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Begin us this weekend of the Earth Day with the behavioral and philosophical power of a quote of Saint-Exupery, already resumed by Jacques Languirand (spokesperson of the "Earth Day)
www.jourdelaterre.org/main.cfm?p=02_100&l=fr&Sect...
«We do not inherit earth of our ancestors, we borrow it from our children...»
… to meditate
At last, here of other links that cannot leave us insensitive facing the quote of Saint-Exupery:
The Fight Global Warming website
The fight for the protection of the Environment of Leonardo Di Caprio is an everyday noble fight: global Warming (pun on M and N) and Fresh Water.
www.leonardodicaprio.org/files/videos/globalwarning.html?...
www.leonardodicaprio.org/files/videos/waterplanet.html?q=...
= French version
Commençons ce weekend du Earth Day avec la puissance comportementale et philosophique d’une citation de Saint-Exupéry, déjà reprise par Jacques Languirand (porte-parole du « Jour de la Terre)
www.jourdelaterre.org/main.cfm?p=02_100&l=fr&Sect...
«Nous n'héritons pas de la terre de nos ancêtres, nous l'empruntons à nos enfants...»
… à méditer
Enfin, voici d’autres liens qui ne peuvent pas nous laisser insensible face à la citation de Saint-Exupery:
The Fight Global Warming website
Le combat pour la protection de l’environnement de Leonardo Di Caprio est un combat noble de tous les jours: global Warming (pun on M and N) and Fresh Water.
www.leonardodicaprio.org/files/videos/globalwarning.html?...
www.leonardodicaprio.org/files/videos/waterplanet.html?q=...
The hit American boy band Mindless Behavior finished off their first tour of this country with their final concert before returning to America at Enfield Grammar School, as a guest of the Student Council. The band, a massive success in America, with over a million followers on twitter and a huge fan base on You Tube, were in England on a promotional tour.
As part of our links with the local community we invited both students from St Anne’s and Enfield County to attend. The band performed four hits off their debut album that is presently at number seven in the American Album chart, followed by a question and answer session and autograph signing. Over 400 boys and girls from the schools were chosen by their Heads of Year to see the band as a reward to recognise their excellent efforts and behaviour in the last few months.
Well done to everyone who helped organise this event particularly all Grammar Sixth Form prefects who gave up their time to help stage the event.
(Phototgraphy by Gajeenth Thayalan)
Rain revealed this little army man in the backyard. He's probably been out there 20+ years. He looks like he's peeing into my sink without his horse.
Held Thursday 09/14/2017, the Center on Finance, Law, and Policy hosted a symposium discussing behavioral finance. This event included keynote speakers, interdisciplinary panel discussions, and an interactive audience experiment, exploring topics of technological progress in our overall economy.
Details: fordschool.umich.edu/events/2017/behavioral-finance-sympo...
Available for free download under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Mandatory attribution can be listed as: Peter Smith / Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Since my digital art is created from photographs of real men, I still consider them "portraits." I find it strange to look at the original pictures next to the abstractions the men become. It's like relationships in general. These are true to the literal meaning of abstraction (something is being drawn out of something else).
This is one of a number of species of sea urchins which put debris on top of themselves to protect themselves from UV, and to camouflage themselves. Interesting animal behavior, which I am currently researching.
I am currently in Malapascua, with the fantastic marine conservation NGO People and the Sea:
"Etiquette to captivate a man." People reminiscent of you would like to meet again. Author: Shiho Masui
There are moments when the mind of the other party fluttering to you!. The real reason most of the No.1 hostess is not a beautiful woman? . "Mom Ginza" a famous Japan, unveiled how the behavior of much-valued "attract a partner," which has taught us to hostess of more than 1,000.
Held Thursday 09/14/2017, the Center on Finance, Law, and Policy hosted a symposium discussing behavioral finance. This event included keynote speakers, interdisciplinary panel discussions, and an interactive audience experiment, exploring topics of technological progress in our overall economy.
Details: fordschool.umich.edu/events/2017/behavioral-finance-sympo...
Available for free download under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Mandatory attribution can be listed as: Peter Smith / Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
I was on classmates.com today and saw that despite that my profile clearly says I'm a male, the ad server is not sent such knowledge to determine my sex. Instead, they use my name, which comes up as a girl.
Once I got tampons in the mail because of my name.
