I found this article to be quite good, cheered me up immensely, and did a charming job of setting some ground rules. It is called “A Pandemic of Ignorance” Written by Robert E. Wright at the American Institute for Economic Research.
I realize we aren’t actually using “rules” anymore, but just the same I feel somewhat comforted by the fact that they did once exist, they once provided some framework, applied some basic common sense and order to our often chaotic world. Please allow me a moment of silence to grieve the loss of “rules.”
Rule number one is, “#1: Doing nothing is (often) better than doing something.” Amen. You can apply this rule to many areas of life. We don’t like it much, since we much prefer to be doers who make stuff happen, but seriously, we often fail to understand the wisdom behind, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. “First do no harm” is a really valid moral principle, especially in medicine.
I need to confess I am actually deeply disappointed in a number of biologists whom I hold near and dear. This is after all, a biology blog, although I certainly do divert all over the place and into politics, culture and faith. Biology has actually gotten somewhat painful on account of the fact that I am feeling so betrayed, so let down, and also a wee bit scared by what I have been seeing out in the big world.
When politicians told us we needed to rub a filthy rag full of germs directly into our mucus membranes 24/7 in order to “protect” ourselves, I thought, it’s all good, science will prevail, my biologists will speak up at any moment. This is not really rocket science, but more like middle school biology, basic germ theory, such a well established truth that I actually completed a silly little course on the dangers of cross contamination from masking and gloves, right before the pandemic hit.
It has never not been known that inhaling our own carbon dioxide while rubbing our faces with a warm, moist rag is not a healthy activity. In case anyone has forgotten, most bugs just love a warm, moist environment full of stagnant air. It’s like, please strap this petri dish across your face and suck in air twice as hard. Alas, numerous biologists whom I once respected threw out all the old rules and did exactly that.
Some were bold and truthful, some spoke up, none that I know of personally and the were all promptly censored, but there really is a vast array of biologists, doctors, scientists who all did exactly as I did and went, Say wut??? While that is somewhat reassuring, at least I know I am not totally insane, the damage is already done.
Which brings me to our word of the day, “homeostasis,” which in this context means, “the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes.” Trust in the process. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Let nature run it’s course. Let the cards fall where they may. We are wonderfully and fearfully made. In faith we would say, “let go and let God.” Be assured that there are invisible forces at work that you can’t see, and by design, they will always come together and work for your good. That’s not only faith, it’s science.
Mel Wild said:
“Doing nothing is (often) better than doing something.””
Exactly. I tell my wife this all the time. She just says I’m procrastinating. Sheesh! 🙂
Seriously, the whole mask cult within the Covid cult has gotten very irritating. And the Imperial Wizard, Dr. Fauci, would love to see it go on forever.
Like it’s been said, the cure—medically, emotionally, culturally, and economically—has been worse than the virus itself.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Sad but true, Mel. The cure is going to turn out to be much worse than the disease.
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Nina said:
Thanks to the having to wear a mask after I had Covid the first two weeks of January, I have developed a bacterial infection in my lungs. Fun times.
No I wouldn’t wear a mask period but as I work in a medical establishment, it’s now policy to wear a mask when going across the hall from our office to the bathroom and anywhere else you might run into someone else.
Yes it is most definitely a pandemic of ignorance.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Oh uhg, I am so sorry. A lot of people really are having additional health problems because of masking mandates
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Matthew Winters said:
It’s nice to read some honesty and practical, scientific wisdom! I always know you’ll deliver.
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Tricia said:
The mask hysteria is probably one of the weirdest and surprising reactions to the pandemic. I still can’t explain it other than it’s some sort of mass psychosis.
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The Night Wind said:
I haven’t any scientific proof of this, but I seriously believe it’s related to the proliferation of narcotics in our culture. Remember in the 80s/90s when were having a number of ‘crack babies’? Those people have grown up and reproduced. The last CDC report I read showed 1/4 of women between 15-50 were on mind-altering antidepressants (i.e. amphetamines) and so were 1/5 of American men. Among American men there have been documented studies showing both IQ and Testosterone levels have declined. I can’t think of another explanation for that these phenomena than it’s been chemically induced.
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Tricia said:
That’s an interesting theory NW, probably a lot of truth to it.
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The Night Wind said:
I’ve often said that a major cultural defect in America today is ‘acting first and thinking later.’ This proclivity we have for getting whipped into hysteria and outrage—followed by demands that we do something/anything has led to gross injustices. It’s been responsible for considerable losses of our freedoms here and pointlessly destructive wars and foreign policy blunders.
The Ancient Greeks had a related proverb: ‘The wise speak because they have something to say; the fools speak because they have to say something.’ We’ve really lost that kind of discernment.
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seekingdivineperspective said:
I’m afraid that the “do something, anything!” phenomenon is behind the rush to get injected with this experimental “vaccine,” which kind of isn’t. After all, we want to keep from getting this disease that is 99.9% survivable…
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The V Pub said:
Science used to be the shield that some could hide behind. After all, no one wants to run the risk of being called a ‘denier’, right? Well, it seems that ‘science’ has been contorted to fit a political dogma. You can’t say that the Earth has been warming since before Younger Dryas, you can’t say that gender is not fluid, and you can’t say that face masks can be dangerous. I find it interesting that it’s the secular left now kneeling at an altar, but just a different god.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Good points, Rob.
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Kathryne said:
“It’s like, please strap this petri dish across your face and suck in the air twice as hard.” Nailed it!
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Kathryne said:
Just trying to figure out how the popcorn image relates to the topic?
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insanitybytes22 said:
Ha! I think it has something to do with being forced to just sit back and enjoy the show. We don’t have to of course, we can kick and scream and probably should sometimes, but the world is still going to do what it is going to do.
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Kathryne said:
OK. I might have used a mask or a petri dish to illustrate but it’s your space so design as you see fit. Write on!
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