WEBVTT - Space Between: A STBYM Update Episode 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.360 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:14.840 Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.079 My name is Robert Lamb, and I'm Joe McCormick. And hey, 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:21.000 do we sound different today? I that we might because 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.040 we are both recording from home. It's social distancing time. 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:27.600 That's right. We should probably set the stage here. We 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:31.240 were always a little fast and loose with our descriptions 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:35.000 of our our previous recording scenario. Sometimes we more accurately 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.000 described it. Sometimes we presented a slightly sci fi vision 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.720 of where we might be. Uh. For my own part, 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:45.680 I am currently hunkered up in my closet, surrounded by 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.760 my clothes and my wife's clothes. I've got uh there's 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:53.120 a nice shelf of board games across from me. I 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:56.880 have a monstrous compendium over there as well, full of 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:00.400 A D and D monsters that I can see. And uh, 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.520 next to me for today's episode, I have a mascot. 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:08.240 I have my VHS copy of Jerry McGuire, which which 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.520 one day I hope to hand off to the Everything 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:13.920 Is Terrible crowd and let them take it to the 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:17.479 desert and build the pyramid. Uh. So it's a symbol 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.920 of hope. You know that that one day this video 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:22.240 will be a part of the pyramid, and one day 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:27.039 we'll have moved through and past our current circumstances and 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.360 Jerry will ascend to become part of the all Jerry. 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.040 How about you, Joe? Where are you located at the moment? 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.280 So I'm in my laundry room. Uh Rachel helped me 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.880 set it up. We've got towels and blankets draped everywhere. 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:44.120 I'm here in my sweatpants and my Electric Wizard T shirt. 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.360 I also inspired by you. I have a little talisman 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:51.440 uh to to help us through so in this time 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:56.040 of need for gods and idols, I have my action 0:01:56.200 --> 0:02:00.160 figure of Tom Atkins from Night of the Creeps. He's 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.640 got he's got a little uh he's got a shotgun, 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:04.920 and he's got his trench code, and he's got a 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.760 bottle of course light. And then I also have with 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.520 me a tiny replica I was telling you about this 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.880 earlier of a tiny replica that we got at the 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:18.560 National Museum of Iceland. That is a replica of a 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.000 little idol or or trinkett found to leave from like 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:26.200 the tenth century in Iceland. Uh. And it's a seated 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.600 figure with a with a conical hat holding a cross 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.359 shaped object in front of it, and they don't know 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.600 if this idol is supposed to be Jesus or Thor 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:38.840 and I like that ambiguity. And I really love the 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:41.480 the inclusion of the tom Atkins figure because tom Atkins 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.520 and tom Atkins character specifically a Knight of the the Creeps. 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.720 It's a it's kind of like top shelf roused ower, 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:52.080 you know, like the budget roused It's exactly it. Uh 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.600 So I just want to say real quick, our audio 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.320 quality is obviously going to be down from what it 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:01.680 usually is, but also we are waiting on some gear 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.400 to be delivered to our houses, so during this time 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:09.160 of social distancing, we can record hopefully something that sounds 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.079 a little bit better than we sound today. So if 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.520 if the quality is not to your liking, please do 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.960 stick with us for upcoming episodes in in in the 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.000 coming weeks because hopefully it will be better next time. Yeah. 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.560 The the technology is going to drastically improve over the 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.560 next few days. And also I think we're going to 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:32.160 get more used to recording remotely like this. Uh. Ultimately, 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.080 you the listeners, some of your favorite shows, even in 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.839 our network employ remote production like this and you might 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.000 not have even noticed it before. Um So I think 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:43.880 we'll get accustomed to it. We'll pick up some new 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:46.960 tips and tricks to make it work. And either way, 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:49.360 this is the this is the only path forward at 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:54.040 this point because we're uh, we're again, we're practicing social distancing. 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.480 We are not going back into the physical studio together 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.800 for the foreseeable future. Now, we know this is a 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.720 tough time, it's a challenging time. Our jobs provide us 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:08.160 with the privilege of continuing to do this from our homes, 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.000 and we really we don't take that for granted. We 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:15.080 know not everybody has that privilege. But we're gonna keep 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:18.520 recording the podcast because it fulfills us and we hope 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:20.800 that it can continue to be of use to you 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.479 as well as we all work through this together. Absolutely, 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:26.840 we we hope we can be there for you throughout 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.800 all this, and we appreciate you sticking with us as well. 