Earlier this week, a judge overturned the transportation mask mandate, which I covered here. I will also be covering the situation in China in its own post. No one asked this time around, but a friend recommends this P100 mask if you’re looking to go big rather than go home.
I think the Paxlovid conundrum is consistent with the theory of people being rather irrational when it comes to dealing with other people, but rather more sensible and virtuous when taking action for themselves. Lots of people seem inclined to panic about other people (either their behavior or risks) but believe they themselves are not susceptible to the same shortcomings, and likewise many people are willing to personally tough things out they wouldn't demand other people deal with. So they think COVID is dangerous, but to other people, not themselves, and we need to do all kinds of stuff to protect all those vulnerable people who are not themselves. As Caplan points out, most people don't vote their self interest, but group interest in a way that might be negative to themselves.
RE: Trust in institutions: Just because we (might) have the best institutions in human history doesn't mean we should use them for more. (Using institutions for more wasn't explicitly stated, but seemed to be implied.) Our national institutions are far more active and powerful than they were in the past, and it is hard to believe that the growth in power has been tracking the growth in competency in an optimal fashion. Putting ever better institutions towards ever more tasks they are inherently terrible at leads to worse outcomes. My riding lawn mower is fantastic compared to the push model I grew up with, but using it for personal grooming and commuting would still be a terrible idea.
RE: Math: It doesn't seem out of the question that all but one math text book has a lot of political crap in it. A little surprising, but all of education has gotten steeped in this nonsense, and book publishers know what their customers in the school districts want to see. It has been a long time since text books focused on what the subject was instead of advocating for social change.
Has anyone seen any analysis about what is in the Math textbooks that Florida objects to? I mean specific passages or quotes from the books, not a general assertion that a particular book teaches CRT. I've seen several articles mocking Florida for this, but they haven't actually described the supposedly objectionable material.
That is strange with Paxlovid. Hopefully it's at least getting some good use for serious covid cases that result in hospitalization even if the average person on the street who gets a non-life threatening case and never discusses it with their doctor doesn't bother.
That "perceived age of COVID deaths" chart is from a 2020 study. Is there a more recent study asking that question? People could presently be wrong in that direction and it wouldn't surprise me, but 2020 is pretty stale in pandemic terms.
Re: paxlovid. Here in Canada they ration it which is their favorite thing to do with health care. In most places, you need to get a positive PCR test and get the results within 5 days of your symptoms starting. Then you have to be a senior citizen or be immune compromised and get your family doctor to prescribe it. God help you figure that all out of you're really sick.
I think the Paxlovid conundrum is consistent with the theory of people being rather irrational when it comes to dealing with other people, but rather more sensible and virtuous when taking action for themselves. Lots of people seem inclined to panic about other people (either their behavior or risks) but believe they themselves are not susceptible to the same shortcomings, and likewise many people are willing to personally tough things out they wouldn't demand other people deal with. So they think COVID is dangerous, but to other people, not themselves, and we need to do all kinds of stuff to protect all those vulnerable people who are not themselves. As Caplan points out, most people don't vote their self interest, but group interest in a way that might be negative to themselves.
RE: Trust in institutions: Just because we (might) have the best institutions in human history doesn't mean we should use them for more. (Using institutions for more wasn't explicitly stated, but seemed to be implied.) Our national institutions are far more active and powerful than they were in the past, and it is hard to believe that the growth in power has been tracking the growth in competency in an optimal fashion. Putting ever better institutions towards ever more tasks they are inherently terrible at leads to worse outcomes. My riding lawn mower is fantastic compared to the push model I grew up with, but using it for personal grooming and commuting would still be a terrible idea.
RE: Math: It doesn't seem out of the question that all but one math text book has a lot of political crap in it. A little surprising, but all of education has gotten steeped in this nonsense, and book publishers know what their customers in the school districts want to see. It has been a long time since text books focused on what the subject was instead of advocating for social change.
Has anyone seen any analysis about what is in the Math textbooks that Florida objects to? I mean specific passages or quotes from the books, not a general assertion that a particular book teaches CRT. I've seen several articles mocking Florida for this, but they haven't actually described the supposedly objectionable material.
That is strange with Paxlovid. Hopefully it's at least getting some good use for serious covid cases that result in hospitalization even if the average person on the street who gets a non-life threatening case and never discusses it with their doctor doesn't bother.
That "perceived age of COVID deaths" chart is from a 2020 study. Is there a more recent study asking that question? People could presently be wrong in that direction and it wouldn't surprise me, but 2020 is pretty stale in pandemic terms.
Re: paxlovid. Here in Canada they ration it which is their favorite thing to do with health care. In most places, you need to get a positive PCR test and get the results within 5 days of your symptoms starting. Then you have to be a senior citizen or be immune compromised and get your family doctor to prescribe it. God help you figure that all out of you're really sick.