Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Cambridge, New Bedford, Marlborough: homes, buying, high school)

[msRB311]

I have to admit I am not afraid of getting covid at this point. I have been vaccinated. There's really not much more i can do and I am not going to sit in my house or bother with masks anymore. I do worry about my kids especially after reading covid can affect the brain...but again what can we do? sit in the house all day? I've seen others say they will continue to do homeschooling this fall...it's one thing if you wanted to do homeschooling just because...but to do it because of covid seems a bit much.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

Yep, you're afraid. That's why you lash out and call me stupid. I don't mind, and I forgive you.

Honestly I think it's more you're afraid of being wrong, and you realizing you're blowing the risk way out of proportion, than anything else.

My point stands about the more salient risk being people choosing to avoid the hospital out of fear of being infected there, as opposed to the fairy tale of arriving at the hospital and then being told that there are too many Covid patients, so we're going to leave you to die.

Afraid and stupid are both loaded terms that in this context generally two sides of the same coin: that you disagree with my risk assessment to such a great degree that you see it as a flaw in my character. This isn't behavior unique to COVID, these were both common schoolyard taunts when I was a kid (although the language was usually coarser).

We all make assessment of risk and the cost of mitigation behave accordingly. If someone doesn't mind wearing a mask but has a low tolerance for being sick with COVID, they wear a mask. If someone has a high tolerance for the risk of being sick with COVID and a hates wearing a mask, they won't wear a mask. Even in the best situation people do a terrible job of quantifying risks relative to rewards; with COVID you also add high uncertainty in the actual risk levels.

In other words, if I asked someone who regularly drives 10 mph over the speed limit if they understood the increased risk of death relative to the driving time savings, I am confident that they would not know what that trade-off actually is but would be able to calculate it if they absolutely had to. Asking the same question with COVID and masks, I would guess that not only would someone not be able to quantify their increase in risk, no one else probably could, either. I suspect people are mostly making decisions based on their gut and their intuition.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Afraid and stupid are both loaded terms that in this context generally two sides of the same coin: that you disagree with my risk assessment to such a great degree that you see it as a flaw in my character. This isn't behavior unique to COVID, these were both common schoolyard taunts when I was a kid (although the language was usually coarser).

We all make assessment of risk and the cost of mitigation behave accordingly. If someone doesn't mind wearing a mask but has a low tolerance for being sick with COVID, they wear a mask. If someone has a high tolerance for the risk of being sick with COVID and a hates wearing a mask, they won't wear a mask. Even in the best situation people do a terrible job of quantifying risks relative to rewards; with COVID you also add high uncertainty in the actual risk levels.

In other words, if I asked someone who regularly drives 10 mph over the speed limit if they understood the increased risk of death relative to the driving time savings, I am confident that they would not know what that trade-off actually is but would be able to calculate it if they absolutely had to. Asking the same question with COVID and masks, I would guess that not only would someone not be able to quantify their increase in risk, no one else probably could, either. I suspect people are mostly making decisions based on their gut and their intuition.

The difference is I see it as a temporary flaw in his character (his risk-assessment apparatus is temporarily wrecked by the Covid saga), and he sees my flaws as inherent (he thinks I'm a dumb red-state hick).

I'd also push back gently and say that it's obvious that he is afraid, and it's obvious that I'm not stupid (or that I don't have, his words, "low cognitive functioning"). But thank you for your comments, which in general I agree with. And I know that Mass. drivers who go 10+ over understand and accept the risks, believe me!

To somewhat get this back to local issues, what percentage of workers, in say, a CVS, would you guys say you've seen wearing an N95 mask at work in your state? Here, it's close to zero.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Largely a problem for the unvaccinated populations. Even if infected, those with both rounds of mRNA are generally experiencing mild symptoms. This includes relative ‘high risk’ individuals such as the 65+ demographics.

The recent UK study regarding Delta and hospitalizations, which Outdoorlover posted an overview of, suggested that the individuals who were both vaccinated and hospitalized tended to have 5 or more comorbidities; i.e., the 'high risk' label might be a bit of an understatement.

Well considering how far we've gone I have to wonder at what point are we actually going to force people to get the vaccine. It's been out for months it's a relatively easy to sign up and get public officials of bent over backwards granting access and I can't really imagine that many excuses that can go on for months on end to get this. At this point it might as well come in the mail with free samples of tide and ads from the Publishers Clearing House.

