I'm sure by now you've all seen this chart showing how one man infected almost 100 people:


Most articles seem to have some variation on this title: Nearly 100 people in Ohio got sick after one man infected with the coronavirus attended a church service

I get it, the message is that one person can set of a chain of events that infects an incredible number. And that's an important message.

But if we're going to start blaming people for making other people sick, let's put that blame on the church leaders who didn't move their services online. Let's put that blame on school district leaders who don't make masks required and implement unsafe practices in the return to classes (while threatening students with expulsion for not attending). Let's put that blame on state and federal leaders who don't enact mandatory mask ordinances. And let's put that blame right where it goes, on Trump and his WH for all of their failures with this disease at every step of the way.

I think that graphic puts the facts out there. Smart people will understand what it says. The rest will do what they want regardless. It's a case of "it's your fault" vs "here are the results of taking action X".

The blame game is rarely effective in changing anyone's mind.

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The blame game is rarely effective in changing anyone's mind.

Yeah, but it feels good ...

WTG, I agree with you. And I don't have a problem with the graphic, putting it first in the post may have given the wrong impression. My complaint is with the way those headlines are written. I think it will encourage people to continue putting the blame on individuals, when 1) most of it lies with leaders, and 2) everyone should be wearing masks now as a matter of course.

You commented about smart people, but I don't think that's a helpful way to think about what's happening in this country, and I'm not ready to write off everyone who's resisting masking as dumb, for example. The public messaging around the virus, around masking and so on, is a huge mess and has been from the beginning. A lot of smart people have been swayed by that. How do we get them to change their behavior? I posted somewhere else (maybe facebook actually) that what is most needed in the US right now is to change hearts and minds (for example, with regard to masking and also with regard to personal responsibility for public health). That is a massive task, and every message matters.

And to be clear, I'm not saying "playing the blame game" is the way to do that, in that regard, I was just venting mostly :P

I guess I don't read the headline as blaming someone. I think it presents factual information.

Using "smart" wasn't the best word choice.

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A lot of smart people have been swayed by that. How do we get them to change their behavior?

Show them stuff like this:



and this:

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Originally posted by Piano*Dad:

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The blame game is rarely effective in changing anyone's mind.

Yeah, but it feels good ...

True dat.

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Show them stuff like this

But it has to come from someone they will listen to. It seems like you're saying "well, just show everyone this" and it's self-evident. Well, I think it's self-evident, but for far too many people, that's not how it works.

So the message needs to come from religious leaders, school leaders, athletes and their coaches.... And Trump. Imagine if he started really encouraging everyone to wear masks. Imagine if he start showing up everywhere in one.

If there's any hope of changing people's minds, there needs to be critical mass of messaging, with everyone saying the same thing in the same way. We don't have that, and you can see the results when you see and hear about the anti-maskers and the "this is just like the flu" comments which persist to this day.

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But it has to come from someone they will listen to. It seems like you're saying "well, just show everyone this" and it's self-evident. Well, I think it's self-evident, but for far too many people, that's not how it works.

So the message needs to come from religious leaders, school leaders, athletes and their coaches.... And Trump. Imagine if he started really encouraging everyone to wear masks. Imagine if he start showing up everywhere in one.

Certainly a worthy goal. How do you achieve it?

People make decisions based on a whole host of factors. For you and me, high on the list are our own health and safety. For others, the factors may be financial or political or religious.

Do you think the individuals, the influencers you've named and whose behavior you want to see change haven't got the information they need to come to the same conclusion you have? I don't. I just think they have their reasons for acting as they do. And if the science of the virus isn't changing their minds, then it will take something else to change it. Like them or their loved ones getting the virus.

Scary, but that's human nature. People will continue behaviors until they are hurt by them. Think smoking, the tobacco industry, and all the politicians who sustained the whole mess for decades....

The charts and graphs are great, but I still like this simple photo to illustrate how it spreads:

But I thought James Comey and Hillary Clinton brought it back from Wuhan and hit it in a suitcase in the basement of that pizza place where they ran the pedophile ring?

How can they tell which person started it? Maybe one of the others gave it to him.

And if he was the first in that group, so what? Unless he just hopped off a plane from China, he got it from someone in his community.

What is the point of this?

I believe the point is to realize it is easy to spread this while one is asymptomatic, or pre-symptomatic. That's why social distancing, personal hygiene and universal masking is important to prevent these types of spreading events.

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Originally posted by rontuner:
I believe the point is to realize it is easy to spread this while one is asymptomatic, or pre-symptomatic. That's why social distancing, personal hygiene and universal masking is important to prevent these types of spreading events.

Yes.

And maybe the events themselves should be reconsidered, even with precautions.

Not to be the harbinger of doom, but a German study warned that, even among those who recovered, roughly three-quarters had muscle damage to their hearts or inflammation to the heart months after recovery.

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Originally posted by wtg:
I guess I don't read the headline as blaming someone. I think it presents factual information.

Using "smart" wasn't the best word choice.

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A lot of smart people have been swayed by that. How do we get them to change their behavior?

Show them stuff like this:



and this:

This graphic is from Ohio's Department of Health. I see it as factual information, too. It's the kind of PSA you'd expect given the source.

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Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

...

And let's put that blame right where it goes, on Trump and his WH for all of their failures with this disease at every step of the way.

I strongly agree with you that it was/is the federal government's role and responsibility.