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Why is our freakout mode skewed? Why does God make us this way?

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
It has always struck me as odd the sorts of things we freak out over. For example, people worry about planes crashing, but drive in cars daily, and the odds of cars crashing and causing severe bodily damage and even death are so much higher. The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

The current freak out is the coronavirus. I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic.

But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu. In the US this year so far (flu season ends in May) we have had 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized (who knows how many have stayed home with the flu?). Deaths so far have been between somewhere around 20,000 and growing. It was only two years ago that in the 2017-2018 season, we had 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths due to the virus.

So where is all the virus maintenance for the flu? Where is all the media hype? I think it is because, like cars and sugar, it is simply a fact of life that we all have always had with us as long as we can remember. It is not new and foreign.

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????
 

Rational Agnostic

Well-Known Member
It has always struck me as odd the sorts of things we freak out over. For example, people worry about planes crashing, but drive in cars daily, and the odds of cars crashing and causing severe bodily damage and even death are so much higher. The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

The current freak out is the coronavirus. I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic.

But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu. In the US this year so far (flu season ends in May) we have had 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized (who knows how many have stayed home with the flu?). Deaths so far have been between somewhere around 20,000 and growing. It was only two years ago that in the 2017-2018 season, we had 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths due to the virus.

So where is all the virus maintenance for the flu? Where is all the media hype? I think it is because, like cars and sugar, it is simply a fact of life that we all have always had with us as long as we can remember. It is not new and foreign.

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????

I think the idea is that the coronavirus has a higher mortality rate than the flu (although how much higher is unknown).

However, you make a good point. Tuberculosis affects 10,000,000 people per year, and kills 1,000,000-2,000,000 people per year, and has a mortality rate of 10-20% (much higher in immune-compromised individuals). TB, like corona, is a highly contagious airborne disease. It's true that it most severely affects people with somewhat compromised immune systems, but the same can be said of coronavirus.

Coronavirus so far has affected 525,700 people and killed 23,711. Certainly it's a concerning disease, but unlikely to be as devastating as tuberculosis on a global scale. Yet of course, the media never talks about TB because it's an old disease.
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
It has always struck me as odd the sorts of things we freak out over. For example, people worry about planes crashing, but drive in cars daily, and the odds of cars crashing and causing severe bodily damage and even death are so much higher. The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

The current freak out is the coronavirus. I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic.

But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu. In the US this year so far (flu season ends in May) we have had 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized (who knows how many have stayed home with the flu?). Deaths so far have been between somewhere around 20,000 and growing. It was only two years ago that in the 2017-2018 season, we had 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths due to the virus.

So where is all the virus maintenance for the flu? Where is all the media hype? I think it is because, like cars and sugar, it is simply a fact of life that we all have always had with us as long as we can remember. It is not new and foreign.

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????
I have thought about this, too. The difference between Flu and the C-19 virus is that the world has been able to track and measure the Coronavirus as it has spread. It was detected early and its progress measured and studied. It was determined through standard understandings and previous research about the rates of infection that this would spread quickly and overwhelm medical staff if not slowed.

Any place that doesn't take measures is going to see its hospitals overworked and short on respirators for that 3% of the population which will probably need them. This means its different from the flu. This has proven true and deadly in Italy which was not able to prepare. If only the virus transmission had slowed they could have saved many more people.

Another thing is that this is dress rehearsal for the next virus that comes. Future ones may not be as manageable, and this gives all the governments and medical institutions a rehearsal to see where we are weak in slowing down infections.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
It has always struck me as odd the sorts of things we freak out over. For example, people worry about planes crashing, but drive in cars daily, and the odds of cars crashing and causing severe bodily damage and even death are so much higher. The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

The current freak out is the coronavirus. I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic.

But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu. In the US this year so far (flu season ends in May) we have had 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized (who knows how many have stayed home with the flu?). Deaths so far have been between somewhere around 20,000 and growing. It was only two years ago that in the 2017-2018 season, we had 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths due to the virus.

So where is all the virus maintenance for the flu? Where is all the media hype? I think it is because, like cars and sugar, it is simply a fact of life that we all have always had with us as long as we can remember. It is not new and foreign.

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????

Because we are driven by our unconscious mind and our unconscious does not have the same ability to rationalize that our conscious mind does.

Your fears are your fears, your thoughts are your thought. It is natural to not question these fears and thoughts. What is natural is to react to them.

Questioning the feelings and thoughts created by our unconscious mind is unnatural but it is something we have to learn to do if we want to have any rational control over our lives.
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic. But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu.

What behavior are you calling freaking out? My wife and I have ceased receiving visitors and ceased going out except to purchase essential provisions, and then, we wash our hands, wipe down everything including the cloth shopping bags we take, keys and my wallet, then throw our clothes in the hamper and shower.

