Better Safe Than Sorry Part II

People are often lousy at assessing risks

Have you noticed how many people get visibly angry and defensive when they’re asked to wear a mask? In most cases, false excuses or conspiracy theories are dragged out. I’ve tried to make sense of the conspiracy theories. If it were a hoax, damn, it’s a good one. All those crisis actors buried in coffins worldwide have really committed to the bit! 

There’s no sense to be made of it. If it’s all “a liberal plot to bring down the economy,” how’s that work? Nobody has their own economy that’s exempt from the effects of the crisis. We all want to go back to the movies and eat overpriced popcorn, dude. I’ve already given that nonsense too much space here, so…

Numbers versus Celebrity Death 

In the past few days, three well-loved celebrities have died. An actress succumbed to breast cancer. A young actress who performed on Glee drowned. A former co-host of Mythbusters passed away unexpectedly. You’ve seen the news stories. You can probably name at least one of these high-profile people. We say any death is a loss, and it is. My purpose is not to cast aspersions on grieving fans, friends, or the families of dead performers.

The point is that humans are lousy at conceiving of large numbers like 138,000 dead in the United States (and climbing). 

But each of those who’ve fallen to COVID-19 have names. They loved their children, fought with their parents, adored sandwiches, and watched baseball. They had dreams. They will be missed by their loved ones. They’re all real, but to too many people, “I don’t know them so it doesn’t count.”

2,977 people died on 9/11 and people lost their minds. Dennis Miller’s sense and sense of humor vanished. Wars began. Many more innocents lost their lives as a result of that one day. We saw the tragedy on our TV screens on repeat. We saw the reactions of the witnesses on the ground. We heard the last phone calls from hostages on the planes about to crash. That made the attack real and the horror of it touched everyone.

Up the numbers some more. Medical personnel see the horror, but due to strict regulations about privacy, you aren’t seeing what it’s like to go on a ventilator day after day. Amp up the human suffering behind closed door and…numbness.

We’re numb. It’s understandable. Big numbers are hard. We can’t picture infinity, either.