Herd Stupidity
After six weeks, the country has had enough of this silly quarantine stuff. Everyone is ready to get out and do something, who wants to stay home now that spring has arrived? The only problem is that health officials and scientists are saying that we have not spent enough time staying away from each other and in almost all cases throughout the states, the number of infections has not declined enough to declare victory and open everything back up. But that doesn’t matter, we all know better then those stupid scientists.
If you doubt me, just look at the incredibly ridiculous situation in hoarding toilet paper. I would guess that panic buying is an attempt to feel something of a little control in an otherwise uncontrollable situation. Preparing for a crisis is a common reaction and once someone starts doing it the rest of us naturally follow suit and if it is something like buying enough toilet paper to last 10 months, then why not? And those photos of empty store shelves just push us into buying more things that we strictly don’t need. Got to follow that herd, we don’t want to be left behind.
The news is that older people are the ones getting sick, younger people are not in any danger, so why stay home? However, I looked up the statistics for our state, (something I did all the time working at the newspaper and preparing graphics to illustrate stories). Age 1 to 24, 16% of cases, age 25 to 44, 40% of cases, age 45 to 64, 32% of cases, age 65 and up, 12% of cases. So why are younger people acting like this is not a problem for them? Because the rest of young people are saying so, follow that herd. National statistics are a little different, which, of course, confuses the situation further.
The problem is that not enough people think about what they are doing. The rules don’t apply to me, and I am not causing any problems with my actions, except that once someone starts doing anything different, other people will follow. Just watch a flock of sheep eating in a pasture, the moment one sheep finds a tasty spot, the rest will trample that spot into the ground. Also, we are being told that everything is okay and to get back to work and shop and eat out. The trick is to see why we are being told that by those people, are they concerned for our safety? Or do they just want to see their profits increase once again? Perhaps they need to buy a second vacation home so they can be safe from the rest of us diseased sheep.
(We have surrendered the ability to think for ourselves, we rely on authorities to tell us what to do, even if it is not in our best interests. And that fashionable person on the internet with a million followers who certainly knows best.)
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