Thread by @ooana

I do not find it reasonable to have the assumption that so many different fields we count on to assure discourse occurs regarding sensible public and social health policy both short term and long; from mental health, government, housing, even the arts utterly failed to see this.

https://twitter.com/ooana/status/1384177299268898820

I believe that what we have experienced has been a failure much more disturbing. It is also one which, I think, is inexcusable.

Let’s look at this from the CDC in 2019 emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/ppt/CERC_…

I think this speaks for itself.

Amplified by biases and claims of settled science, expert opinions , “virus/ panic porn” propagated by the MSM and enforced by social media; are responsible for creating an entrenched set of beliefs which ultimately pinned citizen against citizen (often for political gain.)

These beliefs were then further reinforced by people who we entrust with guiding us during a health crises. Claims of common sense or good citizenship were no more than superstition which lead to further division, chipping away at civil liberties and individuality, and autonomy.

This is incredibly disturbing when on a massive scale a population becomes unable to and is not encouraged to asses risk rationality or accurately. Spurred by the leveraging shame, fear, partisanship, dehumanization, shunning, scorn and even hate last year rose superstition.

article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.ijpb… “We try to incorporate good habits as our behavior. Bad habits take control of our behavior [9]. Habit is generally associated to cognitive control and goals [11]. Aristotle distinguished three kinds of acquired habits, originally termed

dianoethical (theoretical) habit, ethical (behavioral) habit and technical habits [12]. Theoretical habits causes retention of learning but are different from memory. Other two types of habits improve behavior and cognitive abilities. Behavioral habits include decision making

[13], moral judgments [14] and the interplay between cognition and emotion [15]. Technical habits include learned skills of doing, or are directed to an external goal. Such habits are rationally controlled and goal-directed, but are not just habits-as-routines.

According to Averroes, technical habit (procedural learning) is “whereby we act when we will” [16]. Acquisition of cognitive-driven routines to achieve goal results in flexible performance. In behavioral habits, learning via non-cognitive repetition decreases

the final performance as found in addictions, compulsions, slips-of-actions [17] and unconscious biases. Cognitively controlled habits achieve rationally proposed goals. Superstition is a culturally transmitted behavioural habit, an unconscious biasness which is acquired

via non-cognitive repetition. Human neuroscience assumes the reward circuit [10] as an analog to that of non-human animals. We decide to perform the act that carries the highest subjective value depending on personal preferences. The brain area involved in cognitive control,

the prefrontal cortex finds its greatest evolution in our species [18].
2.2. Belief and Superstition

Superstition is an unscientific belief. Our strong ability for causal thinking [19] ranges between understanding physical forces to read other’s purpose.

The origin of our strong causal beliefs can be traced in animals with developed brains [20]. The world is not understandable to animals in terms of causes, or intentions [20]. The world can be explained considering the relationships between inanimate objects and tool making [20].

Perception of intentions of other individuals, results in a better competitive strategy and to manage the environment. Beliefs “are attempts to explain to ourselves theoretically the world we live in” [21]. Our social intelligence was fundamental to origin of religious beliefs.

The creation of beliefs is a necessary by-product of strong causal thinking. Economic- and geographical- conditions help us to form beliefs. Alteration of such factors changes individual’s beliefs.

However, superstitions, or superstitious beliefs are not founded on scientific judgments.”

If our habits established over the year was only superficially impactful on how we interact with one another as human beings, design our dwellings and hold expectations upon one another as members of various communities, and in some level of homogeneousness, this would be minor.

Our reaction to the number 13 is a good example. We skip the floor in buildings and avoid major travel or scheduling life events that fall on that day. But this was so much more than that. It’s spanned the globe. It’s created opportunity for people to feel justified in raging

at one another or even more troubling, instances of legal ramifications; even violently.

When we look at the psychological toll this habit has taken, when we consider how human evolution and its influence from facial cues, hormonal and emotional responses as well as behavioral change that happens when one puts on or takes off any mask....none of this is surprising.

What IS surprising is how long and how far and how damaging we’ve let this superstition become. The most dangerous and insidious part has been the absolutely irrational disallowing of any critical analysis of the effectiveness or risk/reward assessment we could, encouraged and

made for the most vulnerable and emotionally strained amongst us; children, the elderly, the isolated, the sensitive, those with various social communication disorders, the disabled, the deaf and so on and so on the actual cost to this “no cost” so called “preventative measure”

or “considerate” habit; a talisman, is staggering. We refused or were refused voices at the alter of what is ultimately no better than zealotry, peer pressure, control and at best “good manners.”

I hope we never regress so easily into such a communal delusion/pressure/mob again.

Now, we’ve some work to do and it’s gonna take time. Habits ARE hard to break. Especially bad ones.