The massive scope of this problem is overwhelmingly depressing. How do you all cope? Looking for insight in how to balance personal duty in sharing life-saving information with the emotional burden that comes with it - not being believed, labeled as a conspiracy theorist, etc.

[-] dhmt | 7 points | Apr 26 2021 02:40:26

1) There is no point in saying something that can't be heard. So, if you are with the wrong person, not saying something is the right thing to do. If you can pave the way (how?) to a future conversation, do a tiny bit of that.

2) If you are able to say something, and the person can hear you, but dismisses it as a conspiracy theory, be kind, patient and gentle with them. You do not want any defensive wall to be built up between the two of you. They are dismissing what you say because you are an outlier. You may be the first person that they respect, who actually said something like this. The most important thing is to keep as much of their respect as you can by your behavior. It will be impossible to remove the "outlier" label, for now.

3) If they meet another person whom they respect, and that person says something similar, the "outlier" label may be gone from both of you. There are now two respected people who say the same thing. This makes a person go "hmmmh" and start to think.

4) If you say something, you might accidentally be the second outlier. You will see a surprised but somewhat accepting response. Tell them slightly more, but do not delve into territory that they cannot hear. Be kind, patient and non-judgemental in your speech. (Internally, you are judging like mad, but never let that show. Later, I will give you advice to remove the internal judge.)

5) Anytime you do something to move the needle in the right direction (even a tiny amount), it is a win for the world. Anytime you get angry, and move the needle in the wrong direction, it is a loss.

6) Your reputation, and the respect others have for your steady and kind and patient behavior, is your greatest asset. Never lose that.

7) For people who are unpersuadeable, or are actively fighting against your message, ridicule is the best weapon. I have a colleague named Zeke, who is like a camp commandant in his quest to get everyone to follow COVID rules to the letter. I call him "Zero Tolerance Zeke". His boss thought it was so funny, that he bought him a shirt that says "Zero Tolerance Zeke". Zeke wears it with pride. Everyone laughs behind his back. And some point, Zeke will detect the laughter, and it will deflate him completely.

More coming shortly . . .

[-] dhmt | 5 points | Apr 26 2021 03:29:20

How to pave the way for a future conversation:

Ask some questions. Penetrating questions like "Trump discussed HCQ - why did people immediately reject it? Just because Trump mentioned it is not a scientific reason to stop studies. After all, even a broken clock is right twice a day. It just doesn't seem like a 'follow the scientific method' response. Is that weird to you?"

Removing your internal judge:

Mass delusions happen about every century. The previous one was pro-euthanasia and it swept the whole science-minded world. Top scientists in USA held conferences every year on pro-euthanasia topics. Nazi Germany were just "following the science" with their program. The more science-minded you were, the more you were pro-euthanasia. Sound familiar? Watch the youtube channel "The Academy of Ideas" for more. Do not blame people who fall victim to mass delusion. It is akin to blaming the schizophrenic for their behaviour. Pity them and be patient and kind to them. As Christ said "They know not what they do." How many times have you hurt someone, and you did not even know it?

Continuing:

8) Do not be proud of yourself to seeing through the lies. You were just lucky to not catch the disease. Maybe you have past experiences which made you skeptical and therefore somewhat immune. It doesn't mean you are a better person - you were just lucky to become immunized early. I am married to a pro-lockdown person. I still love her, hard as it is sometimes. To stop loving her would be like stopping loving her because she got cancer. I don't want to be that person.

9) Many people choose not to think about the problem because of self-serving bias. Or, as I call it "the lucky experiment". If you are a scientist and you do an experiment, and it comes out exactly as you predicted it would, you pat yourself on the back and don't drill down. If the experiment fails, you investigate, to see what thing you did not understand. For a failed experiment, you learned something. For a lucky experiment, you learned nothing! An experiment that seemed to be a success, but isn't, is the worst thing that can happen. All the people who are now working happily from home are having a successful experiment. They have zero reason to drill down to see if something went wrong. They don't see any problem for themselves, so they don't see it for anyone else.

10) Level up your conversational game. I am an introvert, and have been for half a century. I have forced myself to become an extrovert. I will now start up a friendly conversation with a cashier, someone waiting in line, anyone. If I can hint that I believe we are making a massive mistake, I will. I keep it a light, friendly banter. This event has been a life-changing event for my personality. Would I rather it had not happened? Yes, but it did, so I am making lemonade. I will turn this adversity into personal growth.

11) Level up you persuasion game. Powerpoint, data at your fingertips, whatever works.

12) Find hidden hints to suggest to people around you that you are anti-this-insanity. When you meet someone, reach out a hand to shake hands. If they are taken aback, apologize and say "Oops - force of habit". If they do shake hands, they are a compatriot. Encourage them, show they they are not alone.

13) Level up your understanding of how the human brain works. Read "The Righteous Mind" by Haidt. Read "Thinking Fast and slow" by kahnemann. Read "The Mind is flat" by Nick Chater. The human brain is an absolute irrational mess. I'm surprised we can think ourselves out of a wet paper bag.

14) And to cheer yourself up (I am probably kidding), read "The Fourth Turning" by Strauss. What is happening now happens in a regular 80-100 year cycle. It is not a happy book, but if you gain some understanding, maybe you can navigate better. We will get through this - the book outlines how we always came through better on the other side. The book says that the people who survive this become the "Hero" generation. It won't be me, because I am old. But you could be a hero after this.

[-] elmatador43 | 2 points | Apr 26 2021 03:17:56

We are now entering the cult zone. Tribalism has infected science. This is like me, an atheist, trying to argue with a Christian. No amount of evidence will convince the believing Christian that God does not exists.

[-] bitregister | 3 points | Apr 26 2021 05:35:51

That kind of explains why given the scientific evidence of ivermectin including its mode of action, there are tons of people in biological sciences they flat out say it does nothing and masks and vaccines are the only things that work.

HCQ is the same, large recent study out of Iran says prophylactic it has helped, one out of Singapore today says the same.

Science really is 💀

[-] runderwo | 1 points | Apr 26 2021 05:59:34

Other people's choices are not your responsibility. Find inner peace and then do your duty to truth in a way that's sustainable for you given your own circumstances. Very few of us are in a position to influence the public the way Drs. Kory, Marik, Lawrie and McCullough have, but all of us have extensive networks of professional and personal friends and family. The harshest response that's generally going to happen is that you get a generic fact check thrown back at you, and the easy response to those is that science has revealed more since the date of the fact check, which it invariably has since the story on early antiviral treatment and ivermectin in particular is evolving by the day.