Read on Twitter
1) Let’s talk about Thanksgiving, risk, and life – as I’m losing patience with public discourse in all three. In the last 24 hours, two separate annual Thanksgiving get-togethers on different sides of my family have been cancelled. Poof – just like that.
2) These events are normally loads of fun, with good food, football, laughter, hugs, and just generally a day to celebrate the true meaning of Thanksgiving – to be grateful for all we have. To be grateful for family. For connection.
3) Something about seeing someone’s smile or an arm around your back provides something no pharmaceutical company can replicate. This is the beauty of companionship.
4) Now, for every 100 people reading this, 17 of you will die of heart disease. 14 will die from cancer. 4 of you will die from causes that could’ve been prevented, like smoking. One of you will die in a car crash.
5) These are simply a few of the literal thousands of death risks we all face, and what’s critical to note is that many of us do nothing to mitigate their risk. Part of this is not knowing how to reduce the risk, but a lot is simply due to a concept called habituation.
6) Risk habituation occurs when our brain reduces its heightened alert response to previous but not actualized dangers. Why? Because it wastes energy. The risk itself, however, hasn’t changed – we just stop caring about it.
7) This is partly why we don’t think twice getting in a car, why we don’t have national protests to ban smoking, why we allow things like stairs, motorcycles, pools, and knives to exist.
8) I say partly because part comes from disregarding their real risks, but also partly because they provide benefits that exceed their risks (except smoking). Driving causes fatalities and injuries, but it also allows us to transport ourselves and supplies much more efficiently.
9) This leads me to the final point in this thread, which is that this double-sided ledger aspect of risk, with the negatives on one side and the societal benefits on the other, has been largely ignored when it comes to Covid.
10) The other side of all these Covid restrictions meant to reduce its risk is everything that makes life worth living. Family moments shared at less than 6 feet. Hugs. A dinner with friends. Kids getting an education. A crowded concert or sporting event.
11) Having a paycheck and being able to support your family. Investing your life savings to pursue your entrepreneurial passions. Life is so much more than having a pulse, more than being biologically alive.
12) As social creatures, much of our existence is lived through contact with others. This misguided quest to eliminate all that we hold dear is an absurd result of irrational monomania – and it needs to stop.
