Interesting Links for 19-02-2022

[andrewducker]

Boris Johnson allowed to read Partygate evidence gathered on him before answering police questions

(tags:BorisJohnson party Pandemic law evidence wtf )

People think they're less likely to get Covid from friends than from strangers

(tags:psychology Pandemic friendship )

10 transgender male athletes

(tags:sports transgender men )

Ageing: Mental speed stays high until age 60

(tags:thinking age )

Dad takes down town's internet by mistake to get his kids offline

(tags:parenting internet oops WiFi France )

Comments

[redbird]

I'm not surprised by people thinking that their friends are lower risk than strangers. People have similar beliefs about other infectious diseases, notably AIDS, assuming that it was safe to have unprotected sex with people they already knew, or people who they perceived as "like them."

Some of that may be a mistaken feeling that social circles are more isolated than they are, and change less.
Another piece of it seems to be the belief that I wouldn't hurt my friends or family, and they wouldn't hurt me, which at best, and often, is true of intentional acts.

[mtbc]

Maybe another element is that some people seem to think there's some shame in contracting COVID-19 so they don't want to insult those closer to them by suggesting that they might. At least, there seem to be oddly many not-elderly people lately who died of pneumonia or whatever but definitely not COVID-19, to hear their family tell it.