Plague Journal (36): random thoughts

It's commonplace for people who want to see the economy re-start quickly, or who think the lockdown has been an over-reaction from the start, to refer to the current situation as a form of hysteria. "End the hysteria," they say. It seems to be the word of choice, though no one bothers to define it, or to reveal just how many people would have to die from the virus before the lockdown became, in their opinion, rational and not hysterical.

Hysteria in these instances is an example of loaded language. Such words are intended to provoke a preferred reaction by way not so much of their denotative meaning but of their emotional associations. If it's hysteria, it's bad, right? Loaded-language, also known as high-inference language (as I just learned from Wikipedia) is a staple of political communication generally. But social media like Facebook and Twitter turn loaded-language into a kind of verbal virus that spreads like, well, COVID-19!

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In my own state of Maine, which has not been particularly hard-hit by the virus, the number of active cases seems to be in a slow decline. I'm extremely thankful, in this case, for our "abundance of caution" (AKA "hysteria").

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I went to the grocery store yesterday and noticed the one-way signage in each aisle. Having thought out the fastest way around the store to get the items on my list, I found myself going against the flow and then noticed the arrows on the floor.

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Meanwhile, we're having a beautiful Spring. A little cool, but frequently sunny. Is the air really cleaner now that traffic is reduced, or am I just imaging that? 

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Some people who want to see the economy re-open have begun to question the idea that the virus is spread by asymptomatic people (people who have the virus but are showing no symptoms). The evidence for such a thing is pretty weighty, but for these people this is not a matter of evidence. This is a matter of undermining the credibility of any source that might prompt conclusions that run counter to one's own preferences. You want to open the economy, so you must undermine the notion that the virus is spread asymptotically. You don't do that by presenting any evidence whatsoever, but just by assuming the evidence is part of a vast cover-up. It's the media, the deep-state, the scientific establishment all working together to promote a lie, apparently. This assertion is all you need in order dismiss the actual evidence.

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And for your musical selection this morning, how about a little Malaguena?