D&D and the rising pandemic

[Morrus]

Folks, Zsong has left us (again, apparently; gonna need to clean up a few alts). Please do not reply to those comments.

 

[billd91]

It’s just the flu. A bad flu year. That’s it.

FYI for everyone: A bad flu year is 60,000 deaths. An average one is 35,000. 360,000 deaths is not a bad flu year by a long shot.

 

[cmad1977]

It’s just the flu. A bad flu year. That’s it.

You can always tell who the incel is.

 

[Mallus]

FYI for everyone: A bad flu year is 60,000 deaths. An average one is 35,000. 360,000 deaths is not a bad flu year by a long shot.

But 6x = x (where x <> 0) in the math of the brave and free!

 

[CleverNickName]

I read about science/fact deniers all the time, and they never really seem real to me. Flat-earthers, Antivaxers, Illuminati watchers, they all just sound so laughable, like a comedy bit or a cartoon. "Surely nobody actually believes that rhetoric," I'll chuckle to myself. And then I meet one in real life and have to do a double-take.

 

[NotAYakk]

FYI for everyone: A bad flu year is 60,000 deaths. An average one is 35,000. 360,000 deaths is not a bad flu year by a long shot.

And we can actually detect and distinguish between influenza and covid-19.

So the thing is nobody is rational. "Rational" people are at best people who have as psrt of their self image that they are rational, so feel discomfort when confronted with rational arguments that disagree with their behaviours or beliefs.

But really, people are a near random collection of habits and beliefs. And irrational habits or beliefs? They don't really harm you that much. You don't end up dead very often from believing false things; so long as you mosey along and mostly do things that other people around you do (plus a bit of random crap), you'll do fine, ish.

Thing is, deciding what to do "rationally" is insanely hard. Nobody is actually smart enough to do it. And even people who think they are rational? They can be hacked with "rational" arguments that lead to false conclusions. Being "rational" can make you a mark, because you just exposed your OODA loop.

What more, as luck (of birth, skills, or habits) tends to matter much more than "rational" does, it doesn't even correlate with power.

The bigest sanction 90/100 people will get from being a flat earther is a social one. Hell, it would only be marginally harder to learn how to fly a plane as a true flat earther believer; just compartamentalize the job from your beliefs.

So you got this bundle of random behaviour, and people actively hacking you with belief systems that make you feel good and make you a mark for the next one.

 

[ccs]

I read about science/fact deniers all the time, and they never really seem real to me. Flat-earthers, Antivaxers, Illuminati watchers, they all just sound so laughable, like a comedy bit or a cartoon. "Surely nobody actually believes that rhetoric," I'll chuckle to myself. And then I meet one in real life and have to do a double-take.

At least with the Illuminate watcher types they MIGHT actually be seeing {something}. After all, there ARE people who're plotting things, acting suspicious, etc. Add in a dose of imagination &/or crazy on the viewers end &....

 

[Imaculata]

Probably worse; if you completely overwhelm the medical system, besides saveable COVID cases dying, you also lose people who you'd normally save at risk from other causes because they don't get treated as promptly or properly as they could be. That's bound to already happened to some degree, we just don't know how to attach proper numbers to it.

To give an example of this, the mother of a good friend of mine recently had to be rushed to hospital for an operation. Due to how much covid had overwhelmed the hospital, they had to set priorities and determine how urgent this operation was. Doctors determined that it was urgent enough to get her into surgery immediately, but many other patients have to wait. Covid has overwhelmed the hospitals so much, that people could (and will) simply die from having delays of their operation.

After the operation, there were complications. Although the operation itself was succesful, she experienced internal bleeding afterwards. A new operation had to be scheduled amidst this crisis. Normally they'd get you under the knife again asap, but that simply wasn't possible this time around. She had to wait a few days.

She's alright though. Everything went fine. But it is easy to see how simple delays like that can cost lives.

 

[Imaculata]

Do they need to come pile the bodies in front of your door before you believe it?

I tried to explain this to my covid-conspiracy crazy friend. I showed him pictures of the military convoys in Italy carrying all the bodies. But there is no reasoning with people consumed by this cult.

According to a Dutch nurse, and I quote:

'They are so far down the rabbit hole that they'll keep insisting that "it's just a flue" as they are on ventilators and breath their final breath. It is horrific.'

 

[Hussar]

Just how everyone runs and cowers from it. One out of every 7 people in the 19th century died of tuberculosis. And then there was measles, whooping cough, small pox, wars and more. I think we have raised a society of cowards that will be let authoritarians lock them up while their livelihoods are being destroyed and we are put into another Great Depression. That’s my opinion of these reactions to the pandemic.

Yup. Took centuries for it to kill that many people. In a single year, Covid-19 has killed 1% of the US population. One year. With the best modern medicine on the planet.

Say we step back and do nothing. So, in 10 years, Covid-19 will surpass the total deaths of Tuberculosis.

And this is a good thing? You figure losing 10% of your population in 10 years won't devastate your country?