Main Coronavirus / Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[The Clamp]

To me, your question is vague. I'm not exactly understanding what you are looking for, but I'll make another guess: you want to know what I believe is the "mechanics"?

Okay this is what I believe (and no I dont have any 'training'") to be some of the mechanics:

1. Social media increases the exposure of your "wants". People show off their new stuff, the nicest pictures from travels, their new clothes etc. By constantly feeding yourself with the "success" of others, satisfaction with what you already got decreases, and trying to get where your "successful" friends are increase stress & anxiety.

2. Social media share all of the great skills of the world. Back in the days you could compare i.e. your guitar skills with your closest friends, and of course you'd see Hendrix as your inspiration, but you wouldnt compare yourself to him. Today you watch some four year old kid singing the greatest opera of all time and you think: I'll never be as good as her and she is just a random kid. By comparing yourself to the rest of the world, you get self-defeatist in your views meaning what used to be your passions and interests become burdens, since you know you'll never be as good as the dude in the Youtube video or whatever.

3. The concept of participating in or just looking at constant communication create feelings of loneliness. What you pericieve is that the whole world is always communicating but that you are no popular enough, since you dont feel popular. You ignore the fact that lots are feeling the exact same way: they are communicating, yet lonely. Because that chat message can never replicate that face to face communication, even though some parts of the brain react similar to both stimulations.

I could go on endlessly: how "likes" are transforming previously genuine interaction to be social transactions. How feeding yourself with "news" 24/7 creates immense anxiety over future, and how equally constantly feeding yourself with nostalgia creates depressive thoughts of what have been lost.

It goes on, but I think you get my point - whether you agree or not with these examples - that I'm not just pulling numbers & graphs out of my ass. I have read a lot on this topic and I have been thinking about this subject since I got Internet at the age of ten and immediatly thought "damn, everything that was is seriously endangered by this shit".

Great answer. Thank you for taking the time to write that.

 

[The Clamp]

Going to add something about self-harm specifically:

As far as I know the exact fundaments of self-harm are unknown, but the effects I mentioned in my post seem pretty likely to affect it.

I have a personal and probably very untried theory that self-harm to some extent is the result of not giving your kids enough attention. If your parents are obsessed by tv, social media or whatever and only give you attention or love if you hurt yourself, this could be increasing a subconcious urge to hurt yourself since you associate it with positive things. But thats a bit of a sidenote.

Self harm has manifold origins and stems from very complex psychological landscapes.

 

[The Clamp]

So you're just arguing with him?

It at all. I was pressing for an explanation. He’s given a very good one.

 

[BN41Albion]

649 and the talk on the radio was of lifting some of the lockdown.

This is the graph you want to be looking at. Actual date of death. Paints a very different picture.

 

[Jeff Minton's Corners]

It at all. I was pressing for an explanation. He’s given a very good one.

My apologises. Total misunderstanding. I was just going off this post :

What you have done, sort of, is stated that a rise in self harm coincides with a rise in smartphone use.

You’ve described two seperate graphs.

What I’m asking if for you to explain how the graphs support your theory. In order to do that you would have had to have had some training in mental health. I may be wrong, but I’m gonna say you haven’t had that training.
I have . And I happen to agree with you. I think the increase in smartphone use has cause an increase in some mental health conditions.

My problem with your post and with people who make these assertions without prior training, is that to put it bluntly, you haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about. It fits your overall world view so it’ll go in your trolley.

It’s not a healthy way to approach mental health.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

But in context, those figures were only in the last week, according to Cuomo, they show that people have been largely observing the lockdown. That is pretty obvious to be fair, I would imagine that aside from care homes, our own figures would heavily weigh towards people who have stayed at home the further we go past the moment of lockdown. If nearly everyone is at home then it's more than a little mischievous to cleverly imply that people are in hospital because of lockdown.

