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While I totally agree with taking strong precautions and still avoid certain things for a while, I'm wondering if these are people who have been at home for a long stretch and staying glued to the "news" (purposefully air quoting this).
That stuff will start to rot a person's mind after a while and also make someone become despondent.
I think there's a lot of this going on. Having a strong understanding of psychology, I know that anybody exposed to the same ideas over and over will begin to believe them, regardless of evidence.
I'm in the camp that fully understands how serious this virus is, but wants to live my life as fully as possible regardless. I'm being cautious, and hope everyone around me is as well, but I also know I won't be getting any of this lost time back.
Otherwise, what's the point? If we choose to assume there's no coming back from this, then what do we have to look forward to? Decades in quarantine?
Sweden didn’t take this seriously at all. They now have the highest death rate per capita based on a news report I saw today. It’s grim and yeah it’s “negative”. But crap, that just meNs the issue needs to be addressed. My father grew up during the Depression and WW2. After his stories, I really don’t find coronavirus that scary. But I’m not going to minimize what it can do.
I agree with you that people can be too careless, and that's another bad (possibly deadly) extreme to go to.
The bolded part really makes a good point. The situation needs to be refocused as an opportunity to practice the virtues of patience and self discipline rather than all doom and gloom.
I think there's a lot of this going on. Having a strong understanding of psychology, I know that anybody exposed to the same ideas over and over will begin to believe them, regardless of evidence.
I'm in the camp that fully understands how serious this virus is, but wants to live my life as fully as possible regardless. I'm being cautious, and hope everyone around me is as well, but I also know I won't be getting any of this lost time back.
Otherwise, what's the point? If we choose to assume there's no coming back from this, then what do we have to look forward to? Decades in quarantine?
Maybe take it as an opportunity to slow down and not to have to have so many things on your "to do" list all the time, and have the time that you'd never have for some self reflection and soul searching that gets put on the back burner? I know some personalities find that harder to do than others, and those folks may have other strengths than the ones who find that easy, but it may be a once in a lifetime chance to do that. This isn't just directed at you OP; it's for anybody.
Like most people, I've been struggling to stay upbeat during these incredibly trying times. While I want very much to be able to resume my regular activities and see friends in person again, I fully understand the seriousness of the situation and the need to be cautious. Still, it helps to maintain some amount of hope that this can be a reality eventually.
What doesn't help is hearing comments from those who seem convinced that this will never end, and that we will never be safe no matter what we do. The interesting thing is, I've always tended to skew negative in my expectations of various situation, but this is a time where I can't afford to do that.
For example, I was on a video chat with the leader of one of my favorite activities last night. I commented that our state's reopening plan may allow people to gather again (within reason) in a month's time. She just sighed and said, "Yeah, I don't think so." And this is someone who's usually upbeat and optimistic no matter what. It totally deflated my mood to get that response.
Or what about these people who post stories about businesses reopening with comments like, "So you don't care how many people die as long as you get your hair cut?" How does that help? People need to do more than sit at home and businesses are going to extreme measures to be cautious so that they can survive.
I try to ignore this as best I can, but you can't avoid it altogether. I understand it to some extent, but the excessive negativity makes a tough situation even harder to bear. I wonder if subconsciously I feel like these other people understand the situation more than I do, but probably not. I simply want to grasp onto any sign that better times are ahead.
People will do what they think is best for them, regardless of what you, I or anyone else feels they should do. You cannot tell people how to think and feel or dictate to them how they should live, and this situation is trying for so many people on so many different levels....
Me I feel like we have to get back out there, people are killing themselves out of fear and despiration and isolation. Why not simply address the situation how you feel the best and safest....
I just read today that CDC no longer feels the virus is transmitted by staying on surfaces or food bags, etc....so, that's a positive thought.
I find the constant rAge by so many is exhausting so I keep away from it on social media, limit my news, don’t have tv so I’m spared ads and newsertainment and pundits.
I don’t think people are taking it seriously but I’m not going to bust my gut screaming about it , there is not nothing I can do other than follow my own doctors advice, stay alert, stay healthy, avoid crowds and enjoy living life around the ever changing challenges and obstacles.
I don’t quite understand it, but I think there are a lot of people who secretly get enjoyment out of this crisis and doomsday scenarios. Almost like they are wishing for a Great Depression or crisis.
