Covidiots and Shaming
I'm not a psychologist. But, as any normal human being, I've done my fair share of annoying others of my species. And, if I've learned anything during my time upon this spinning rock with multitudes of other flesh sacks I supposedly share a great deal of my genetic code with, it is this; they don't often respond well to hostility.
Another anecdotal piece of knowledge I've picked up is; we are easily swept away in the moment and are pretty darn good at disregarding any useful piece of information the moment it stops being spammed in front of our faces.
And, it is against the backdrop of that information that I bring the following public service announcement: the spike in COVID-19 cases today is NOT caused by those acting like idiots yesterday. It is caused by those acting like idiots 4-14 days ago. And you were probably one of them.
This virus has a crazy long lag time. And, as of the time of writing this, the tail end of that lag period was still at a time here in Ontario where our Premiere was still advising us not to cancel our March break plans. There was no lock down. There was barely even a suggestion for the sick to self isolate.
I know the past 10 or so days feel like an eternity. But, they weren't. And many of the cases still being announced at this point are from a period of time where a great many of us were still going about our normal lives.
True, there may be a spike in cases in the days and weeks to come because of how some are acting today or recently. But, the steady growth we've seen is actually no indicator of how effective or ineffective our attempts have been because we're still seeing the impacts of our actions from BEFORE. And many of the cases triggered by actions since haven't had time to fully manifest.
And yes, the actions of some, mainly the younger generation are making things worse.
But, there are two things to consider. Your actions toward them isn't helping. Hostility doesn't tend to make people back down. It tends to make them lash out. And the other thing is that, if you ask any psychologist or evolutionary biologist... this is how teenagers and young adults of our species act.
I'm not trying to justify their actions. I am trying to let you know however that their reaction is quite natural. Especially in the face of how society is treating them.
Put another way, your attempts at shaming may work on some people. But, this same technique is almost destined to backfire when used against the primary offenders. And thus, if you're actively engaged in this sort of activity. You own a share of the blame. If you don't know the best course of action, then avoiding making it worse is a better strategy than pouring more fuel on the fire.
Another anecdotal piece of knowledge I've picked up is; we are easily swept away in the moment and are pretty darn good at disregarding any useful piece of information the moment it stops being spammed in front of our faces.
And, it is against the backdrop of that information that I bring the following public service announcement: the spike in COVID-19 cases today is NOT caused by those acting like idiots yesterday. It is caused by those acting like idiots 4-14 days ago. And you were probably one of them.
This virus has a crazy long lag time. And, as of the time of writing this, the tail end of that lag period was still at a time here in Ontario where our Premiere was still advising us not to cancel our March break plans. There was no lock down. There was barely even a suggestion for the sick to self isolate.
I know the past 10 or so days feel like an eternity. But, they weren't. And many of the cases still being announced at this point are from a period of time where a great many of us were still going about our normal lives.
True, there may be a spike in cases in the days and weeks to come because of how some are acting today or recently. But, the steady growth we've seen is actually no indicator of how effective or ineffective our attempts have been because we're still seeing the impacts of our actions from BEFORE. And many of the cases triggered by actions since haven't had time to fully manifest.
And yes, the actions of some, mainly the younger generation are making things worse.
But, there are two things to consider. Your actions toward them isn't helping. Hostility doesn't tend to make people back down. It tends to make them lash out. And the other thing is that, if you ask any psychologist or evolutionary biologist... this is how teenagers and young adults of our species act.
I'm not trying to justify their actions. I am trying to let you know however that their reaction is quite natural. Especially in the face of how society is treating them.
Put another way, your attempts at shaming may work on some people. But, this same technique is almost destined to backfire when used against the primary offenders. And thus, if you're actively engaged in this sort of activity. You own a share of the blame. If you don't know the best course of action, then avoiding making it worse is a better strategy than pouring more fuel on the fire.
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