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.480 This episode is going to be a little different from 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:34.040 what you probably have come to think of as a 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.960 usual stuff to blow your mind episode. We don't have 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:40.160 a concrete topic for this one. This is about catching 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.440 you guys. Up. It's about, you know, honestly serving as 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.360 a band aid episode while we get all of our 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.599 gear in so that we can keep pumping out the 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:52.320 sort of episodes you've grown accustomed to over the years. Now, 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:54.800 one thing that we did want to talk about today 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:59.800 is is the issue of social distancing itself. I'm sure 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.800 this point you're not wondering what that is. You've probably 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:06.920 heard about it, you've probably been told you should do it. Uh, 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.120 But I think it's not clear to me that everybody's 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:14.279 taking social distancing seriously yet we've even this was last week, 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:17.120 so hopefully these opinions have changed. But last week we 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.840 even heard from a few people directly who think that 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.640 the recommendations that people should stay home if at all 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:28.000 possible is a symptom of hysteria or overreaction. I want 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:30.760 to be very clear that it is not right. Yeah, 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:34.160 over the weekend, I know, I personally, my family we 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.320 were already practicing social distancing. But then we I was 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.120 in the car, I drove past a popular brunch place 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.120 near where I live, and it was it was packed. 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:47.360 It was frighteningly packed. Um Now, I don't know of 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.719 in some cases, maybe maybe in some cases, people were 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.280 certainly not taking it seriously. Maybe in other places people 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.120 thought that they would show up and basically have a 0:05:56.200 --> 0:06:00.160 mostly empty restaurant at their hands. But if the latter 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:02.680 is the case, then a lot of people made the 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:07.000 same error and judgment. Uh, either way, it was I 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:08.440 think it was pretty clear to a lot of people 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:10.920 over the weekend that not enough people were taking it seriously. 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:14.039 And I just hope that an increasing number of people 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:18.360 are realizing that the importance of social distancing. Yeah, there 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.760 are several reasons why it's important for anybody who is 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.039 able to practice social distancing, meaning you stay at home 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.080 as much as possible, limit your interactions with other people, 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:32.479 limit trips out, especially to crowded places, to only what 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:36.240 is absolutely necessary, and that would be things like like 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:42.960 healthcare visits, uh, grocery and pharmacy basically. Now, there are 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:46.120 several reasons right now why it's really important that everybody 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:49.600 who is able limit their interactions with with other people 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.920 as much as possible. Of course, it limits your exposure 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:56.039 to a virus that is now just uh just you know, 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:59.320 bouncing around within communities that were no longer talking about 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.640 it just be something that is a product of travel. 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.480 Of course, it's it's throughout cities in the United States 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:10.560 and many other countries too. Uh. Now, you you might think, okay, 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:13.440 but I I I'm not all that worried about how 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:16.120 this virus would affect me. I'm young and healthy. I 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.120 don't really care. I've had a bad flu before. This 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.360 was the nature of some of the messages we were seeing, 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.320 you know, from young people, like posting on our channels. 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:28.960 And there are several reasons why I want to drive 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:31.960 home that this way of thinking is really misguided right now. 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:36.560 First of all, even for young and healthy people, this 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.760 is a much more dangerous infection than a regular flu. 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:44.120 Like people in their twenties and thirties are experiencing severe cases, 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.680 requiring hospitalization, and sometimes they are dying from this. It's 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:51.240 just that they are requiring hospitalization and dying at a 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.120 much lower rate than older people, say, in their sixties 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.800 and seventies and eighties. I remember what it was like 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.880 to be a teenager. I remember feeling invincible. You know, 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.280 even even if you are more likely to come through 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.400 this infection without a severe you know, like without a 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:11.240 need for hospitalization or without dying, like, you are not invincible. 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:14.600 But more than that that, the much more important point 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.280 is if you're young and healthy, you still want to 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:19.600 limit your exposure to the virus so that you don't 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.800 get infected and then spread it to others who are 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.560 at much greater risk than yourself. Uh. And so you 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:30.360 might think, well, okay, that's reasonable, But well, if if 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.880 I start to get sick, then I'll just stay home. 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:35.000 Then I won't spread it. You know, I start coughing, 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:37.280 I have a fever, that's when it's time to stay home. 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.320 It would be great if that was the case, but 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:44.199 unfortunately it looks like it's not that easy. So at 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.160 first some authorities were suggesting that you would only be 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:51.040 contagious if you were showing symptoms. Actually know people who 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.560 were under this misimpression. Rachel and I were talking about 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.880 some friends of ours who had been mistaken and saying 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:00.199 this the other day. Um, this does not appear to 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.760 be the case anymore. There is now pretty good evidence 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:06.839 that people with mild symptoms or no symptoms, who don't 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.440 realize they have the coronavirus at all, can spread it 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.600 to other people. And we don't know exactly how prevalent 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.760 that kind of spread is, but the earlier announcements that 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:20.840 it was only significantly spread through major symptomatic cases really 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:25.319 appear to be wrong. Yeah, one celebrity example of this, 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.400 because now we're in the phase, we're definitely hearing a 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:33.160 lot of stories about various notable individuals, famous individuals that 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:36.640 are showing up positive for coronavirus. Idris elba as an 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:40.400 example of this, big driss uh stringer from the wire. 