[majormajor]

> Still, barring the political stuff (supposing that's possible)—your comment implies that people who wear masks do so because they are educated. I'd suggest that it is far more likely that they do so because they are deferential to authority by default.

Authorities in the US initially said don't wear masks as private citizens. There was a groundswell of people saying "it's not a panacea, but it's quite probably worth doing for everybody" to get them to change their position and admit the original one was based more on trying to avoid a shortage than on anything about efficacy. That pushback seemed to come from an educated populace.