Since most of them are not exactly sweet (the politicians, that is)…
And, as Pat reminds me (oh, it is sooo nice to have friends who are medical librarians…) ..
Except … that original marshmallow study? Was later shown to be flawed, badly. It turns out what it was actually testing was not executive function or self-indulgence, but social determinants/influencers of health. Kids who were raised in scarcity, poverty, with a lack of resources had learned to not trust adults who said they could have more later, and figured a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.Of course, that doesn’t mean that it still doesn’t apply to the situation. I wonder what would have happened if the study had continued on for a year, and the poor kids gradually learned they could trust the researchers, and the rich kids decided they were bored with waiting, their parents will buy all the marshmallows they want at home.
Or, those with reasonable knowledge in science are able to figure out that ignoring the rules for five days is not going to improve their lives in the long run.
As one of the members of Island Knitters commented last night – “Is getting the family together this year important enough that you are willing to take the risk that some of them will be dead next year?”
It is not rich or poor in the case pretending the virus is also going to go on holiday … wait! The virus is going on holiday, but not as taking a break but happily going along to enjoy new locations, new groups of people, and overwhelming even more city, town, and rural health care systems.
There will be an excellent discussion today from UCSF Medical Grand Rounds at 1200 (PDT) on schools, vaccines distribution – link here. If you read this later, you can find the recording on YouTube under UCSF Grand Rounds.
Yes, we all need to make decisions on our own health and sanity. But also be aware that those decisions have far reaching ramifications on our families, our community, and our society affecting both those we know and individuals that we have never met.
I worry about what will happen here too. People seem to think that the virus only lives at quarantine sites. We are trying to do intensive tracking but the means of doing it are just not logical – not everyone owns a “smart phone” to check in that way (if they do it) and some of those who don’t own one cannot read or write English etc. We are going to a family gathering on Christmas Day if there are no community transmission cases reported – but I would be just as happy if we were not!
Hope you have had a Happy Hanukkah despite everything…and here is to 2021 being better than 2020
Hoping all is well with you and yours.