Let me make this clear: the name Kristian is of Nordic origin. That makes it an uber-awesome tough guy name.
Held Thursday 09/14/2017, the Center on Finance, Law, and Policy hosted a symposium discussing behavioral finance. This event included keynote speakers, interdisciplinary panel discussions, and an interactive audience experiment, exploring topics of technological progress in our overall economy.
Details: fordschool.umich.edu/events/2017/behavioral-finance-sympo...
Available for free download under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Mandatory attribution can be listed as: Peter Smith / Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
The file on Philip Howard
Compiled from records held by the National Children's Home, family correspondence and personal letters and notes from the staff sent to my mother.
Then a follow up on me until the age of 15.
Case closed 1972.
My mother was returning to London to look after her sick parents.
At 7 years of age, I was now going to be a problem.
Had things followed her original plans, I would have stayed at the boarding school that was council funded for boys with behavioral problems, until I reached 11 years of age, when the next stage of my education would have been decided upon.
However, I left the boarding school shortly after my 8th birthday.
As there would have been no room for me in the flat in London, my placement at the boarding school had been an ideal solution.
When it was found out within a week of my arrival at the boarding school, that there was not the need for my placement there, as I had not in fact tried to push another boy under a bus, it was decided that I should be returned to my mother.
Although the school would have been quite happy to have kept me, the local council who were funding my place, thought that there were other boys more in need.
As my mother was moving out of the area my quick departure was needed, although this was not made instantly, but after the Christmas holidays one month after my arrival.
My mother now had to make some quick changes to the plans for me. An aunt and uncle seemed to suggest that a Children’s Home near to where they lived, might be a place for me to stay.
Items in my file, plus my thoughts that might make it easier to understand me.
Page 1.
27.01.65 Letter to Uncle who lives in Harpenden, from Governor of the National Children's Home Harpenden, asking for an appointment regarding Philip.
2. 01.02.65 Note from NCH regarding a visit to the Uncle.
3. 02.02.65. Letter to Uncle from Child Care Officer.
I am writing to ask if I can see you and your sister-in-law on Tuesday morning February 9th, regarding your admission enquiry.
4. 03.02.65 Letter to the NCH at Harpenden from the Uncle.
Thank you for your letter. It will be quite convenient for you to see me on Feb 9th, but as my sister-in-law (the mother) is working in the Isle of Wight, it will be rather difficult for her to be here, if that is all right with you may I suggest 11.30 as a suitable time. If there is anything else you wish to know in the meantime, my wife is at home until 1pm each day, and will be pleased to help in any way she can.
5. 10.02.65 Note from Governor of Harpenden.
I had a long talk with the uncle and aunt of the boy. The uncle mentioned that he needed to be disciplined as he could be rather badly behaved.
Visited The Uncle 09.02.65. The mother is due in London in a week’s time, with her son Philip. She will telephone or write, and I will write full report after seeing them. At present she is living on Isle of Wight. Philip is 8 years old and is half Indian.
MY ANSWER. The visit by the Governor and the Child Care Officer to my aunt and uncle seemed to seal my fate. It appears to have been mentioned by him that I needed to be disciplined.
I was not really a wild boy, but I was most happy on my own or with just a couple of friends; large group activities were never to my liking.
If the comment that I needed discipline had not been mentioned, I might not have been allocated to the flat, that to nearly every child in the Home was one of the least appealing flats in the Home owing to the Sister’s strict but fair regime. The Sister in charge was not unkind in any way, but having possibly the most experience in years over every other member of the staff in looking after boys, her method of upbringing would be the nearest I would get to a father figure for discipline.
To give me a title of ‘half Indian’ is not really correct as my father came from Ceylon.
6. 23.02.65 Letter to Child Care Officer from The Mother.
With reference to a letter from my Sister. I have now returned to London, & would be pleased to have an appointment at any time suitable to you.
7. 24.02.65 Letter to The Mother from Child Care Officer.
Thank you for your letter telling me you are now in London. Is it possible to see you during the day on Tuesday, the 2nd March?
8. 26.02.65. Letter to The Child Care Officer from The Mother.
Thank you for your letter, I would be very pleased to see you on Tuesday March 2nd; the afternoon would be most suitable, although I shall be at home all day, as I now have my mother home from hospital & she needs rather a lot of attention in the mornings.
