And their reward for paying attention - mind you - was endless scorn, derision, and moral accusations.
So maybe a little more consideration this time is in order.
And basic human decency aside, this matters because PCR is not fit for the purpose of determining infectiousness and infectiousness is the *only* reasonable justification for quarantining people (and even that is debatable).
Ergo we should not quarantine people based on PCR.
This is also why we should not count everyone who dies within X days of a positive PCR as a "Covid death".
Viral fragments detected at high cycle thresholds hold no information value.
There are a lot of problems with claiming PCR is the "gold standard" and if more people had been paying attention - or at least not attacked those who were - maybe we'd be in a better place.
So let's try something different and actually attempt to learn from our mistakes.
"If you only had your MPH, you would know that failure is actually a sign of success."
"I know I just pissed my pants in front of you but saying so isn't fair because you're not accounting for all the times you weren't around and I didn't piss my pants."
"The appearance of failure is the most anyone can reasonably expect from me."
I’d bet there’s an honest mea culpa out there that sounds a lot like this:
“In March 2020, my life didn’t feel particularly meaningful & I wasn’t contributing much to the world.
Suddenly, I had a chance to feel like I could, w/o sacrificing anything I didn’t already want to…
“And for awhile I’ve suspected that the policies I was supporting didn’t quite make sense and were only superficially consistent with my values. But I resisted changing my mind because I really needed to believe I was one of the “good” ones — that I was doing the “right” thing…
“It’s very important to me to believe that I’m a good person and that those around me agree…
So now vaccinated people—many of whom proposed refusing unvaccinated people medical care on the grounds that they would unnecessarily overwhelm hospitals—are unnecessarily overwhelming hospitals…
And to be clear, I don’t actually begrudge them. People should be able to go to the ER when they believe they need to.
The problem is that they’ve been led to believe they need to — even when they have no symptoms or physical complaints…
For one thing, we should not be encouraging people to repeatedly test themselves at home for what they have been told is an indiscriminate deadly disease and them abandoning them to their own devices when they pop positive…
Yesterday, my 16y.o.’s exploration of our new neighborhood via skateboard ended with a high-speed, face-first collision with a telephone poll.
Do I regret letting her go?
Of course not. Exploring is healthy. Skateboarding is fun. I want her to live fully, free from…
… limitations imposed by my fears about what *might* happen - and that involves tolerating a certain amount of risk.
Could it have been worse? Sure— her head could’ve met the concrete instead of the more forgiving wood of the telephone pole. But it didn’t, in part b/c she…
…has been skating since she was 7 and has learned how to bail and how to fall. She wouldn’t know those things had I been too scared to let her try. She loves to skate, just like I loved gymnastics & my oldest loved swimming — both theoretically ‘risky’ but rewarding pursuits…
Think of all the beautiful moments of your life that happened in-person:
- meeting your very first best friend
- your first date w/ the love of your life
- impromptu travel that changed your worldview
- 2am conversations that made you feel so connected and understood…
🧵🪡
- a performance or presentation which was utterly terrifying but opened doors that were previously shut
- a crowded concert/rally/event where you shared in a moment so much greater than yourself
- witnessing your grand baby enter the world
- comforting your grandma as she left it
Now consider how many of those life-affirming moments/events/experiences people have foregone over the past two years.
And how many more people will forego if restrictions persist…