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:42.880 And of course he's been in so much more now, 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.800 great actor, one of my favorites. Yeah, he's he's he's tremendous. 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:48.520 And apparently what occurred is he found out that he 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.120 had been in contact with somebody who tested positive for 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:55.240 COVID nineteen. So adam an abundance of caution, he himself 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:57.680 was tested and found and it was found that he 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.199 was positive for COVID nineteen despite not displaying any symptoms 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.480 and feeling otherwise, you know, perfectly healthy, which you know 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:06.120 you look at it yoursel but and you just just said, 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:08.960 he must just feel perfectly healthy all the time. That's 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.720 that's probably not gonna change. If anybody's invincible. He is, Yeah, 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.160 but just because you feel invincible doesn't mean you cannot 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:20.160 be positive for COVID nineteen and certainly capable of spreading 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:24.480 it to people who are not as physically robust as yourself. 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:26.839 And so he did the right thing and self quarantined. 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:31.000 That's exactly right. So one example here that there was 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.280 a new study published in the journal Science on March sixteenth, 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:36.760 I think that was two days ago. Now we're recording 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:40.800 on Wednesday, March eighteen. And this study was called Substantial 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:46.280 Undocumented Infection facilitates the rapid dissemination of novel coronavirus or 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:51.040 SARS c o V two UH. And for quick terminology thing, 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.200 COVID nineteen is the name of the disease you get. 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.839 The pathogen is being referred to as SARS c o 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:01.960 V two UH. The study was by Rheen Young, Lee Sen, 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:07.200 pey Bin, Chen, y Ming Song, Tao Jiang Wan Yang, 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:11.600 and Jeffrey Shaman, and the team used data from the 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:14.959 outbreak within China to try to understand how the virus 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:19.120 spreads throughout populations and the role of contagion from undocumented 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.960 cases people spreading it without even knowing they had it. 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:28.120 Their study estimated that prior to when when transportation lockdown 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.440 went into effect throughout the regions, in China prior to 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:36.880 that period. On January eight, six percent of all infections 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:41.040 within China were undocumented. They write, quote per person, the 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.160 transmission rate of undocumented infections was fifty five percent of 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:50.679 documented infections, yet due to their greater numbers, undocumented infections 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:55.200 were the infection source for seventy nine percent of documented cases. 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.160 These findings explained the rapid geographic spread of stars c 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.800 o v two and indicate containment of this virus will 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.240 be particularly challenging, so to make sense of those numbers 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:10.280 really quick. It looks like the people who didn't realize 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:15.360 they had COVID nineteen were only about half as infectious 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.360 as the people who did realize they had it. But 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.160 because there were so many more people who had it 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:25.280 without realizing it than people who realized they had it, 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:29.199 the people who didn't realize they had it were responsible 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:33.160 for about eighty percent of the spread, and speaking to 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.240 The New York Times on March sixteenth, one of the 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:39.120 authors here, Jeffrey Shaman, speculated on on the basis of 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.520 this research that given our lagging testing capacities here in 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:46.040 the United States right now, the number of real infections 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.200 could be greater than the number of documented infections by 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:53.080 a factor of about ten. So uh So, to quote 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.559 Shaman quote, if we have thirty five hundred confirmed cases 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:59.280 in the US, you might be looking at thirty five 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.920 thousand in reality. Uh and a lot of these people 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:06.240 would have no idea they're sick. I was reading a 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.840 news article from March sixteenth on CNN which quoted several 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:14.120 public health experts who believe there is a major threat 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:18.760 from a symptomatic, pre symptomatic or only mildly symptomatic transmission. 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.640 According to Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.720 Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, quote, 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:30.760 we now know that asymptomatic transmission likely plays an important 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.960 role in spreading the virus and uh and he says 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:38.280 that asymptomatic transmission quote surely can fuel a pandemic like 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:40.400 this in a way that's going to make it very 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.760 difficult to control, and that that sentiment was also echoed 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.280 by somebody we quoted, I think in our previous episode 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.559 about COVID nineteen, William Shaffner, who's a professor at Vanderbilt 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:56.160 University School of Medicine. Schaffner says quote asymptomatic and mildly 0:13:56.240 --> 0:14:00.400 symptomatic transmission or a major factor in transmission. For COVID nineteen, 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.720 they're going to be the drivers have spread in the community. 