Re:Coronavirus: Elon Musk 'child immunity' tweet will stay o...
by jariel on Sunday March 22, 2020 @01:24PM
(#22656676)
That's an intelligent reading of the Tweet.
Most people, even if they are intelligent, are not acting with their full logical faculties. We are busy, distracted, not always thinking, give to much credit, tired, read it poorly, not bothering, and many of us aren't so bright.
Which is why words matter.
Communication is a skill.
Musk is actually a talented communicator but in a special way, not the kind we want during a crisis where information is important.
Saying 'children are immune' is irresponsible, he should apologize and update the Tweet. To not do so is to fall into Trumpish communicating, which is bad.
The error that Musk is making (and the one which BBC pointed out) was to downplay the fact that children can become seriously ill from this infection.
The fact that severe disease is much less prevalent in younger patients does not mean it is entirely absent.