Sure... Like all the preppers have been validated now.
I think you hit the nail on the head. MSM, including news, sensationalizes everything, in order to increase ratings and clicks, and by extension, profits. So they make everything doom-and-gloom. Which breaks people's spirits, and causes them to think that the 'Rona quarantine will be around forever. It's why I stick to Fox News exclusively; they're pro-reopening for the most part. As opposed to WGN, or god forbid, NBC.
Sorry not sorry, I lost all trust in epidemiologists and public health agencies. Possibly forever. They're in bed with all the wrong politicians.
Why? Do you think the epidemiologists are all lying? They just state their professional opinion, but often have to do that in the presence of a skeptical politician who would prefer that the world works according to their belief framework, rather than in reality.
One issue I see, and that is similar to many reactions to Y2K software problems, is that the lockdown and restrictions made a difference and reduced deaths, but lots of folks think "Oh, we didn't really need the restrictions, everything turned out OK", conveniently ignoring the reasons why things turned out OK.
Maybe take it as an opportunity to slow down and not to have to have so many things on your "to do" list all the time, and have the time that you'd never have for some self reflection and soul searching that gets put on the back burner? I know some personalities find that harder to do than others, and those folks may have other strengths than the ones who find that easy, but it may be a once in a lifetime chance to do that. This isn't just directed at you OP; it's for anybody.
This is very good advice, and I think many people are doing this. In my own case, I’ve always tended to have a bit too much free time on my hands. I’m always looking for new social-type activities, and having to step back and avoid such things long-term has made me realize how precious everyone’s time really is. That’s why I worry that, once the restrictions are relaxed, many people in my life will still choose to stay home out of fear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cremebrulee
People will do what they think is best for them, regardless of what you, I or anyone else feels they should do. You cannot tell people how to think and feel or dictate to them how they should live, and this situation is trying for so many people on so many different levels....
And yet they try to tell us how to think, which is my problem. If people are scared and want to stay home and safe, they have every right to. But to try and shame everybody who even thinks about going outside, suggesting they’re going to kill people by going for a walk around the neighborhood -- not helpful!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spuggy
I don’t think people are taking it seriously but I’m not going to bust my gut screaming about it
There are definitely people who are not. Last weekend, the beach near me was packed with people, including groups of 10+ teenagers huddled together with no masks. I think this is the #1 trigger of these alarmist-types. But as you say, yelling about it on social media isn’t going to make anyone change their behavior.
I think you hit the nail on the head. MSM, including news, sensationalizes everything, in order to increase ratings and clicks, and by extension, profits. So they make everything doom-and-gloom. Which breaks people's spirits, and causes them to think that the 'Rona quarantine will be around forever. It's why I stick to Fox News exclusively; they're pro-reopening for the most part. As opposed to WGN, or god forbid, NBC.
Sorry not sorry, I lost all trust in epidemiologists and public health agencies. Possibly forever. They're in bed with all the wrong politicians.
Whatever. I trust in data. And given that my bestie is a complete data nerd who has left jobs that made unethical requests without a glance back, I trust her. Go out and lick some doorknobs if you think this is so exaggerated
We don't think perfectly rational. Daniel Kahneman was a psychologist won the noble prize in Economics for his research for trying to explain the systematic ways we tend to think irrationally. If you are interested this book goes into it in detail.
If you think about a fire alarm, its biased to go off both when there is an actual fire but also in situations where there isn't major risk of death, (ie you burn your toast, in the toaster).
Mentally I think our anxiety system is set up the same way, for the same reasons. Its better to give you false alarms than to have you miss things when there is a real danger.
Now on top of that, I suspect that we likely have an evolved fear of disease and especially pandemics. The Black Plague killed a quarter of Europe, why Spain Conquistadors where so effective against Native American diseases is that they brought diseases that the Native Americans had no resistance towards and their populations crashed. Pandemics are a recurrent feature of humanity. The people who were the most risk adverse in pandemics also were likely over represented in the survivor pool.
So the people who correctly appraise when the risks levels have fallen low enough to be safe before everyone else likely also did really well.
The thing that is unclear to me is if we are at the point. Two months from now we should know whether if you open society again whether social distancing and masks are enough to manage the problem from spinning out of control or whether we created another NYC type of problem and the side that is correct will tell the other I told you so.
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