We support virtually no businesses other than grocers, and then only twice a week, so we are contributing to their financial hardship. Is that freaking out?

Sorry, but this is best for us and our community. Economics are not what is on our minds at this time.

My complaint is with those who aren't doing their part.
 

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
This is simple.
There is no God who cares what we believe, do, or what happens to us.
Tom

Whoa! hold on there .... Are you saying:

Sixth Day.jpg


  • God's the little guy? or
  • There is no little guy?
 
Last edited:

amorphous_constellation

Well-Known Member
The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

Well, maybe sugar is too big to fail. Our civilization, which is built on religion and money, sees the earth and the body as corporeal layers that the soul is due to merely shed. It ultimately doesn't give physical reality enough importance, in my view. My understanding is that we could actually build something closer to heaven right here, if we tried

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????

In biblical civilization, ultimately I think that maybe populaces become disturbingly fascinated with pandemics, because this ties in with their idea of the eschaton, an event in which the deity supposedly washes away all the problems in the world. Ultimately the new virus won't do this, but maybe people like to act like it will. It will merely become like those other things you describe, and exchange its novelty to become just another form of common misery, especially if it circulates alongside other viruses every year. Or maybe even in less time than that if it mutates quick enough, I don't know, I'm not a virologist. In my view however, the real god is in nature, and barely anybody at all connects with it to try and understand what is really rational
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
It has always struck me as odd the sorts of things we freak out over. For example, people worry about planes crashing, but drive in cars daily, and the odds of cars crashing and causing severe bodily damage and even death are so much higher. The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

The current freak out is the coronavirus. I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic.

But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu. In the US this year so far (flu season ends in May) we have had 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized (who knows how many have stayed home with the flu?). Deaths so far have been between somewhere around 20,000 and growing. It was only two years ago that in the 2017-2018 season, we had 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths due to the virus.

So where is all the virus maintenance for the flu? Where is all the media hype? I think it is because, like cars and sugar, it is simply a fact of life that we all have always had with us as long as we can remember. It is not new and foreign.

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????
Only 52% of Americans say they did or will get the flu shot this year. If it were a much higher number, the number of deaths would be much, much lower. Who should we blame for that?

I had the flu 17 or 18 years ago (when I was in my mid-fifties) and it was bloody horrible -- I was scared, I admit it. I've had the flu shot every year since, and I am happy to say (and probably lucky, as well) that I've been protected since. But the science says that even if I did manage to get the flu, the shot would very likely make it a lot less severe -- certainly less likely to cause my death. Trust me, I shall continue to get the vaccine year after year.

And when there is a vaccine for this novel Coronavirus, you can bet your booties that I'll get that, too. Of course, it is very likely that I'll be infected with it before then, and if that's the case, I can but hope that I'm one of the lucky ones that has symptoms short of dying. Meantime, I'll continue to wash my hands regularly and keep them away from my face. And keep my distance as much as possible.

People are, by the way, very often completely irrational. Look at how we gamble. The "house" doesn't lose, and the casino owners get rich because we can't accept that. Lotteries raise billions in what are rightly called a "tax on idiocy," because we can't figure out how truly awful our odds of coming out ahead are -- so we keep ponying up money that could be put to infinitely better use.

There is a way out of this irrationality, but I don't see it becoming prevalent any time soon. That way out is giving up our myths, and relying on information; learning a bit of mathematics and probability; learning a bit of science; learning to stop and think about what we're believing before we light the torches and form an unruly mob.

But those are all hard work, and I'm afraid I don't see a lot of people, especially in the US and Afghanistan and Iran, doing it.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
It has always struck me as odd the sorts of things we freak out over. For example, people worry about planes crashing, but drive in cars daily, and the odds of cars crashing and causing severe bodily damage and even death are so much higher. The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

The current freak out is the coronavirus. I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic.

But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu. In the US this year so far (flu season ends in May) we have had 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized (who knows how many have stayed home with the flu?). Deaths so far have been between somewhere around 20,000 and growing. It was only two years ago that in the 2017-2018 season, we had 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths due to the virus.

So where is all the virus maintenance for the flu? Where is all the media hype? I think it is because, like cars and sugar, it is simply a fact of life that we all have always had with us as long as we can remember. It is not new and foreign.

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????
Have you noticed that people tend to freak out when they're told that they should freak out?

I find it amazingly peculiar.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
It has always struck me as odd the sorts of things we freak out over. For example, people worry about planes crashing, but drive in cars daily, and the odds of cars crashing and causing severe bodily damage and even death are so much higher. The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

The current freak out is the coronavirus. I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic.

But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu. In the US this year so far (flu season ends in May) we have had 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized (who knows how many have stayed home with the flu?). Deaths so far have been between somewhere around 20,000 and growing. It was only two years ago that in the 2017-2018 season, we had 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths due to the virus.

