Are masks a part of health theater

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Are they?

Lot of practices were promoted to fight terrorism as a way to promote awareness of terrorism. Many of them were ineffective in every way except in promoting awareness, and these kinds of practices were named as a part of security theater.

Are we doing a health theater now with some of our practices?

Masks might help with raising awareness. Given how ineffective they are, will people soon grow tired of using them, and skeptical of their value? Is the guideline for using masks a part of the health theater?

 

[Merced]

I'm asking this is the least accusatory way possible: are you asking this in good faith?

 

[Dreamer]

For what they’ve become and seem to represent outside of their usefulness, yes I would say so. Why must I wear a mask if I’m walking outside in a parking lot with no one around me? Why must I wear one when walking alone on a park trail?

Do I have a problem wearing one indoors where people are generally more in close proximity, not at all. They serve a purpose, but it’s gotten so ridiculous in many cases where Karens will use them as a power play over noncompliance. The reverse is also equally ridiculous to be clear. Not wearing one inside a grocery store as some middle finger to “the man” is just as much theatrical drama.

 

[Jaguar]

Given how effective they are

Fixed.

 

[Red Herring]

They are effective in that they help reduce infections by holding back a fair share of droplets and aerosols. That much has been proven.

As for when and where you wear them, obviously they also have the added benefit of serving as a visual reminder that there is a pandemic going on and people should observe safety measures. Indoors and in open places where people stand very closely together like bus stops or farmers markets, etc they make a lot of sense. Alone in a forest, not so much.

 

[Jaguar]

They are effective in that they help reduce infections by holding back a fair share of droplets and aerosols. That much has been proven.

Some people can't understand that. I'm starting to wonder if some care more about how they look while wearing a mask, than actually getting the job done.

 

[ceecee]

For what they’ve become and seem to represent outside of their usefulness, yes I would say so. Why must I wear a mask if I’m walking outside in a parking lot with no one around me? Why must I wear one when walking alone on a park trail?

Do I have a problem wearing one indoors where people are generally more in close proximity, not at all. They serve a purpose, but it’s gotten so ridiculous in many cases where Karens will use them as a power play over noncompliance. The reverse is also equally ridiculous to be clear. Not wearing one inside a grocery store as some middle finger to “the man” is just as much theatrical drama.

I never wear a mask in a parking lot or on a walking trail. Never heard anyone tell me to put on a mask then either. Why would you need one on when alone?

One group of people is wearing masks. One group is resorting to violence and death threats against wearing a mask. Which one of these look like theatrics and drama?

 

[Dreamer]

I never wear a mask in a parking lot or on a walking trail. Never heard anyone tell me to put on a mask then either. Why would you need one on when alone?

One group of people is wearing masks. One group is resorting to violence and death threats against wearing a mask. Which one of these look like theatrics and drama?

Some jurisdictions spread throughout California require them any time you are out in public regardless of crowd density or lack thereof. I don’t live in such place thank goodness.

As far as theatrics, it isn’t so clear cut. I’ve seen videos of random people causing unnecessary commotion over having to wear a mask, that’s silly, but it also isn’t too farfetched to see how much the media has played a role in setting the stage, pointing to non mask wearers as “grandma killers”. Persist with the narrative long enough and the potential for paranoia emerges with people starting to turn against one another.

The movie, “The Mist” comes to mind where the crazed religious woman stirs everyone up within the baracaded grocery store. People’s fear of the unknown overtakes reason and the mob is born. Am I suggesting we’re at this point? No, but there’s something to take away from the threat, fear can instill.

 

[Red Memories]

I never wear a mask in a parking lot or on a walking trail. Never heard anyone tell me to put on a mask then either. Why would you need one on when alone? One group of people is wearing masks. One group is resorting to violence and death threats against wearing a mask. Which one of these look like theatrics and drama?

There are asinine people who will pull over and tell you to put a mask on while walking in your neighborhood. Here anyway. But I never said people here aren't rude either.
The biggest problem is many youngsters in america here believe the mask FULLY protects not just others but THEM. I am regularly reminding people close to me that you have to keep social distancing best you can and washing your hands. The mask doesn't do much if you are standing right on top of me. Or you're hugging someone. They see the mask as their way to do all the other stuff they weren't supposed to do. It annoys me greatly.
Even the CDC says you need to follow distancing still. It helps keep droplets minimized but some will still escape through the cloth covering s and such around here.
Distancing is the truly foolproof way. Make sure you don't get on top of people. And give nasty glares to people who do it to you like I do. Lol.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

I wear a mask to public transport & to work just to be supportive of authorities. They say it's responsible to show example in something that's marketed as responsible, so .. uh.

I'm actually just cosplaying a responsible person. Funny play tho, I enjoy it.

