Member-only story
Not Staying Home: I Feel Safe, Until I Don’t
I suppose that walking to church in 1285, the village resident had risks to consider when going outside versus staying home. After yesterday, I have empathy for the traveler of the Dark Ages. Today, during our lives in emergence, there are scientific calculations that many ignore, including the most fundamental questions about what is safe, and what is a risk worth taking.
In re-emergent Greater London, I feel reasonably safe with the magic mitigations of handwashing, distancing, and wearing masks if sensible (or required), until I don’t.
Here is what I mean; many of you will know these vignettes all too well. People walk by too near. They speak intently to their friends or phone while you breathe in their voices. Or, of course, they simply don’t wear masks on, e.g., the train, the tube, or on the bus.
Even in 1996, articles explained how the public takes on scientific information and how it converts to cooperative human behavior, or something less helpful. Theories of deterrence even allow for fines against unsafe conduct, such as failure to wear masks on trains. Why, then, did I experience the following yesterday?