MY ANSWER Whilst I was at school, my mother went up to the Children's Home for a visit, all I was told when I returned home at the end of the day was that she had been to see about a school in the country for me, near to where my aunts lived.
9. 02.03.65. NCH FORM Particulars of child for whom admission is sought.
Name of child. PHILIP JOHN (Boy).
D.O.B. 1957
Place of Birth. Paddington Hospital.
Baptized. No
Religious Denomination. C of E.
Present Address London NW2.
With whom. Mother.
Name of Father Linton Jansen, Nationality Singhalese (Burgher). Country of Origin Ceylon. Occupation Trainee in hotel management. Health Good.
Name of Mother Dorothy Moira Howard. Nationality English. D.O.B. 09.10.21. Country of Origin England. Address London NW2. Occupation Ex-housekeeper. Health Good. Religion C of E.
Wages Four Pounds, Total weekly income Four Pounds
Grandparents Father 88. Retired Accountant. Mother 68 Retired.
Aunts and Uncles
Harpenden: (Main contact with NCH) Sister & Brother-in-Law. No Children.
Harpenden: Sister & Brother-in-Law. Daughter (age 24).
Harpenden: Brother & Sister-in-Law. Son (age 6) Daughter (age 8).
London: Brother. No Children.
Information: regarding the health, character, habits and mentality of the child.
Very lively. Lack of concentration.
Reason for application.
Mother is having to look after her mother who has had a stroke & father 88 years. Lack of accommodation, and supervision for Philip.
Who takes responsibility for receiving the child if he should prove unsuitable for continued residence in the Home - Mother.
What weekly payment is offered towards the child’s maintenance? - Two Pounds per week plus clothes.
MY ANSWER. The reference to my father as a Burgher:
Descendents of Dutch settlers who arrived in Ceylon during the Dutch occupation in the 17th and 18th Century. They were encouraged to inter-marry with the Singhalese. On the whole they have kept their European habits, and generally speak English, though many also speak Singhalese.
10. 02.03.65 Report of Child Care Officer.
The mother’s sister in Harpenden had originally approached the Governor at Highfield to ask his advice about her nephew Philip. The mother was at the time working as a housekeeper on the Isle of Wight, but I was able to see her this week as she has now come up to London to look after her parents.
The mother is 43 years of age, and has so far been able to look after Philip herself during these past years. Just before Christmas, however, her mother had a stroke and has been in hospital up until now. The mother is the only one who is in a position to come and look after their parents.
The grandmother is still slightly paralysed by the stroke and has difficulty in speaking; the grandfather who is 88 years has also to be looked after fairly well as he suffers from bronchitis. The mother has a pleasant flat on the second floor, just off the main Edgware road.
The mother’s difficulty now is trying to look after Philip at the same time who is a very lively energetic 8-year-old-boy.
According to his uncle from Harpenden, he is in great need of discipline.
The mother has already told Philip that there is a likelihood he might be going to ‘boarding-school’ and he seemed quite cheerful at this prospect of being with other children.
It was very difficult however, to carry on a conversation with Philip as he seemed to suffer from an intense lack of concentration.
He seemed a very likeable little boy, and is only lightly coloured. The mother only knew his father a Singhalese, for a very short period, and has since lost all contact with him.
The mother is planning to look after her parents indefinitely, but thinks that as soon as her help and support is no longer required she will then be able to find another job as a housekeeper and will have Philip back, but at this stage she thinks he will be slightly more disciplined and that she should then be able to cope with him as well as a job. Her family is now giving her four pounds per week and she is willing to contribute two pounds per week for Philip’s maintenance as well as buying all his clothes.
I would like to recommend this application and that if possible Philip could go to Harpenden so that his mother could visit fairly easily as well as all the other relatives who are living in the area. I don’t think the mother would ever lose touch with the boy and she would gladly visit once every three weeks.
Possibly when Philip is 11 yrs and changing schools the possibility of him being returned to his mother could then be considered.
Governor of Harpenden Notes – After visit by Mother to Highfield.
It was originally suggested by the uncle that the boy needed to be disciplined. When the mother was questioned over this matter, she thought it was perhaps a good idea as that at times he could be a bit of a handful.
We spoke about the various sanctions that were available; the mother was in agreement that for any minor events, if the Sister in charge of Philip punished him with the slipper, there would be no objection from her. If there were any cases of bad behaviour then she was quite in agreement that he could be punished more severely.