WHAT, DO YOU MEAN THAT THE MASKS WORK

.. my enjoyment is gone

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

They're like seatbelts and bicycle helmets. Not a guarantee against harm, but still reducing one's chances of death in potentially deadly situations. Please tell me you're not that motherfucker who was standing behind me at the drive-in concession stand line without a mask (even though the theatre owners required them), refusing to observe the 6 ft distancing and who seemed to enjoy creeping closer to me when he could see me staring daggers through him. It's not enough for you that the theatre was open and serving food during a pandemic. You just had to push it. You were a young, healthy looking chap too, so I doubt any excuse you might have that you had health reasons for not wearing one. Your date wasn't wearing one either (she wasn't wearing much beyond that trailerpark hooker getup, to be honest). If you were so concerned about your health, you wouldn't have been stuffing your face with sodas and cheeseburgers like I saw you doing.

 

[Lark]

Are they?

Lot of practices were promoted to fight terrorism as a way to promote awareness of terrorism. Many of them were ineffective in every way except in promoting awareness, and these kinds of practices were named as a part of security theater.

Are we doing a health theater now with some of our practices?

Masks might help with raising awareness. Given how ineffective they are, will people soon grow tired of using them, and skeptical of their value? Is the guideline for using masks a part of the health theater?

I'm sure that's the reason that Surgeons wear them.

Surgeons are all about the theatre.

 

[Lark]

They're like seatbelts and bicycle helmets.

Those things are campaigned against by the same people who defend big tobacco too.

I've got to say at this point I think its all about the body count, money and profits are a thing for sure, although I think its about more ways that stupid people can end themselves the better.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Those things are campaigned against by the same people who defend big tobacco too.

I've got to say at this point I think its all about the body count, money and profits are a thing for sure, although I think its about more ways that stupid people can end themselves the better.

They base that argument on personal freedom, reasoning that people have the right to put themselves in danger. But they never really consider the costs and effects on others, like potential for increased healthcare costs because of larger number of severe injuries and deaths that could have been avoided.

And the mask thing protects other people, so yes I do demand other people wear them.

I've stopped using my filter and started loudly commenting when I see people without masks or wearing them improperly. The other day at the store I saw a guy with the mask only covering his chin and I just said "yeah, they don't really do much when you wear them like that" as I walked by. Tired of these idiots who think their freedom is at stake. Go spend a day in Saudi Arabia or North Korea and get back to me on your freedoms. Go visit certain south east Asian nations and openly criticize their governments in public, then get back to me on your freedoms.

Fucking children, they have no idea how free they are. dumb fucks.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I'm sure that's the reason that Surgeons wear them.

Surgeons are all about the theatre.

frustratingly, a lot of the same people who laugh and question masks, once put in a situation where they felt threatened, would likely demand others take every precaution, they'd be suing the hospital if the surgeon didn't wear a mask, et al. Fucking children.

 

[Jaguar]

.

 

[Burning Paradigm]

Masks might help with raising awareness. Given how ineffective they are, will people soon grow tired of using them, and skeptical of their value? Is the guideline for using masks a part of the health theater?

Are they, though? Even Fox News is now reporting on their relative efficiency in terms of lowering hospitalizations. Mask mandates lead to lower rates of coronavirus hospitalizations, Vanderbilt researchers find | Fox News The estimates I've seen range between 50-70% reduction in coronavirus infection and transmission by wearing masks, but the evidence and data strongly point in that direction. Just like vaccines, they might not be as effective on the population level if few people do it, but become effective if more people do adopt it.

 

[anticlimatic]

I have grown addicted to the feelings of safety and anonymity behind a mask, not on an intellectual or conscious level, but by mere habit. I've worn them into public buildings for so long that not wearing one triggers an irrational anxiety response. I'm not particularly frightened of COVID, and in general consider viruses to be beyond human control, so it doesn't bother me if other people don't want to wear masks. You can't control what people do, you can only judge them for it, and deal (or not deal) with them accordingly. As soon as you start wanting to control people, or thinking you can, you've embarked down a dark and dangerous road. It isn't freedom to not wear masks that's important to me, it's acknowledging the inherit freedom of other conscious beings in the world for the sake of my own mental health.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I have grown addicted to the feelings of safety and anonymity behind a mask, not on an intellectual or conscious level, but by mere habit. I've worn them into public buildings for so long that not wearing one triggers an irrational anxiety response. I'm not particularly frightened of COVID, and in general consider viruses to be beyond human control,

Does this mean you don't believe in vaccines? Because vaccines are indeed ways of controlling viruses, if they exist for a particular virus.

 

[anticlimatic]

Does this mean you don't believe in vaccines? Because vaccines are indeed ways of controlling viruses, if they exist for a particular virus.

Vaccines are great, but we are still outmatched. If we had control of viruses, they would be eradicated.