Masks protect against flu.
Masks protect against COVID.
Masks protect against pneumonia.
Masks protect against colds.
Masks protect against whooping cough.
Masks protect against measles.
Masks protect against RSV.
Masks protect against strep.

ALL these diseases and more are airborne.

Masks are variant-proof, and the more people who wear them, even imperfectly, the safer the air is for everyone, including people who can’t mask like babies and toddlers.

I am begging you to understand that the main way diseases that aren’t STIs or GI bugs spread is THROUGH THE AIR LIKE SMOKE.

(By the way masks protect against the particulates in smoke too.)

The real task isn’t “teaching people to spot misinformation.” It’s rebuilding conditions where verification, deliberation and accountability are possible. Critical thinking only works when the world around it gives those skills a place to take root.

Our digital systems reward belonging over accuracy, with people gaining status by aligning with their group, not by checking facts. Once beliefs become tied to identity, more media literacy won’t shift behaviour, the social rewards run against work against it.

* There is no such thing as "just a flu". Viral infections are bad for us.

* Viruses are variable. Non-evolutionary, typological thinking does not work.

* Viruses evolve. They don't automatically get milder. More infections means more evolution.

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* The immune system is not like a muscle and immunity debt is bullshit.

* There are various ways that repeated COVID infections could be causing short- and/or longer-term immunity theft, making people more vulnerable to other infections.

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public health advice to “cough in your elbow & wash your hand frequently” is the reason why hospitals & care homes have flu & covid outbreaks, when this is preventable