yes they do help some but they're not the end all be all of protection which was my point. Wearing a mask or not wearing a mask has become a much bigger deal than it should be. People are protesting over a mask and people are social shaming over a mask, it's not that important. Maintaining distance and washing your hands is much much more important than a mask.

I think a 'defense in depth' strategy is what masks are part of, and since wearing them is fine for 99% of healthy adults... why not?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_in_depth_(computing)

They're a bit uncomfortable, but so are ventilators...

Unless you believe we should wait for a vaccine, we don't need "the end all be all of protection", we only need adequate protocols to stop the spread of the virus from overwhelming healthcare systems. If we can find low impact ways (washing hands, wearing masks) that are effective enough to allow us to curtail physical distancing, that is hugely advantageous.