Even More Deep Thoughts Day

Posts against vaccines and masks often have a tone of defiance or persecution. You can't change my mind!" "This is a slippery slope!" "We're standing up for what's right and If you think differently, you must be our enemy!"

Am I your enemy? I have a few more grey hairs now but I'm the same guy you once trusted, respected, or called a friend 10, 15, or 20 years ago. Maybe I rode bikes with you, went to college with you, played in a band with you, or even attended your wedding. You KNOW me.

So when I interrupt my uncontroversial stream of baby pics and nerd jokes to be serious (exactly 10 times in my 16 years on Facebook[1]), it's not because I'm out to get you. I don't think I'm better than you and I'm not trying to win. I don't want to destroy your freedom or religion. I don't hate you.

I post about COVID-19 prevention and the shifty tactics of social media and search engines because I don't want ANY of my friends or their families to join the 633,000 deaths recorded in the past two years. I don't want ANY kids becoming orphans or growing up with long-term disability when the tools to mitigate this suffering are readily available. And when this pandemic is finally behind us, I don't want to end up with a broken society of two tribes that can't coexist, where a person's worth is summarily dismissed over an opinion.

If you reject what I have to say, at least understand that I'm searching in good faith for the compassionate choices that keep the largest number of people alive and healthy. No one (including me) is any smarter today than a decade ago -- we're just drowning in data. Truths, half-truths, lies, misinformation, disinformation -- it's a tidal wave that overwhelms us and encourages emotional responses over logic. I'm doing my imperfect best to listen to all opinions instead of unfriending, to read opposing news sources that don't just tell me what I want to hear, and to change my mind when new information warrants it. I hope you are too.

Thank you for listening!