Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 4. Source pages: 2.
Winston Churchill once said, “If you’re going through hell, keep on going." Watching the epidemiologists trying to shut the barn door after the horse has left is topped only by the sad trial-and- error problem solving applied to holding back mother nature. "It’s not in the air. Oh wait, it is." "The masks protect the doctors but won't protect you. Oh wait, maybe they will." "Stay at home…oh, but it’s okay to go to the grocery store where everybody else is going." And their models don’t work, except to alarm everyone.
"Social distancing is working!" Well of course it is, why wouldn't it? It does shut down life as we know it on this planet––a small side effect. Nevertheless, I am extremely grateful that we have behavioral interventions so that the hospitals can do what they can for those seriously ill, and so we give ourselves time to find answers to save lives.
We’ve learned that hygiene behaviors help a lot. Hygiene is actually responsible for some of the biggest leaps in health in our history. Disinfectants, indoor toilets, and basic cleanliness.
We’ve also learned the downside of globalization. Cheap labor is not always as cheap as it might seem. We all knew a pandemic was coming sooner or later but none of the previous viruses really got our attention. As horrible as it is, I’m thankful the coronavirus isn’t the 30% killer it could’ve been, catching the whole world flat–footed. We also learned that China lies and the WHO is sadly short of competence.
One plus is the surge in our group problem-solving. Citizens have information tools they’ve never had before and they are more capable than ever of doing their own critical–thinking. (What else do they have to do stuck at home?) Anyone who was willing to search hydroxychloroquine knew it had potential, like Trump did, because it's a zinc ionophore. The French data was posted, and no secret. I'm waiting to see if Trump starts talking about Ivermectin.
Psychologists know that when people are empowered to do their own problem-solving they are more engaged in behavior change. Dependency on "experts" in this crisis gives way to independence and collaborative decision-making for health issues, characteristics that are sorely needed. Dr. Linda Brannon has said it in a beautifully succinct manner –– the healthcare system we now have was designed over half a century ago to solve problems and diseases that are now solved for the most part. The system we need is a completely new one for today’s health problems.
In the middle of all this chaos, one of the most enjoyable, gratifying experiences for me was to realize that the classically trained psychologists who somehow let me in to LSU in the 1970s taught me a thing or two. I feel pleasantly superior to know a bit about the value of quasi–experimental research designs, the difference between idiographic and nomothetic approaches, or the weaknesses due to the "tyranny of the mean."
I may be a mediocre researcher, or even a poor one, but I am sitting here, socially distancing, and feeling quite smug because at least I know the difference between "anecdotal" information and sources of potentially useful evidence for arriving at the truth.
But frankly, if I hear the word "granular" one more time, while I'm sheltering in place, I will scream.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.