MY ANSWER. Describing me as a very lively energetic 8-year-old was perhaps the most accurate words ever spoken. I was on the go from the point I woke up until when I went to bed. If I was perhaps a loner it was due to my mother simply not having as much time due to work, as she would have liked to spend with me, so I was used to playing on my own.
A classification of me as an 8-year-old boy today would be that it was quite easy to add the words hyperactive and several of the more modern labels that children who do not seem to fit into the adults standard categories receive.
My mother was asked about the matter of punishments I might receive if I did anything wrong during my stay in the Home. When I was small my mother had given me a few light smacks; these were normally enough to bring me back into order.
At the age of five my grandmother had once caned me. This did get me to be well behaved, and if my mother had used this form of punishment on me at the time, I knew I would have followed every command she made.
From the age of six my mother had normally given me early bedtimes or decided that treats could be suspended, as at my first school the Headmistress was against physical punishments. Had I not gone to that boarding school I might have found my mother could have been a little firmer with me.
When I reached seven, the event at the last infant school where I was given the cane, had shown her that I could be kept in order. My mother decided that at the age of seven I was old enough to receive the plimsoll from her over minor matters, which that year were just over a dozen different times for various matters of bad temper, damage to property and wetting the bed. There was the cane for any serious problem. This, my mother had only needed to give me twice. All my punishments from my mother had been quite light in nature; it was done to try to keep me under some kind of control.
The Home seemed to have accepted the suggestion from my uncle that I needed to be disciplined; this in my mind was a little unfair as we had so rarely been together. My mother had probably written to her sister telling her of my latest wrongdoing; this was how my uncle came to the idea that I needed to be kept under control. My mother agreed that the Sister in charge of me should use the slipper on me if I became troublesome; if there was anything worse in my behaviour then it was easy to see that the Governor of the Home could intervene.
The item in my file “When Philip is 11 yrs and changing schools the possibility of him being returned to his mother could then be considered.” Was it decided before my arrival at Highfield that I was going to be with them for three years, whatever my family outcome was? If my grandmother and grandfather had died at an age before I was 11-12 years, would I have stayed in the Home, or would my mother have taken me straight out? The three to four years in care would be the same period as if I had stayed at the boarding school, or gone into one of the NCH Approved Schools.
It might be taken, that the next three to four years in the Home would be used to calm be down, whatever the situation of my grandparents was.
I did find out that my mother’s last employer did want her back, but the invitation did not include me. If my grandparents had died early, would my mother have been able to find a housekeeping job that would have taken both of us? Or would she have thought it best that I stayed in the Home.
Early on, if it had been explained to me, that around the age of eleven there would be a good chance of leaving the Home, then possibly my life would have been a lot easier and the number of problems I caused would have been far less.
Held Thursday 09/14/2017, the Center on Finance, Law, and Policy hosted a symposium discussing behavioral finance. This event included keynote speakers, interdisciplinary panel discussions, and an interactive audience experiment, exploring topics of technological progress in our overall economy.
Details: fordschool.umich.edu/events/2017/behavioral-finance-sympo...
Available for free download under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Mandatory attribution can be listed as: Peter Smith / Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
...puddling.
Puddling or mud-puddling, is behavior most conspicuous in butterflies, but occurs in other animals as well, mainly insects; they seek out certain moist substances such as rotting plant matter, mud and carrion and they suck up the fluid. Where the conditions are suitable conspicuous insects such as butterflies commonly form aggregations on wet soil, dung or carrion. From the fluids they obtain nutrients such as salts and amino acids that play various roles in their physiology, ethology and ecology.
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are diverse in their strategies to gather liquid nutrients. Typically, mud-puddling behavior takes place on wet soil. But even sweat on human skin may be attractive to butterflies such as the Hackberry Emperor. More unusual sources include blood and tears. Again, similar behavior is not limited to the Lepidoptera, and for example, the various species of bees commonly called sweat bees are attracted to various kinds of sweat and tears, including that of humans.
In many species puddling behavior is restricted to males, and the presence of an assembly of butterflies on the ground acts on the Pipevine Swallowtail for example, as a stimulus to join the presumptive puddling flock. Males seem to benefit from the sodium uptake through puddling behavior with an increase in reproductive success. The collected sodium and amino acids are often transferred to the female with the spermatophore during mating as a nuptial gift. This nutrition also enhances the survival rate of the eggs.