I would argue anybody that has not had it and now is probably refusing to get it or at least in the western world.

I would also State how many students are not getting vaccinated and how many institutions are not requiring vaccinations. I think most in Northeast do but I have to wonder how many students just aren't going to get it. If it's any more than 25% I think we're going to see a further spread

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

The difference is I see it as a temporary flaw in his character (his risk-assessment apparatus is temporarily wrecked by the Covid saga), and he sees my flaws as inherent (he thinks I'm a dumb red-state hick).

I'd also push back gently and say that it's obvious that he is afraid, and it's obvious that I'm not stupid (or that I don't have, his words, "low cognitive functioning"). But thank you for your comments, which in general I agree with. And I know that Mass. drivers who go 10+ over understand and accept the risks, believe me!

To somewhat get this back to local issues, what percentage of workers, in say, a CVS, would you guys say you've seen wearing an N95 mask at work in your state? Here, it's close to zero.

The only thing that's obvious, is a stranger online stating that they plan on wearing an N95 mask to the store. There is no way (I repeat) NO WAY of us knowing what motivates that person to take those actions (be it fear, personal benefit, risk calculating, common sense...). If you came on here and said "I will not stick my fingers in an electric socket", it will be similarly outlandish for another faceless person sitting in front of a keyboard to accuse you of being "afraid".

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

The difference is I see it as a temporary flaw in his character (his risk-assessment apparatus is temporarily wrecked by the Covid saga), and he sees my flaws as inherent (he thinks I'm a dumb red-state hick).

I'd also push back gently and say that it's obvious that he is afraid, and it's obvious that I'm not stupid (or that I don't have, his words, "low cognitive functioning").

Both "afraid" and "stupid" are commonly used to refer to both temporary and permanent impairments of judgement. I don't think of myself as stupid but frequently refer to myself as such after doing something I know better than doing.

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

But thank you for your comments, which in general I agree with. And I know that Mass. drivers who go 10+ over understand and accept the risks, believe me!

My guess is that people DON'T quantitatively understand risks. I certainly don't know off the top of my head how much more dangerous it is to travel 5 or 10 or 15 miles over the speed limit.

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

To somewhat get this back to local issues, what percentage of workers, in say, a CVS, would you guys say you've seen wearing an N95 mask at work in your state? Here, it's close to zero.

Clerks are generally wearing masks. Hard to say if they are N95. Probably not.

[msRB311]

Avoid Florida:

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/d...145905680.html

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by massnative71

The only thing that's obvious, is a stranger online stating that they plan on wearing an N95 mask to the store. There is no way (I repeat) NO WAY of us knowing what motivates that person to take those actions (be it fear, personal benefit, risk calculating, common sense...). If you came on here and said "I will not stick my fingers in an electric socket", it will be similarly outlandish for another faceless person sitting in front of a keyboard to accuse you of being "afraid".

I agree that playing amateur psychologist online should be done sparingly. I don't agree with the second part of your post. If someone came on here and said that, I would say, "for what strange reason are you afraid you're going to sticking your fingers in an electrical socket? How does that supposed threat even get to the level in your head where you feel compelled to share the precautions you're taking against it?"

Where I'm trying to go with is, if I see a reasonably healthy looking, not-super-old person in a CVS with an N95 mask, I don't think, that guy is smarter and more conscientious than everyone else for continuing to take precautions against a disease he's almost certainly vaccinated for, and I should go get my shot so he doesn't have to do that anymore. I just think, he's scared, and he'll stop being scared when he wants to stop.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Avoid Florida:

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/d...145905680.html

Ah yes, one more reason to.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

I agree that playing amateur psychologist online should be done sparingly. I don't agree with the second part of your post. If someone came on here and said that, I would say, "for what strange reason are you afraid you're going to sticking your fingers in an electrical socket? How does that supposed threat even get to the level in your head where you feel compelled to share the precautions you're taking against it?"

Probably on a thread about electrical sockets?

When we were getting some electrical outlets replaced right around the time our first daughter was born, we got some that had a little shutter mechanism that required you to know what you were doing to put anything inside. If there were a 1000+ thread about electrical socket precautions, I might chime in and tell people about those.

https://www.esfi.org/resource/what-i...receptacle-538