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A comment on The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have our expectations?. Parent comment

Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by cmiles74 on Friday July 03, 2020 @06:27PM (#23728175)
Where has science been since quarantine started? Everything is heavily politicized, there's no shortage of bizarro faux-factual evidence for all kinds of nonsense. Someone sent me an article today about the _dangers_ of wearing a mask.

I agree that the rush to penalize people is unfortunate. On the other hand, I'm not sure what we can do (short of a national response) that would be more effective. Making these kinds of policy decisions strikes me as pretty out there for your town council person or even a state level legislator.

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Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by timr on Friday July 03, 2020 @06:34PM (#23728217)
Agreed. Pointing out that there's not much data supporting masks has become so political that you get downvoted just for saying it. I've been dismayed by the number of scientists I know who seem to have given up their skepticism on the topic.

If we can't have a rational scientific discussion about facts, we're back to the dark ages.

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Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by exmadscientist on Friday July 03, 2020 @07:11PM (#23728433)
> If we can't have a rational scientific discussion about facts, we're back to the dark ages.

We're rapidly heading that way. Masks are a political discussion now, not a scientific one. Most other aspects of COVID are the same way. You cannot criticize anything non-politically these days. Even saying "this data is entirely inconclusive" or "the first-order effects of doing this are positive but there are negative second-order effects" is a problem.

I don't have a solution, but I feel your pain.

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