Really great essay, I have long thought the comparison to traffic fatalities is just dumb. For one thing, traffic deaths - even heavily mitigated as you note - are way too high.
Honestly, I despair at times over our allegedly 'intelligent' species. We really are not able to make reasonable decisions and take appropriate action. Our failure is especially acute in risk assessment.
One of the worst COVID-19 "memes" was the continued insistence that everyone needs to do their own risk assessment, something people are not taught and often terrible at!
Really great essay, I have long thought the comparison to traffic fatalities is just dumb. For one thing, traffic deaths - even heavily mitigated as you note - are way too high.
Honestly, I despair at times over our allegedly 'intelligent' species. We really are not able to make reasonable decisions and take appropriate action. Our failure is especially acute in risk assessment.
One of the worst COVID-19 "memes" was the continued insistence that everyone needs to do their own risk assessment, something people are not taught and often terrible at!