop, pushing for some sort of eventual equilibrium. The scariest memetic virus that managed to infect the world is not the one of direct "self-preservation" panic ...
4/6
... (however irrational), but the one summarized with the "masks protect others" slogan. The former would become actually almost sustainable over time: it consists of personal choices, where people eventually end up bearing costs for more irrational panic, and vice-versa, ...
5/6
... while ut the latter is a truly powerful weapon: everyone externalizes the cost of superstitious beliefs, increasing moral hazard, turning off the brain, and venting frustration in absurd witch-hunts. That the latter prevailed is not a surprise, within the context of a ...
6/6
... global civilization losing itself in a cesspool of collectivist mythology. A hazmat-suit-hysteria "to save yourself" would have been *way* less harmful and more manageable than a surgical-mask-hysteria "to protect others". It's fucked up, people.
@giacomozucco i call it “externality paranoia”
Everything every single person on Earth does is ultimately a threat to me.
Freedom is a lie, cooperation is impossible. Only options are the war of all against all or absolute totalitarian control.
@lucash_dev Perfect description!
@giacomozucco mask hysteria ultimately undercuts the effectiveness of masks. The evidence that they provide protection is slim, however; if used by people who feel unwell, they can be a very powerful social cue.
@levitrimble Good point.
2/6
... talk together for 2 hours, at the same table, then rushing again to wear them again just to walk to the toilet (alone). We can make fun of all kinds of ridicule feel-safe superstitions. But people who are only irrationally scared for themselves are not a real problem, ...