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I don't know about that. I received some negative comments recently for asking for evidence that wearing a mask, while outdoors, while socially distanced was ever effective.

People still have their egos and identities attached to this, seeing disagreement as a personal or political attack.


Well, it wasn't.

It's going to take awhile for people to go through all the stages of grief about how ineffective and intrusive many of the state interventions during this pandemic really were.

Judging by the number of young, healthy, vaccinated people I still see outdoors in masks, it's still denial for a lot of them.


What's the downside for those people who choose to wear a mask outdoors?

Perhaps they just came from somewhere indoors and want to have an extra barrier to protect them from unconsciously touching their face.

The reason doesn't really matter.


  Born in a diamond mine

  It's all around you, but you can't touch it

  Sayin', "God, make me famous"

  "If you can't, just make it painless"


I know the phrase gets overused but that would be a prime example of virtue signaling.


I had people on here saying some pretty nasty things to me for suggesting that while social distancing is good, having a mask on when outside and more than 6 ft apart is unnecessary.

I wonder if they realize how they're proving all the "virtue signaling" critics right.


I don't think virtue signalling explains the phenomenon fully. There seems to be another large group: people who are just over-cautious and not willing to take any amount of risk.

I have several friends/family members who struggle with anxiety and COVID has been overwhelming for them. One of them (fully vaccinated) said they know the chance of infection after vaccination is less than 0.1%, but it's not a risk they're willing to take. I know their viewpoint isn't rational, but I empathize with it much more than the virtue signalers.


Or they just look at the risk-to-effort ratio. We're talking about wearing a mask here not some tough commitment. I'd wear a mask for 0.1%. I also look both ways before crossing a one way street. I'm not going to force someone else to do it, but I'll take 0.1% for free.


Maybe you don’t see the social and communication value of seeing someone’s face, I do.

Maybe you don’t live somewhere where the temperature is 30 degree Celsius plus often, at which point wearing a mask is a very different UX to colder weather.


My summer was 40C. It's ok if you find it uncomfortable. Not everyone does.

From communication point of view, I do care and want to normalise wearing masks whenever you want. I'm totally using one when I need to go shopping and not feeling great.


Masks are not created equally. proper N95s are an order of magnitude more effective than cloth at protecting yourself.

Putting on a cloth mask outdoors is like wearing a helmet while driving on the highway.


What percent has society gotten worse from the lost trust due to less communication information from masks?

What percent have mental health issues increased due to less oxytocin from less hugs?

What percent has society gotten worse from people being suspicious of others that perhaps they are infected?

That 0.1% you speak of might have much bigger indirect costs, that you aren’t considering, but others might.


Part of the question is just how effective are masks? Is wearing a mask while vaccinated better than not wearing one? As for me, being hard of hearing, I hope people will stop wearing masks sooner than later


This is also assuming masks actually prevent spread - data on that isn't clear.


To me, putting on a mask is like putting on your seat belt. Maybe it protects you from a low probability event, maybe not, but it's close to zero effort, zero cost, so why not?


I agree, but as an indirect consequence it’s allowed highly paranoid people to be able to blame and outrage vent at others. Which isn’t exactly healthy.


If you see it up close and personal the devastation that COVID can bring , you would probably also be over-cautions too.


It's also just a damn mask. Not like they are waking you up at night or kicking you in the shin.


It's not virtue signaling, just poor risk assessment.


Why 'poor'? Have you factored in everything going on that person's life? Do you know if they have a friend or relative who might be at higher risk? What if they have a young kid and they don't want to risk it? What if they just consider wearing a mask a mild inconvenience when compared to - say - the risk of being intubated?

I honestly can't understand this whole obsession with shaming people for wearing masks. Who gives two shits if someone else is wearing a mask? How does it affect you?


Why would I mind if people wore masks outside? They don't bother anyone.


Then you shouldn't use qualifiers such as 'poor' to describe their risk assessment. Don't give the idiots pushing anti-masking rhetoric in this forum more wind than they deserve by propagating their memes.


Nah, trust me, by treating it as a religious war you are a far bigger problem. Their identities as anti maskers are built in large part in opposition to people like you.

It's a little like how Republicans have a tendency to define themselves as in opposition to Democrats.


It makes it harder for me to communicate. If you want to wear a mask, that is fine, it is your perogative. But people should be aware of the risks, and I don't think most people do. Many people wear masks because they were told too, despite the fact that the people who said that know that masks aren't necessarily effective.


Fear is incredibly profitable.


The Google play store managers and/or their bosses probably have their hands deep in it. It'd be interesting to see what a real investigation into this produces.


Many people see BLM as a conduit for the redistribution of power and wealth towards minorities and thus communist.


Ignorant and ill-informed people, yes.


An unfortunately popular sentiment nonetheless.


Are you hinting that wanting to reduce inequalities makes you a communist ?



> A large portion of our society

As evidenced by three anecdotes?


Do you really think that is a rare sentiment?


Americans calling people they don't like "communists" got to be the funniest thing ever....

"Fox news", "Rudy Giuliani", I mean... if you can't see the obvious political propaganda here I don't think we can find a middle ground. The same people who say "antifa" is an organised terrorism group but won't say anything about the capitol insurrection...


Regulatory capture prevents competition. Money influencing politics prevents regulation.


What regulation prohibits you from making a phone OS, even for an existing phone? Or your own android build? Or your own store on Android?


Up to a certain point. No amount of money would prevent congress from toughening bank regulations after the financial crisis. I also doubt that the republicans are going to give big tech companies a pass when they come back to power.


As stated elsewhere, by asking the question you’re assuming the point is to have a rational argument on consistent beliefs - but it isn’t. It’s to gaslight and misdirect for political gain.


Consistency is an overrated value...


Bingo! Censoring a site because of censorship (even if misguided in terms) is like a kid saying you can’t play kickball because you didn’t invite him to play soccer (futbol)


Well, I'd argue that censoring a site because of censorship is like a society saying you must be do community service (or even be locked into a jail/prison)--as in, lose some of your rights--because you violated someone else's rights.


There is a difference between having unpopular opinions and advocating for violently overthrowing our government.


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