Yeah, that is true - it's only a snapshot and you can use stats selectively. I was more interested in the amount of information that the breakdowns showed. New Yorkers have been observing the lockdown pretty strictly that is why we are one of the States where the trend is currently still going down in most categories whilst most other States are still trending upwards

 

[Jeff Minton's Corners]

To me, your question is vague. I'm not exactly understanding what you are looking for, but I'll make another guess: you want to know what I believe is the "mechanics"?

Okay this is what I believe (and no I dont have any 'training'") to be some of the mechanics:

1. Social media increases the exposure of your "wants". People show off their new stuff, the nicest pictures from travels, their new clothes etc. By constantly feeding yourself with the "success" of others, satisfaction with what you already got decreases, and trying to get where your "successful" friends are increase stress & anxiety.

2. Social media share all of the great skills of the world. Back in the days you could compare i.e. your guitar skills with your closest friends, and of course you'd see Hendrix as your inspiration, but you wouldnt compare yourself to him. Today you watch some four year old kid singing the greatest opera of all time and you think: I'll never be as good as her and she is just a random kid. By comparing yourself to the rest of the world, you get self-defeatist in your views meaning what used to be your passions and interests become burdens, since you know you'll never be as good as the dude in the Youtube video or whatever.

3. The concept of participating in or just looking at constant communication create feelings of loneliness. What you pericieve is that the whole world is always communicating but that you are no popular enough, since you dont feel popular. You ignore the fact that lots are feeling the exact same way: they are communicating, yet lonely. Because that chat message can never replicate that face to face communication, even though some parts of the brain react similar to both stimulations.

I could go on endlessly: how "likes" are transforming previously genuine interaction to be social transactions. How feeding yourself with "news" 24/7 creates immense anxiety over future, and how equally constantly feeding yourself with nostalgia creates depressive thoughts of what have been lost.

It goes on, but I think you get my point - whether you agree or not with these examples - that I'm not just pulling numbers & graphs out of my ass. I have read a lot on this topic and I have been thinking about this subject since I got Internet at the age of ten and immediatly thought "damn, everything that was is seriously endangered by this shit".

This bloke does a great talk on the toxicity of social media. I'm sure you'll find it interesting.



PS If you're bored, his stuff on narcissist personality disorder is very good too.

 

[Baker lite]

Quite interesting..
https://youtu.be/5wHzrYtV5lw


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Machiavelli]

Yeah, I watched a video of a Russian scientist explaining the dangers of 5G. He mentioned something about how 5G can send information through your brain. It won't work out in the countryside because it requires humans close by. I'm no expert on this so this could and hopefully not be true.

Can I suggest that you have a policy of boycotting videos of Russian 'scientists'. Putin and his regime are masters of what's known as disinformation. You'd be much better off reading a book by Peter Pomerantsev instead, which will help you understand how Putin et al operates.

 

[Machiavelli]

To me, your question is vague. I'm not exactly understanding what you are looking for, but I'll make another guess: you want to know what I believe is the "mechanics"?

Okay this is what I believe (and no I dont have any 'training'") to be some of the mechanics:

1. Social media increases the exposure of your "wants". People show off their new stuff, the nicest pictures from travels, their new clothes etc. By constantly feeding yourself with the "success" of others, satisfaction with what you already got decreases, and trying to get where your "successful" friends are increase stress & anxiety.

2. Social media share all of the great skills of the world. Back in the days you could compare i.e. your guitar skills with your closest friends, and of course you'd see Hendrix as your inspiration, but you wouldnt compare yourself to him. Today you watch some four year old kid singing the greatest opera of all time and you think: I'll never be as good as her and she is just a random kid. By comparing yourself to the rest of the world, you get self-defeatist in your views meaning what used to be your passions and interests become burdens, since you know you'll never be as good as the dude in the Youtube video or whatever.

3. The concept of participating in or just looking at constant communication create feelings of loneliness. What you pericieve is that the whole world is always communicating but that you are no popular enough, since you dont feel popular. You ignore the fact that lots are feeling the exact same way: they are communicating, yet lonely. Because that chat message can never replicate that face to face communication, even though some parts of the brain react similar to both stimulations.