ISO800, aperture f/11, exposure .006 seconds (1/160) focal length 300mm
By understanding your dogs language, enabling you to recognise dog aggressive behavior and to communicate and to guide.
Aggression can be overcome with leadership, patience and repetition, never ever give up on an aggressive dog – dog aggressive behavior is only a symptom.
Katherine Larrance (second from right) walks in the processional as graduating students of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSS) were honored during their in-person commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 23, 2021 in Chico, Calif.
(Jason Halley/University Photographer/CSU, Chico)
RC465.M44 2009
This rich collection of case studies integrates contemporary and recognizable classic cases to illustrate a wide range of clinical and legal issues related to abnormal psychology. Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology brings the field of abnormal psychology to life for students with its rare combination of readability, humor, and strong scholarship.
Do you see what the Pyrrholoxia is feasting on? Even though my three dogs chose the moment to run up to the patio not 6 feet from him? He loves my Jalopenos. A taste we share! But I enjoy the spicy heat of the capsaicin, and as a bird, he lacks the receptors to feel that kind of heat. Mice on the other hand are mammals and do not like hot peppers at all, so they leave the fruit alone. Perfect, they would only chew the seeds to pieces. Birds swallow the seeds whole and pass them along , making them the ideal dispersers of the seeds.
Three bachelor Wild Horse (Equus ferus) stallions push and shove in dominance behavior as they attempt to assert individual dominance. Image taken in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.
The hit American boy band Mindless Behavior finished off their first tour of this country with their final concert before returning to America at Enfield Grammar School, as a guest of the Student Council. The band, a massive success in America, with over a million followers on twitter and a huge fan base on You Tube, were in England on a promotional tour.
As part of our links with the local community we invited both students from St Anne’s and Enfield County to attend. The band performed four hits off their debut album that is presently at number seven in the American Album chart, followed by a question and answer session and autograph signing. Over 400 boys and girls from the schools were chosen by their Heads of Year to see the band as a reward to recognise their excellent efforts and behaviour in the last few months.
Well done to everyone who helped organise this event particularly all Grammar Sixth Form prefects who gave up their time to help stage the event.
(Phototgraphy by Gajeenth Thayalan)
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/11/covid-pandemic...
What Does It Mean to Care About COVID Anymore?
Mask smarter, not harder.
After nearly three years of constantly thinking about COVID, it’s alarming how easily I can stop. The truth is, as a healthy, vaxxed-to-the-brim young person who has already had COVID, the pandemic now often feels more like an abstraction than a crisis. My perception of personal risk has dropped in recent months, as has my stamina for precautions. I still care about COVID, but I also eat in crowded cafés and go mask-free at parties.
Heading into the third pandemic winter, things have changed. Most Americans seem to have tuned out COVID. Precautions have virtually disappeared; except for in the deepest-blue cities, wearing a mask is, well, weird. Reported cases are way down since the spring and summer, but perhaps the biggest reason for America’s behavioral let-up is that much of the country sees COVID as a minor nuisance, no more bothersome than a cold or the flu.
And to a certain degree, they’re right: Most healthy, working-age adults who are up-to-date on their vaccinations won’t get severely ill—especially now that antivirals such as Paxlovid are available. Other treatments can help if a patient does get very sick. “People who are vaccinated and relatively healthy who are getting COVID are not getting that sick,” Lisa Lee, an epidemiologist at Virginia Tech, told me. “And so people are thinking, Wow, I’ve had COVID. It wasn’t that bad. I don’t really care anymore.”
Still, there are many reasons to continue caring about COVID. About 300 people are still dying every day; COVID is on track to be the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. for the third year running. The prospect of developing long COVID is real and terrifying, as are mounting concerns about reinfections. But admittedly, these sometimes manifest in my mind as a dull, omnipresent horror, not an urgent affront. Continuing to care about COVID while also loosening up behaviors is an uncomfortable position to be in. Most of the time, I just try to ignore the guilt gnawing at my brain. At this point, when so few people feel that the potential benefit of dodging an infection is worth the inconvenience of precautions, what does it even mean to care about COVID?
In an ideal epidemiological scenario, everyone would willingly deploy the full arsenal of COVID precautions, such as masking and forgoing crowded indoor activities, especially during waves. But that kind of all-out response no longer makes sense. “It’s probably not realistic to expect people to take precautions every time, perpetually, or even every winter or fall, unless there is a particularly concerning reason to do that,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Brown University, told me.
