Post A2m7JrfdVi8NFWfmNM by cosmic@weirder.earth
(DIR) More posts by cosmic@weirder.earth
(DIR) Post #A2lyZGqRIQsk59ztAm by mithrandir@pl.wizards.zone
2020-12-31T21:37:04.822465Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
There is no reason to expect the year 2021 to be substantially better than 2020.It'll probably be different, but that is not the same as better.
(DIR) Post #A2m3FzRWGu5WNby0KO by murmuration@mastodon.online
2020-12-31T22:16:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mithrandir come to think of it, when was the last time a year was better than the one before it?
(DIR) Post #A2m3FzajidScqCHMh6 by mithrandir@pl.wizards.zone
2020-12-31T22:29:35.730148Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@murmuration for me personally? Happens all the time.On a really big scale? Idk it was nice when the big CA drought broke
(DIR) Post #A2m3IqncrdwQRQferI by mithrandir@pl.wizards.zone
2020-12-31T22:30:08.333217Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@murmuration (by "happens all the time" I mean like, every other year on average)
(DIR) Post #A2m4SOI7oMXMsK38d6 by murmuration@mastodon.online
2020-12-31T22:34:59Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mithrandir yeah personally, same here! But globally, it’s hard to say any year since the turn of the century has been nominally better than any preceding year.
(DIR) Post #A2m4SR0ViJEJIYpc5g by mithrandir@pl.wizards.zone
2020-12-31T22:43:02.940062Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@murmuration yeup. Been a pretty steady decline in pretty much every way for*checks notes* my entire life
(DIR) Post #A2m4VGt9n5vKmikE40 by amiloradovsky@functional.cafe
2020-12-31T22:43:18Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@mithrandir "Better" implies "different", but not vice versa, of course. I would say that 2020 was difficult, instead of bad. Seems like we've all got some pretty unique experiences, not all of which were strictly bad.If this year will be just less pushy, I'll consider it an improvement.
(DIR) Post #A2m7JrfdVi8NFWfmNM by cosmic@weirder.earth
2020-12-31T22:52:09Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mithrandir like there’s no reason to expect any year to be better but there’s always reason to hope it will be better
(DIR) Post #A2m7JrputUMDlPTzOq by mithrandir@pl.wizards.zone
2020-12-31T23:15:07.298067Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@cosmic Sure... that's why I said "expect", not "hope".Although at this point, I've pretty much stopped hoping for a better overall world, at least in my lifetime. Instead I hope for good things on a littler scale. Much better, because then hope is a catalyst for action rather than a vague wish.
(DIR) Post #A2mDorKzOjrWv1B67U by Verdigris@cybre.space
2021-01-01T00:23:26Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mithrandir Better for whom? Better by what value system?For myself, I have reasonable expectation that sometime in 2021 my high-risk status in our current pandemic will result in vaccination. Not having to give a rat’s ass about the personal (rather than collective) safety effects of whether others around me have decided to mask up will make whatever of 2021 is left after that immeasurably better than all of 2020 put together.
(DIR) Post #A2mDorWghFDhVIeRM0 by mithrandir@pl.wizards.zone
2021-01-01T00:27:56.841231Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Verdigris your questions will remain gloriously open-ended.But as to vaccination, there are circulating strains of coronavirus that are not caught by antibodies for other strains! So that's fun. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.04.355842v1.full-text
(DIR) Post #A2mKLSn0HuL646DAxM by Verdigris@cybre.space
2021-01-01T01:31:33Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@mithrandir Keeping in mind that the article has yet to pass peer review, right now they appear to be saying that only “a proportion” of recovered people have inadequate antibody-mediated response to the new strain(s). Given that I’ve read a case study or two about people who repeatedly tested positive, recovered, and at no point had a detectable antibody response to the virus, there seems to be more than just antibodies involved in beating it off.Regardless, I don’t expect that anyone will be going maskless without significant risk at any point in the near future. But I do expect enough reduction in my personal risk that I can stand down a bit. To the point of, say, only wearing a respirator in indoor public spaces, rather than barely leaving my home for months because the people around me can’t be trusted to follow basic safety protocols.
(DIR) Post #A2mKLT2xKb6ErZfuoy by mithrandir@pl.wizards.zone
2021-01-01T01:41:05.100777Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Verdigris indeed, there are other forms of immunity. But antibody immunity is the kind that vaccines confer, I believe.This variant is also not new. In the article they said it was sequenced in June and has emerged multiple times.You are correct that vaccination is good. I just don't think the future can be predicted very confidently.