I could go on endlessly: how "likes" are transforming previously genuine interaction to be social transactions. How feeding yourself with "news" 24/7 creates immense anxiety over future, and how equally constantly feeding yourself with nostalgia creates depressive thoughts of what have been lost.

It goes on, but I think you get my point - whether you agree or not with these examples - that I'm not just pulling numbers & graphs out of my ass. I have read a lot on this topic and I have been thinking about this subject since I got Internet at the age of ten and immediatly thought "damn, everything that was is seriously endangered by this shit".

Now, I agree with this. I await to see whether [MENTION=33848]The Clamp[/MENTION] does too, who I've been agreeing with in your exchange. To recommend a book that deals with this, amongst other things, Shoshana Zuboff The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

 

[Jeff Minton's Corners]

Can I suggest that you have a policy of boycotting videos of Russian 'scientists'. Putin and his regime are masters of what's known as disinformation. You'd be much better off reading a book by Peter Pomerantsev instead, which will help you understand how Putin et al operates.

What the hell had happeed to everyone since this outbreak!? . I'm constantly hearing stuff about the Russians and the Chinese which just sounds narrow minded and Dailly Mirror inspired. This is a fluenza virus, not a nuclear bomb. Its horrific seeing how prejudice it has made people .

 

[Justice]

Can I suggest that you have a policy of boycotting videos of Russian 'scientists'. Putin and his regime are masters of what's known as disinformation. You'd be much better off reading a book by Peter Pomerantsev instead, which will help you understand how Putin et al operates.

One of my customers is on the design team for the 5G network for O2 he said there are major problems with it which are being brushed under the carpet and some of the conspiracy theories are in fact close to the mark

 

[Machiavelli]

What the hell had happeed to everyone since this outbreak!? . I'm constantly hearing stiff about the Russians and the Chinese. This is a fuenza virus, not a nuclear bomm. Its horrific seeing how prejudice it has made normal people.

Yes, we all have certain prejudices in my view, because we're flawed beings. I think you're saying that I'm prejudiced about the Russians, and perhaps even the Chinese, as a result of making a comment about Putin and his disinformation strategy. Johnson and Cummings are not so bad at such things too so, according to your rationale, I'm prejudiced against the British too.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

What the hell had happeed to everyone since this outbreak!? . I'm constantly hearing stiff about the Russians and the Chinese. This is a fuenza virus, not a nuclear bomm. Its horrific seeing how prejudice it has made normal people.

Bizarrely the number deaths from Hiroshima and Nagasaki are similiar to Covid and counting..................

 

[beorhthelm]

One of my customers is on the design team for the 5G network for O2 he said there are major problems with it which are being brushed under the carpet and some of the conspiracy theories are in fact close to the mark

which: the triggering of coronavirus, the mind control or raditation that will kill us?

 

[RossyG]

Meanwhile, the BBC excels itself, theorising that chlorinated water might need...er, disinfecting.

 

[Jeff Minton's Corners]

Bizarrely the number deaths from Hiroshima and Nagasaki are similiar to Covid and counting..................

When you say deaths from covid-19, do you mean people who died BECAUSE of covid-19 or people who died AFTER being diagnosed with covid-19?Not something the media are being too clear about considering the current obsession of needing a death count on the screen whenever you flick over to check the news. Reminds me a bit of the transfer window countdown which they constantly keep on skysports news for the 30 days before it slams shut, but that's just football.
Vile how the normal news stations are doing something very similar but this time with death numbers. Never seen stuff like this before

It's disgusting how stats have become what everyone is obsessing over with this pandemic. It's just death toll this death toll that. It seems no one wants to ask questions or think for themselves about this on an evolutionary level. Maybe George Orwell was right about everyone eventually getting stuck, brainwashed by their screens giving the sickos of this world all the power they possibly can.
Bill Gates was a user of Jeff Epsteins special private Jet we all know had kids being abused on it. Now Bill Gates wants us all to be vaccinated with microchips so we can all be monitored whereever we go. Has anyone read about Bill Gates testing vaccinations in India and what happened as a result to a 1000 kids?

