The case against masks at school • Hacker News Board

Re: The case against masks at school

#111

Post by spookthesunset » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:48 PM UTC

throwaway22032 wrote: post #102

criddell wrote: post #15

My kids attend a university in Canada and live in residence on campus. They have had incredibly strict rules around masking and gatherings. It's clear that they are only considering one variable - number of infections - and it seems like they aren't considering any other factors. For example, in the dorm there is a common area with a piano. Because of COVID, playing that piano is banned. Even if there was a reasonabl…

This is the fundamental issue with coronavirus mitigation measures. There are circumstances in which "drop everything" makes sense - if coronavirus were ten times more fatal, we'd do it naturally. But in general, looking at life from a perspective of "what is the minimum possible quality of life we can have" is depressing and fundamentally incompatible with the human spirit. I tend to think that people who operate in…

For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. Nothing else matters. Just a myopic fixation on the spread of one highly infectious respiratory virus.

Even a year after vaccines we are still being asked to treat Covid like it is the #1 priority in our lives. More important than our well being, our mental health, our communities, our children, or anything else.

Heaven help you if your value system is incompatible with such an idea. Be prepared to be yelled at, called names, lose your career, and become marginalized.

Re: The case against masks at school

#112

Post by spookthesunset » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:49 PM UTC

a9h74j wrote: post #65

criddell wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a mostly positive opinion on the CDC and I wonder if some of the problems are a result of political influence? The WHO and their fight against the idea that COVID is airborne is even more confusing to me. It felt like they didn't even want the idea discussed.

"When science mixes with politics, what you mostly get is politics."

When policies masquerade as science, is nothing but politics.

Re: The case against masks at school

#113

Post by rhino369 » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:49 PM UTC

tsycho wrote: post #49

sul_tasto wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

perhaps an unmask would be helpful: https://www.getunmask.com/

From their website (About/Disclaimer): _The Unmask is not designed or intended to prevent, mitigate, treat, diagnose or cure any disease or health condition, including COVID-19/Coronavirus. Unmasks are intended for general public use only. They are non-sterile and are not intended for use in any clinical or surgical setting or where exposure to bodily or hazardous fluids may be expected, where the risk of exposure th…

Read between the lines. They are marketing for people who don't want to wear a mask but have to. These "masks" are designed to do the bare minimum to get you onto an airplane. It's not supposed to protect you.

Re: The case against masks at school

#114

Post by criddell » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:50 PM UTC

throwaway22032 wrote: post #102

criddell wrote: post #15

My kids attend a university in Canada and live in residence on campus. They have had incredibly strict rules around masking and gatherings. It's clear that they are only considering one variable - number of infections - and it seems like they aren't considering any other factors. For example, in the dorm there is a common area with a piano. Because of COVID, playing that piano is banned. Even if there was a reasonabl…

This is the fundamental issue with coronavirus mitigation measures. There are circumstances in which "drop everything" makes sense - if coronavirus were ten times more fatal, we'd do it naturally. But in general, looking at life from a perspective of "what is the minimum possible quality of life we can have" is depressing and fundamentally incompatible with the human spirit. I tend to think that people who operate in…

I have a feeling that if the same people were tasked with setting road speed limits, they would set it to 20 mph and argue that 30,000 lives will be saved each year. They aren't wrong, but it's misjudging the risk most of us are willing to accept for the benefits of being able to move around quickly.

Re: The case against masks at school

#115

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

spookthesunset wrote: post #111

throwaway22032 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the fundamental issue with coronavirus mitigation measures. There are circumstances in which "drop everything" makes sense - if coronavirus were ten times more fatal, we'd do it naturally. But in general, looking at life from a perspective of "what is the minimum possible quality of life we can have" is depressing and fundamentally incompatible with the human spirit. I tend to think that people who operate in…

For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. Nothing else matters. Just a myopic fixation on the spread of one highly infectious respiratory virus. Even a year after vaccines we are still being asked to treat Covid like it is the #1 priority in our lives. More important than our well being, our mental health, our communities, our children, or a…

[deleted]

Re: The case against masks at school

#116

Post by spookthesunset » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

nkrisc wrote: post #55

throwaway22032 wrote: post #21

The case against masks is quite trivial and generalizable across most industries. Today, a teacher now has two realistic options: a) self-isolate indefinitely, either teaching remotely or quitting their job b) contract coronavirus at some point Given that, masks are an irrelevance. A teacher who is clinically vulnerable and unwilling to roll the dice is left only with the option to quit their job, regardless of wheth…

The point of masking and being cautious at this point is not to avoid ever catching COVID, because it seems certain now that everyone will catch it at some point. The point is to be the last person to catch it when hospitals are at normal capacity and everything else is back to normal, just in case you happen to have a very poor reaction to it. It also just sounds kind of miserable. I also avoid catching the flu as m…

In this post-vaccine world we now live in, is slowing the spread of Covid really the absolute most important thing we all need to focus on?

Shouldn’t we move on at this point? What is the end goal here? Why are fully vaccinated adults continuing to freak out about Covid?

Re: The case against masks at school

#117

Post by rhino369 » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #89

Minor49er wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their mention of air travel also makes me think of how the government brought in TSA checkpoints, but a company called Clear allows people to mostly bypass it for a fee. It would be nice if we didn't have these restrictions plus people finding ways to profit off of getting around them. Just get rid of both.

> the government brought in TSA checkpoints, The government brought in the TSA to take over checkpoints and relieve the air transport industry for liability for failures of and abuses at the checkpoints as part of the post-9/11 air transport industry bailout; the checkpoints had existed for a long time.

Yep, pre-911 you still had to go through a metal detector and get your stuff x-rayed. Taking off your shoes and no fluids are the only new restrictions really.

Re: The case against masks at school

#118

Post by throwaway22032 » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #114

throwaway22032 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the fundamental issue with coronavirus mitigation measures. There are circumstances in which "drop everything" makes sense - if coronavirus were ten times more fatal, we'd do it naturally. But in general, looking at life from a perspective of "what is the minimum possible quality of life we can have" is depressing and fundamentally incompatible with the human spirit. I tend to think that people who operate in…

I have a feeling that if the same people were tasked with setting road speed limits, they would set it to 20 mph and argue that 30,000 lives will be saved each year. They aren't wrong, but it's misjudging the risk most of us are willing to accept for the benefits of being able to move around quickly.

Ah, that one's actually happening.

There are actual attempts to ban cars in my neighbourhood now because some people judge that the marginal effects of air pollution outweigh the enormous benefit of me being able to visit my friends and family in literally a quarter of the time.

These people don't think about benefit. It's only cost. I've come to think of them as simply being depressed, in the chemical imbalance sense.

Re: The case against masks at school

#119

Post by rkk3 » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:52 PM UTC

have a vaccinated 5 year-old and really frustrated that her & other kids in an overwhelmingly vaccinated & non-english language immigrant community, have to wear masks all day at school. The impact to speech, language & general development just seems so overwhelming compared against the potential benefit of children wearing a mask.

Re: The case against masks at school

#120

Post by spookthesunset » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:53 PM UTC

Avshalom wrote: post #25

Whether this article means to it makes the case for requiring vaccination instead, which, yeah we should do that.

If vaccination was the answer, why is my triple vaccinated self still required to wear a mask at a grocery store? Worse, why do I need to show proof of vaccine to enter a restaurant yet still be required to wear a mask anyway?