The point of wearing a mask in public is not to protect yourself, but to protect other people from you. We know that many people who fall ill won’t show symptoms during the time when they are most infectious. Some people may even remain asymptomatic through the whole course of the disease, never knowing they had it.
The safest thing to do is assume you’re sick all the time, and wear the mask.
This he suggests needs to become a cultural norm.
The goal is not only to keep people safe, but to make it rare and weird to see anyone outside with a bare face.
Ceglowski lists some of the benefits of wearing a mask:
- Keeps you from touching your nose and mouth
- Is a useful mental reminder
- Somewhat uncomfortable, therefore a useful constraint to spending too long in public
- Gives cover to sick people around you
- Protects those who are being persecuted for doing so
He also notes that anyone wearing an N95 mask should reconsider:
If you have any N95 masks, you need to donate them to a hospital. These masks are lifesaving protective equipment for doctors and medical staff. They are in incredibly short supply. Wearing them in daily life is like wearing a fireman’s coat instead of suntan lotion—it doesn’t do much for you, and wastes an invaluable resource that could save the life of a first responder.
Ceglowski ends with a range of further resources and readings. Ian O’Byrne has also bookmarked a number of posts on the topic too.
In his own piece, Jason Kottke looks at the research and wonders why we are still debating the topic.
There’s no credible evidence that wearing a mask is harmful, so at worse it’s harmless. If there’s like a 1-in-10 chance that masks are somewhat helpful — and the growing amount of research suggests that both 1-in-10 and “somewhat helpful” are both understatements — isn’t it worth the tiny bit of effort to wear one and help keep our neighbors safe from potential fucking death?
Coming from an Australian perspective, Norman Swan has raised concern about the wearing of masks on the Coronacast podcast.
Although it must be said that he has since changed has stance to advocate for mask wearing.
As a note, although masks may stop some particles from getting through, there is a danger of thinking that because you are wear a mask that you are somehow safe. The New York Times has put together visual unpacking how masks actually work.
The ABC elaborates on this further explaining why masks are not mandated by the government in Australia.
Not much different from the advice we’ve been given from the start: wash your hands, don’t touch your face and stay home if you’re sick.
In the end, the most important thing we can focus on is social distancing.
So here we are again. One week I am catching up with Richard Olsen and co for drinks in the city and then the next week we are in lock-down again. I remember reading about the hammer and the dance early on in the pandemic, where we lock-down to get on top of things and then dance with the ever changing rules and restrictions. The problem is, I do not think we are very good at dancing. Coming home from my night out, face-masks on public transport were near on non-existent. On top of that, the bar thanked me for clicking on the QR code at the door. Maybe he was just being courteous, but it did not feel like it.
In lock-down, I took our daughters for a ride. At the local reserve, there was a food truck set up with two guys selling take-away. Sadly though, there were no face-masks. I contacted the company privately raising my concern and got the following response:
I am not sure he quite understands how masks work. That I wear a mask for him and he and his colleague wear a mask for me. To be fair, my greater fear is not catching COVID from him, although it is a possibility, but rather that such small businesses will no longer exist if we do not all do our bit to get on top of things. Personally, I am able to work from home, so other than having to support our children with their learning, I am not impacted. Sadly, I am not sure everyone quite sees it that way.
On other matters, I have been listened to new albums by Olivia Rodrigo, Haerts and St. Vincent, but have found myself retreating to the more familiar with Estelle Caswell’s ode to gated reverb playlist. In addition to this, I have been tinkering with Google Sheets and XML, as well as started a few posts, but with jobs around the house and work at the moment, I seem to be failing with following through.
Here then are some of the posts that have had me thinking:
Education
The Trouble with Teaching: Is Teaching a Meaningful Job?
John Danaher dives into his frustrations with teaching in a university setting, providing a provocation to reflect upon in respect to all aspects of learning and teaching.
Knitting a Healthy Social Fabric
danah boyd explores role played by schools in building the social fabric and democracy of the future.
Is De-Implementation the Best Way to Build Back Better?
Peter DeWitt reflects on the need to de-implement and take things off the plate in order to build back better.
Mapping Assessment
Ron Ritchhart provides a model for mapping assessment based on two dimensions: integration and evaluation.
On Rereading
Victor Brombert reflects upon the different forms of rereading and the uncanny experience of coming upon lost notes in the margins.
Technology
The Global Smartphone
A team of anthropologists spent a year conducting an ethnographic study in nine different countries documenting the ways in which smartphones are used by older people. The team come to the conclusion that the smartphone has come to represent the place where we live.
Pedagogy, Presence and Placemaking: a learning-as-becoming model of education.
David White talks about the issue of simply moving face-to-face learning online and the need to foster presence to help make online spaces places that foster learning.
YouTube’s kids app has a rabbit hole problem
Rebecca Heilweil takes a look at the way in which YouTube Kids and the autoplay function acts as a gateway to questionable content.
Data isn’t oil, so what is it?
Matt Locke suggests that we need more effective metaphors to help people understand the place and purpose of data in our world today.
On the temptation to nuke everything and start over
Influenced on Kin Lane’s decision to leave the past behind, Doug Belshaw reflects on the temptation to start over.
General
The Case for Letting People Work From Home Forever
Jaclyn Greenberg makes the case for a permanent move to working from home, while Cal Newport pushes back instead arguing for near-home locations.
Welcome Back, Darling
Kath Sullivan and Nathan Morris explore what it means to have water back in the Darling River. In contrast with the past few years of dry river beds, towns like Brewarrina, Wilcannia and Menindee have become energised once again.
In the Air Tonight’s influence, intrigue, and THAT drum break that endures 40 years on
Matt Neal reflects on the forty years since Phil Collins’ released In the Air Tonight and its ongoing legacy, especially in regards to gated reverb.
Tao of WAO
Laura Hilliger and Doug Belshaw have started a new podcast associated with their participation in We Are Open Co-op.
The Weaponization of Care
Autumm Caines discusses the way in which survelliance technology is packaged with notions of care as a way of normalising various practices.
Read Write Respond #065
So that was May for me, how about you? As always, hope you are safe and well.
Cover Image via JustLego101
Also on:
Katherine Wu reports on the changing nature of mask wearing in America. Even though the virus continues to spread and evolve, many have discarded mask wearing as a bad memory, instead seeking out a sense of normalcy.
I am not sure that Australia is much better in regards to the stigma associated with masks. Personally, I wear a mask on public transport and simply try to limit being in questionable spaces. However, where I feel strange is at work. I can accept that there are limitations to mask wearing, but if this is the case I wonder if more will be done over time to improve ventilation?