But go ahead, abuse and attack those questioning who the media want you to start worshipping. It's totally understandable why you would need to attack those who may be trying to make you question things. It requires bravery and balls for you to question everything you once believed to be completly true. Not easy to do and I understand how this could lead you to needing a scapegoat to mock as a result of one's self insecurity with this current crisis .

So go ahead, write something personnel about me or anyone who agrees for that matter. Leave it to the good guys to question the real stuff and hopefully make the world a nicer place. But don't get me wrong, you lot can keep hissing and snarling at those who don't believe the tabloids and TV news stations and all their strange stats. We understand your abuse and negativity being projected onto specific targets who are not flowing the norm. We know you're all good people at heart. It's just clearly difficult for you having been so brainwashed by a TV and hand written bullshit to then have some one tell you basically that you were fooled. Not nice and I'm sure causes immense stress for those unable to even question things on the news let alone themselves.
So good luck everyone with this and I hope positivity and love ends up as the conclusion to all of this rather than some of the mad shit getting suggested right now.

 

[RossyG]

From the Lancet, with all that entails, but I thought this was an interesting article.

 

[Swansman]

Some Swedish news:

* Johan Giesecke, former Swedish state epidemiologist, says that he believes everyone will get infected and that its not certain a vaccine would be efficient.
- A lot of hope is put into vaccines, but it will take time, and science is unsure how immune you actually become after a covid infection. In general, for most diseases, you almost always get a more complete immune response from a "natural" illness than from a vaccine, and if the protection you get from a covid infection is weak or short-lived, there is a risk that vaccines will not be especially protective either.

He compares Covid-19 to the Asian flu in 1957 - also caused by a coronavirus but at a time where lockdowns etc were impossible and the ability to count all the deaths etc were smaller. That coronavirus strain is still around, but it naturally mutated into something less deadly like most viruses do since killing your host is a pretty bad way of spreading.

* Swedish scientists are looking into if the virus is able to spread through water. Currently one of the methods used in Sweden to watch the spread of the virus is to take samples of the sewer water in different cities and see if the virus is increasing or decreasing.

The virus in the sewer water is dead and there is no evidence of anyone getting infected "the water way", but as living Covid-particles where found in French water used for cleaning the streets and watering public parks etc., the Swedish scientists want the state to be cautious about this and perhaps close down unecessary fountains etc. The research about whether the virus could spread this way should be finished in a month.

* The shit Swedish elderly care is getting more and more exposed. The carers are forced to go between healthy and sick patients and our underfinanced, neo-liberal elderly care system is killing lots of people. At some care homes a third of the patients have died. If you are seeing our high deaths per capita, dont "learn" from our non-lockdown: learn from what happens if you let private foreign companies make huge profits from "efficient" elderly care.

 

[Swansman]

Bizarrely the number deaths from Hiroshima and Nagasaki are similiar to Covid and counting..................

As a conspiracy theorist, this is a funny example.

For decades the mainstream media said there was no aftermath (except for the deaths of the initial bombing) of the bombing of Hiroshima. People who said "the radiation after the bombings are killing people in cancer and many newborn are deformed" where seen as tin-foil hats and ridiculous conspiracy theorists, just like anti-vaxxers and anti-electrosmog people are now.

The celebrity journalist covering this subject, William L. Laurence, even won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. It took more than 50 years before it was revealed he was secretly employed by the CIA (and its WWII predecessor) to spread the narrative that everything was fine and dandy in Hiroshima. In 2004 or 2005 his Pulitzer Prize was revoked.

The mainstream reaction was similar to the one when Snowden revealed the mass-surveillance: not "oh shit, I've been calling these people tin-foilers for all these years and was wrong and could learn from it", but "yeah... I knew this all along!".