Re: Bike Helmets and Masks

Troy MI

Description

"Dear Mr. Physicist: Since we are living in fantasy land, this post comes from the Dean Of Students and Provost of the University of Michigan School of Law. If I go for a bike ride and refuse to wear a helmet, it basically effects no one's well being but my own. If I refuse to wear a face mask, I potentially endanger not only myself, but also the welfare of America's most vulnerable, as evidenced by more than half a million deaths. Get it? Signed: Dr. John Marcello, PhD, LLD blah, blah, blah. " I'm the OP - I agree with this 100%. However, my point was that partisan politics prevent fruitful scientific discussion. I don't like that the divisiveness over bike helmets produced a lot of bunk science, and I think we see this in other areas where science and politics meet. I do kinda regret using masks as my point of comparison, and have since removed it from my post. I don't know, should I really try to please everyone here? I don't think I spread any misinformation, at least to those that understood what I was getting at. For the record, I think that even a cotton mask (unless it has a very sparse weave, like a cheap bandana might) will do a good job in preventing people from spreading Covid, in combination with social distancing. And for clarification, I don't really want to use my education as credentials for these discussions, just thinking back to classical mechanics and all...the idea that a helmet doesn't really protect your head seems totally absurd to me - like a weird conclusion that politically motivated people came up with by taking the data out of context. You can come to just about any conclusion you want with low sample sizes, missing context, and cherry picking, but that doesn't mean it's correct. Mostly, I'm just disappointed that people aren't objective.