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.360 Uh So, this is why it's really important. Like it 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.000 looks at this point again, you know, we could get 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:12.680 a bit of better picture in the future, but it 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:17.439 looks at this point like it's totally possible to be young, healthy, 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:21.360 to be only mildly symptomatic or maybe not symptomatic at all. 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:23.880 Have no idea. You have this virus and then go 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.160 out and do your daily business and spread it to 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.840 people all along the way. So even if you're healthy. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.640 That's why, out of out of caution, it is very 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.000 important for everybody who is able to stay home and 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.120 self isolate right now or at not totally isolate, but 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:42.320 you know, practice social distancing another way to think of it, 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.560 even if you're not worried for yourself, staying home is 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.440 a public service. It is an act of charity at 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.760 this time. You know, for the next few weeks at least, 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:54.160 you could save a life by doing it. Absolutely. I mean, 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:56.440 as we ask ourselves these questions, do I really need 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.880 to go out for this right now? Do I really 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.040 need to go to is store? Do I really need 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:04.720 to make this purchase? Um, These sorts of questions, you know, 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:06.880 are the things we need to be asking ourselves. And 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:10.080 I mean, you can really think of this as as 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:14.400 a lot of little sacrifices that we're all individually making, uh, 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:17.680 to to again cut down on this transmission, and to 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:21.280 enable us to flatten that curve. Yeah, that's right, and 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:23.640 and to revisit that technology. You've probably heard a lot 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.040 more about flattening the curve since we talked about it 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:29.720 in our original COVID nineteen episode, but just to refresh 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.760 really quick, flattening the curve refers to making sure that 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:37.800 the infection rate doesn't rise so steeply that it overwhelms 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.920 our capacity to care for people who are infected, and 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.080 that makes a huge difference in the overall case fatality 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:47.480 rate of the disease. We are much better at keeping 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:52.000 people who have severe infections alive if the hospital system 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.880 is not overwhelmed while they get infected, and so spreading 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.520 more people out over time we think will lead to 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.880 many fewer deaths than everybody suddenly getting it all in 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.680 the next few weeks. Basically, this is I mean this 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:08.680 is an encouraging UH concept for us to all get behind, 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.200 because it means that as a society, through this you know, 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:17.120 collective agreeance on the importance of social distancing, we have 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:20.640 the power to influence the rate of this thing as 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:25.440 it moves through our population and therefore keep the surge 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:29.520 in cases below the threshold of what our our hospitals, 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:35.040 on our our our medical institutions are capable of dealing with. Yeah. Um, 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:37.880 And now a lot of people have been asking how 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:42.000 long how long is this need gonna go on? And unfortunately, 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:44.520 at this point we just don't know for sure. There 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:48.440 are some pretty grave estimates out there about how long 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.000 people would need to practice social distancing in order to 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.320 get us through, say to UH to an effective anti 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.800 viral treatment or vaccine, or you know, for for immunity 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:01.320 to build up in the communities. I would say, don't 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:05.200 get overly fixated on the most dire possible scenarios right now. 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.120 Just focus, okay, you know, one thing at a time. 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.760 In the short term, it is definitely going to help 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:13.600 either way for more people to stay home for the 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.719 next few weeks, because that at least allows testing capacity 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.040 and stuff like that, and UH, and research to catch 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.520 up to the virus instead of just allowing its exponential 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:28.240 spread to continue during that whole time. So during this time, 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:30.560 it's it's very important to make sure that you're getting 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:36.159 your information about COVID nineteen from from trusted sources, UH, 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:39.119 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, the 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:42.840 World Health Organization and UH and also you know the 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:48.720 mainstream media sources that you can trust. Yeah. But the 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.480 other half of it is, um, okay, So let's say 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.800 you're already on board. You've you've bought in, You've bought 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.399 in on the idea of social distancing. You understand how 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:00.240 important it is if you are at all able, we're 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:04.800 staying home. The next part is like dealing with that situation. Obviously, 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:07.280 this is going to present different challenges for different people. 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.080 Some challenges, UH might be you know, financial and have 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:12.920 to do with how you make a living, and those 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.280 are real issues. I mean, I'm hoping some kind of 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:19.439 public assistance comes along very soon to ease that burden. 