COVID Developments and News

[weederr33]

I have to thank Covid for helping me kick all but 1 form of social media. Today, I made a post on Facebook about not wearing a mask since I didn't get the Stage 5 memo. I'm attacked by both sides for not wearing a mask regardless of vaccine or getting the vaccine. Instead of responding, I felt it was time to ditch Facebook. After 15 years I finally did it.

[Atmo]

The CDC has a comprehensive COVID Data Tracker site that hopefully isn't warped by the Confirmation Bias we see all day from so-called transparent sources.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra...tatracker-home

The Harvard Business Review describes the pitfalls of trusting data without verification.

https://hbr.org/2020/05/which-covid-...-can-you-trust

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by weederr33

I have to thank Covid for helping me kick all but 1 form of social media. Today, I made a post on Facebook about not wearing a mask since I didn't get the Stage 5 memo. I'm attacked by both sides for not wearing a mask regardless of vaccine or getting the vaccine. Instead of responding, I felt it was time to ditch Facebook. After 15 years I finally did it.

Glad you got out before being censored and banned by Facebook.

[weederr33]

Originally Posted by Atmo

Glad you got out before being censored and banned by Facebook.

Considering many of my hobbies seem to be getting banned in California and the internet, I don't talk about them there. Nor do I share my opinions on subjects very often. So I'm not worried about censorship.

[Capt Spaulding]

Originally Posted by Atmo

The CDC has a comprehensive COVID Data Tracker site that hopefully isn't warped by the Confirmation Bias we see all day from so-called transparent sources.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra...tatracker-home

The Harvard Business Review describes the pitfalls of trusting data without verification.

https://hbr.org/2020/05/which-covid-...-can-you-trust

The CDC site is useful and, at this time, seems to closely mirror what the NYT is reporting.

The HBR story is well done. One their points that many everywhere seem to miss is the danger of massively disaggregating population data without taking context into account. One of the more contentious discussions on the "dead thread" revolved around just such a question. Often these are not what they seem. If we post a chart or a graph drawn from a reasonably well done study without thoroughly reading and digesting the authors' analysis we can be embarrassingly wrong.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by weederr33

I have to thank Covid for helping me kick all but 1 form of social media. Today, I made a post on Facebook about not wearing a mask since I didn't get the Stage 5 memo. I'm attacked by both sides for not wearing a mask regardless of vaccine or getting the vaccine. Instead of responding, I felt it was time to ditch Facebook. After 15 years I finally did it.

But, how are you gonna know what the "other half" thinks? -

[Capt Spaulding]

Originally Posted by humfrz

But, how are you gonna know what the "other half" thinks? -

I have an inkling that all five of the halves are pretty well represented here.

Now as to what the better half thinks, that sometimes remains a mystery no matter what.

[weederr33]

Originally Posted by humfrz

But, how are you gonna know what the "other half" thinks? -

I'm honestly happy to be off of it. Ironically enough, it was a handful of snarky comments from left-leaning friends who kept chanting about wearing a mask despite being vaccinated. And how "I should have been the whole time." But those same friends have a strong tendency to post constantly about all of the woke atrocities in our society and blah blah.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by weederr33

Considering many of my hobbies seem to be getting banned in California and the internet, I don't talk about them there. Nor do I share my opinions on subjects very often. So I'm not worried about censorship.

What on earth are you into -

[weederr33]

Originally Posted by humfrz

What on earth are you into -

Guns, Cars, Gaming Computers, hunting, shooting competitions. You know, things that California hates and that the internet insists on saying are causing all the problems in this world. Well the gaming computers is the latest with Cali's push for efficiency when in sleep mode. lol.

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by Capt Spaulding

One of the more contentious discussions on the "dead thread" revolved around just such a question. Often these are not what they seem. If we post a chart or a graph drawn from a reasonably well done study without thoroughly reading and digesting the authors' analysis we can be embarrassingly wrong.

Even after reading the conclusions of valid source data, it's often not enough to overcome Confirmation Bias.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by weederr33

I'm honestly happy to be off of it. Ironically enough, it was a handful of snarky comments from left-leaning friends who kept chanting about wearing a mask despite being vaccinated. And how "I should have been the whole time." But those same friends have a strong tendency to post constantly about all of the woke atrocities in our society and blah blah.

The only people that consistently comment on FB are those that are far left or right. I only use it for memes and to coordinate group activities.

[Capt Spaulding]

Originally Posted by Atmo

Even after reading the conclusions of valid source data, it's often not enough to overcome Confirmation Bias.

That can be true. But, one thing we can do to minimize the likelihood of that is to make sure we understand everything the authors' are saying, the data they use to support it, and how their analytic framework influences their decisions. Unfortunately, each of us needs to do a critical peer review of pretty much everything we read.

edit; and a healthy dose of mindfulness won't hurt either.

[Azzudien]

Thankfully a few companies and colleges are stepping up and making vaccines mandatory for employment or attendance. Hopefully more will follow suit quickly.

Covid could have gone the way of polio, chicken pox, whooping cough and so many other diseases that have faded out of memory if people just got the shot and stopped being ignorant fools.