But, now more than ever, we must remember that COVID is not just a personal threat but a community one. For older and immunocompromised people, the risks are still significant. For example, people over 50 account for 93 percent of COVID-related deaths in the U.S., even though they represent just 35.7 percent of the population. As long as the death rate remains as high as it is, caring about COVID should mean orienting precautions to protect them. This idea has been around since the pandemic began, but its prominence faded as Americans put their personal health first. “If you’re otherwise healthy, it’s so easy just to think about yourself,” Lee said. “We have to think very carefully about that other part of infectious disease, which is the part where we can potentially hurt other people.”
Orienting behavior in this way gives low-risk people a way to care about COVID that doesn’t entail constant masking or skipping all indoor activities: They can relax when they know they aren’t going to encounter vulnerable people. Like the productivity adage “work smarter, not harder,” this perspective allows people to take precautions strategically, not always. In practice, all it takes is some foresight. If you don’t live with vulnerable people, make it second nature to ask: Will I be seeing vulnerable people anytime soon? If the answer is no, do whatever you’re comfortable with given your own risk. If you are a healthy 30-something who lives alone, going to a Friendsgiving with other people your age is different from spending Thanksgiving dinner with parents and grandparents.
If you will be seeing someone vulnerable, the most straightforward way to avoid giving them COVID is to avoid getting infected yourself, which means wearing a good mask in public settings and minimizing your interactions with others the week before, in what some experts have called a “mini-quarantine.” Not everyone has that luxury: Parents, for example, have to send their kids to school.
Spontaneous interactions with vulnerable people are trickier to plan for, but they follow the same principle. On a crowded bus, for example, “there’s no question that if you’re close enough to someone who could be hurt by getting COVID and you could have it, then, yeah, a mask is the way to go,” Lee said. Of course, it isn’t always possible to know when someone is high-risk; young people, too, can be medically vulnerable. There’s no clear guidance for those situations, but remaining cautious doesn’t require much effort. “Carry a mask with you,” Lee said. “It’s not a big lift.”
Get boosted—if not for yourself, then for them. Just 11.3 percent of eligible Americans have gotten the latest, bivalent shot, which potentially reduces your chances of getting COVID and passing it along. It also means getting tested, so you know when you’re infectious, and being aware of respiratory symptoms—of any kind. Alongside COVID, the flu and RSV are putting many people in the hospital, especially the very young and the very old. No matter how low your personal risk, if you have symptoms, avoiding transmission is crucial. “A reasonable thing to prioritize is: If you have symptoms, take care to prevent it from spreading,” Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, told me.
As we move away from a personal approach to COVID, we have an opportunity to expand the idea of what caring looks like. Low-risk people can, and should, take an active role in bolstering the protection of vulnerable people they know. In practical terms, this means ensuring that people in your life who are over 50—especially those over 65—are boosted and have a plan to get Paxlovid if they fall sick, Nuzzo said. “I think our biggest problem right now is that not everybody has enough access to the tools, and that’s a place where people can help.” She noted that she is particularly concerned about older people who struggle to book vaccine appointments online. Caring “doesn’t mean abstaining, per se. It means facilitating. It means enabling and helping people in your community.” This holiday season, caring could mean sitting down at a computer to make Grandma’s booster appointment, or driving her to the drugstore to get it.
If you have lost your motivation to care about COVID, you might find it in the people you love. I didn’t feel a personal need to wear a mask at the concert I attended yesterday, but I did it because I don’t want to accidentally infect my partner’s 94-year-old grandfather when I see him next week. To have this experience of the pandemic is a privilege. Many don’t have the option to stop caring, even for a moment.
Barring another Omicron-esque event, we thankfully won’t ever return to a moment where Americans obsess over COVID en masse. But this virus isn’t going away, so we can’t escape having a population that is split between the high-risk minority and the low-risk majority. Rethinking what it means to care allows for a more nuanced and liveable idea of what responsible behavior looks like. Right now, Nuzzo told me, the language we use to describe one’s position on COVID is “black-and-white, absolutist—you either care or you don’t.” There is space between those extremes. At least for now, it’s the only way to compromise between the world we have and the world we want.
Yasmin Tayag is a staff writer at The Atlantic.