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.760 But on on top of that, uh, social distancing is 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:27.240 socially challenging, right, yeah, I mean we're social animals, We're 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:32.280 not We're not made up for this kind of you know, 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.320 just long term certainly distance living. Uh. I mean, and 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.560 this is something I come back to again. We've spoken 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.960 about social media on this show plenty of times. We've 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:45.800 talked about the the the problems with our current social 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:52.199 media systems, and just looking online these days, one sees, 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:54.080 first of all, one sees some of the strengths of 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.919 social media emerging. You can see like, oh, well, this 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:59.480 is what it was supposed to do. It's connecting us 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.280 in especially in times when we are physically distant from 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.600 each other. Uh. It can be very comforting to have 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:07.760 that kind of connection. On the other hand, I also 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:13.119 see examples of the negative aspects of social media, unfortunately 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.280 amplified in this scenario as well. Um So, I think 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:21.560 that's going to be a continuing challenge over the weeks ahead, 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.400 as we figure out how to best use these social 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:30.200 media tools and these uh, these these connective tools, how 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:32.960 to use them effectively and in al ways that the 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:38.000 foster social communication and social connectiveness without you know, giving 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:41.720 into these negative aspects that are generally built into the 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:44.679 platforms where you're using. Yeah, I think you're exactly right. 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:48.600 I mean, this it's funny I'm usually somebody who's pretty 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:51.720 focused on the negative aspects of social media, but this 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:55.560 week has really made me think about the good aspects, 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:59.200 like the fact that it allows you to connect directly 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.280 and often in a higher fidelity way with your friends 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:04.800 and family. You know, the idea of doing video chats 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:07.000 with family and stuff like that, and that that can 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:10.119 be really helpful at these times, like you might just 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.399 need to see other faces, you know, the other people 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.119 that you care about, uh, not just hear their voice 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.919 over the phone and uh. And so that kind of 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:22.560 stuff I think is great. Now. The darker side I think, 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:27.000 of course, is that we have definitely seen social media 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:32.480 as a source for the spread of potentially dangerous misinformation 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:37.639 about this, uh, this ongoing pandemic. And so I wanted 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:39.680 to share one thing on here, Robert, if it's okay 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:42.080 with you. I posted a little bit about this in 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:46.199 the Facebook discussion module for our show, UM, because a 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.280 lot of people have been asking, you know, they said 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.080 they had frustration about what to do about friends and 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:56.840 family and acquaintances posting misinformation on the internet, and like 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:00.200 like how to address that. At this time, I will 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:03.800 say that I'm someone who generally does not advocate arguing 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:06.560 with people on the internet. I think it is almost 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:12.840 always unproductive and often counterproductive. I would say that arguing 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:15.800 probably isn't the right word. But but this is the time, 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:18.920 I think, to participate in the information battle. Like it. 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:23.199 If people are sharing potentially dangerous misinformation about how this 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:27.240 virus spreads or how you can protect yourself and stuff 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:31.840 like that, this is the time to get into that conversation. Absolutely, 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:34.439 we should be able to come together in these moments, 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:39.320 sign the common ground and fight against the inhuman uh 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:43.800 enemy that is this virus. Yeah, totally, and and information 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:46.719 is one of our best weapons in this battle, like 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:51.359 knowing what works and what doesn't, having a solid information source, 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.640 having a clear understanding of how disease spreads, what can 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:57.840 be done to stop it, That all really matters. So 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.640 I just wanted to share a few things that came 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:03.760 to my mind about what to do when you see 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:08.320 people spreading misinformation online. This one might be obvious, but 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:11.320 the first one that I wanted to say was just 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:14.800 make sure that you know what you're talking about before 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:16.879 you go in and try to correct somebody else. It 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:19.720 may very well be that you're working off of outdated 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:24.000 information information landscape is changing really fast right now, and 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:27.439 so so do your own double checking before you before 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:29.879 you start a fight that might turn out to be pointless. 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:32.760 That's right. I mean I I found myself over the 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:36.040 past few days in conversation with somebody, and they'll have 0:22:36.080 --> 0:22:38.880 a key v on in the background, and they'll suddenly 0:22:38.920 --> 0:22:42.320 be pretty to an update that I don't have, just 0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:45.920 by virtue of me not being plugged in. Uh. For 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:49.560 you know, ten minutes you can you can miss something. Uh. 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:52.720 And a minute ago I said fight, I shouldn't. We're 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:55.680 not encouraging fighting of any kind. I guess. I just mean, 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:58.960 like you know, in any form of disagreement with somebody, 0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:02.760 you know you've got your disagreement bucks, and you want 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:06.600 to spend that budget wisely. Um So, if you are 0:23:06.640 --> 0:23:10.240 actually confident that the information you see somebody sharing is incorrect, 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:12.800