[_jgdh]

I think the 2020 experience has taught us a bit more about people. 9/11 was horrifying and traumatising, but perhaps less because of the death toll (3000) and more because you could see footage of those people dying, played over and over. Sure, 3000+ people died of Covid yesterday, but they all did it out of sight. So it’s possible for some people to dismiss it for any number of reasons - statistics aren’t accurate, those people had other underlying health issues, they would have died of the flu anyway. Most of all, we only see the statistic. We don’t have to actually watch someone die because the virus prevented them from breathing, far away from their family.

Speaking of which, this is also probably why the BLM movement gained widespread support. Statistics showing unequal policing have existed for a long time, but they are easy to ignore. Any person who watched the 8:46 video of a man being suffocated couldn’t ignore it.

We like to think we’re data driven, but we’re actually emotionally and visually driven. Statistics should convince people, but it doesn’t. A video of towers falling or a man being suffocated are much more likely to change people’s minds.

[dazag]

It seems to me, that the problem lies with understanding. You can watch 300 chart and do not understand anything, though, you understand watching people dying. It's not emoution or visual, it's understanding. People don't jump into a hole they know it can kill them, but they will walk into a mortal gas room without noticing, because they don't know it. So yes, there is a huge lack of education and relevant information in society

[twiceaday]

It is tempting to call this understanding because people switched their mind to the position that the data points to, but I doubt there is any real understanding going on. Their sense of reality was warped by things they saw on repeat in the media that disproportionally highlighted certain outlier examples. This is not an environment where solid understanding happens and good decisions get made. For some it will be a call to action to look at the real data. But I think most people will simply be emotionally manipulated by the cherry-picking and lies of omission. Such people are uneasy allies to reality. They are doing the right things for the wrong reasons. When underlying circumstances change their 'understanding' will fail to course correct and they will again need to be shown what to think. And the media coverage waning will directly correspond to their 'understanding' of the severity waning as well.

[ergocoder]

On an unrelated matter that also shows strong out-of-sight-out-of-mind attitude is tipping.

You often only tip if you see the person. If you don't see them(e.g. line cook), you don't tip. Such a strange way of compensating people.

[DoctorOetker]

Here in Belgium tipping is not really conventional, except in higher echelons of society. Some people do give tips sometimes. Usually its preagreed to pool all the tips into one pot for the shift and then divided amongst the employees. (a girl from the middle east working in the kitchen of a bar here in Belgium told me thats how they do it)

[CaptainZapp]

> Usually its preagreed to pool all the tips into one pot for the shift and then divided amongst the employees

That, probably, is restaurant specific. Some places pool the tips and the kitchen staff is also part of the pot in other places the server gets to keep the tips.

The American model of tipping (like 20% essentially mandatory) really annoys me. I say that as a person who usually tips quite generously, but it's really not my business as a paying patron to be responsible for the staff salaries.

Raise the damn prices already and let a tip really be a tip.

[piva00]

What I really dislike about the American model of tipping is exactly that: it's basically mandatory. If you don't tip (or tip below the "socially acceptable" for a good service) you are the asshole. Not only that, it's deceiving, I had to always do mental arithmetic to figure out how much things really cost in the end, or be side-eyed by service people when I didn't know better.

And I'm not even including the perverse incentives of constant bajulation of the customer, the fake happiness and cheery attitude ground me quite a bit after the third or fourth restaurant...

I don't need that, I need a menu, someone who can see when I want to order, bring my food and drinks and let me be and enjoy my meal. The constant pestering by waiters if I wanted something else, if I was ready for this or that, it just made me feel like part of some machine to extract as much revenue as possible in the least time.

I ate in quite a few places in the US, from street food vendors to high-end restaurants and I have to say I barely enjoyed most of the experiences, it's just too much.

[joeseppy]

I don't tip more than a few dollars unless the server did something well or was especially nice. Seems like many servers these days just expect the 20% bonus just for taking an order and carrying food around, regardless of attitude

[rrrrrrrrrrrryan]

Culturally, tipping is supposed to be additional compensation for emotional labor.

If you work a job where you you're expected to put on a smile and maybe banter with the customer, even though your dog just died this morning, you might qualify for a tip. If your job allows you to frown occasionally, you don't.

[gremlinsinc]

Why do you think video media networks get cult-like following over radio or print (in that order).

Radio and video you can elicit emotion. Video, more-so. Ever listen to Tucker Carlson? His voice is almost hypnotic and he feels like a friend, one I'd love to punch, esp. for making me think that.

Limbaugh? His voice probably makes some people trust him, or build a rapport with him.

It's all about psychology, just an observation I've had recently. I find if you try to listen to news without 'clinging to personalities' and 'personal biases' (not an easy task), you can get more 'facts', than 'opinion'. Sticking to print media from trusted publications is another way, but then - 'trusted by who' leftists, rightists, centrists?

I'd love to see a media network that's all round table discussions - but you've got like TYT vs FOX vs CNN vs MSNBC hosts on each round-table. At least you get ALL view points, opposed to one.

[sverhagen]

So, sarcastic idea here, though I could see it happen in this crazy world: people changing their mind about the pandemic after watching a new, daily blockbuster reality show that follows a family who attracted the virus, and seeing them go through the agony of some of their family members not surviving. Why watch actors somewhere else instead. I don't expect to see this on ABC or NBC, but some of the B-list cable channels would certainly jump on the chance to buy the rights on this one.

[ghthor]

If you watch the full video, it's clear that he wasn't suffocated by the police but was experiencing a drug overdose. Doesnt mean the police did the right thing, but he was resisting arrest.

[andi999]

Also usually on any given day in the US on average 7500 people die.

[yread]

Yes, the worst hit areas (Northern Italy, Belgium, Czech Republic) usually get to doubling the usual death rate. So, there is still room to grow. US is much larger and more diverse though so you would have to have a massive surge in all states at once