--Why are some worried only about the long term effects of the vaccine (short term effects - we have some
idea- not so bad) but not as worried about the long term effects of Covid (short term risk is high, long term
risk is unknown)?--
i find much of the u.s. social and individual response to covid and related vaccines to be confusing.
it seems like the confusion is related to social conditions; like huge increases in psychological stress
since the 1980s (see cohen's longitudinal research, which indicated 30% increase in psychological stress
between ~1980 and 2010), increased distrust of communication, increased perception of inequity and
misrepresentation/deceit, etc.. these conditions, it seems, leads to irrational decisions, a sort of hysteria in
attempt to survive a crumbling social structure.
so, my best answer(guess) to your question is that individual/group concerns are greatly influenced by
confusing social conditions. and, certainly, risk avoidance/tolerance is at play, as well.
for me, one of the very important take-aways from kahnemann's work on risk is that folks behave in
subconscious ways, when making risk-related decisions. effectively, rational thinking is controlled by
subconscious processes at these times.
--Science is an iterative approximation.--
ok.
do you think it was 'good' for fauci to conflate science with politics, when persuading folks to
not use masks last year? |