So where is all the virus maintenance for the flu? Where is all the media hype? I think it is because, like cars and sugar, it is simply a fact of life that we all have always had with us as long as we can remember. It is not new and foreign.

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????

To me, unless people have new symptoms: an extra eye, drop dead when one is coughed on, etc, then maybe I can see it. The virus seems to be doing what nature does. So far, I haven't read anything that would make the virus more contagious than any other respiratory disease. Actually having it could be more or less different or worse than the flu etc but the spread? If you have shortness of breathe, traveled out of the country, sneezing and coughs, and been around people that have it, most likely that's a case. We don't have anything more specific to go on. We know the difference between cold, flu, and pneumonia. So, I think it's just a work in progress since all three are coronaviruses too.
 

Bird123

Well-Known Member
It has always struck me as odd the sorts of things we freak out over. For example, people worry about planes crashing, but drive in cars daily, and the odds of cars crashing and causing severe bodily damage and even death are so much higher. The cancer caused by smoking is so worrisome that smoking in most public places is outlawed, yet we routinely eat sugar, the main cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., which result in more deaths than smoking (in fact heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US).

The current freak out is the coronavirus. I'm not saying it isn't a real threat or that we should take strict measures to control the pandemic.

But what concerns me is that no one freaks out over the flu. In the US this year so far (flu season ends in May) we have had 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized (who knows how many have stayed home with the flu?). Deaths so far have been between somewhere around 20,000 and growing. It was only two years ago that in the 2017-2018 season, we had 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths due to the virus.

So where is all the virus maintenance for the flu? Where is all the media hype? I think it is because, like cars and sugar, it is simply a fact of life that we all have always had with us as long as we can remember. It is not new and foreign.

For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????




How about this: WE all have two halves: the Reason half and the Feeling half. One should always lead with the reason half. Why? If one leads with the feeling half, one could get lost in a sea of emotion. It's never fun being lost.

Those leading with the feeling half have been lost in fear. Without the reason half leading, people start doing crazy things such as hoarding toilet paper. Funny how that was the first thing bought out. Yes, it's never fun being lost.

OK, how do things change when one leads with reason? Take you for example. With reason, things do not seem so frightening. Thinking and logical actions will lead to solutions far quicker that hoarding toilet paper.

Why does all this happen? It's a lesson for all. Our choices and actions show God and the world what we need to learn. We all need to lead with that reason half. One does not have to give up feeling to do this.

If you see others engulfed in fear, calm them down, point them in the right direction, and get their reason half in front again.

Life is about learning and growing. Maybe in the next crisis they will remember the lesson you were teaching.

The only question that remains is what is my neighbor going to do with all those cases of toilet paper when all this virus pandemic finally comes to an end? That is when that light bulb will go off over their head and they will Understand.

That's what I see. It's very clear!! Think! Then Act!! The results are almost always better than simply reacting to things.
 

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
In biblical civilization, ultimately I think that maybe populaces become disturbingly fascinated with pandemics, because this ties in with their idea of the eschaton, an event in which the deity supposedly washes away all the problems in the world. Ultimately the new virus won't do this, but maybe people like to act like it will. It will merely become like those other things you describe, and exchange its novelty to become just another form of common misery, especially if it circulates alongside other viruses every year. Or maybe even in less time than that if it mutates quick enough, I don't know, I'm not a virologist. In my view however, the real god is in nature, and barely anybody at all connects with it to try and understand what is really rational
This is a darn good theory.
 

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
Only 52% of Americans say they did or will get the flu shot this year. If it were a much higher number, the number of deaths would be much, much lower. Who should we blame for that?

I had the flu 17 or 18 years ago (when I was in my mid-fifties) and it was bloody horrible -- I was scared, I admit it. I've had the flu shot every year since, and I am happy to say (and probably lucky, as well) that I've been protected since. But the science says that even if I did manage to get the flu, the shot would very likely make it a lot less severe -- certainly less likely to cause my death. Trust me, I shall continue to get the vaccine year after year.

And when there is a vaccine for this novel Coronavirus, you can bet your booties that I'll get that, too. Of course, it is very likely that I'll be infected with it before then, and if that's the case, I can but hope that I'm one of the lucky ones that has symptoms short of dying. Meantime, I'll continue to wash my hands regularly and keep them away from my face. And keep my distance as much as possible.

People are, by the way, very often completely irrational. Look at how we gamble. The "house" doesn't lose, and the casino owners get rich because we can't accept that. Lotteries raise billions in what are rightly called a "tax on idiocy," because we can't figure out how truly awful our odds of coming out ahead are -- so we keep ponying up money that could be put to infinitely better use.

There is a way out of this irrationality, but I don't see it becoming prevalent any time soon. That way out is giving up our myths, and relying on information; learning a bit of mathematics and probability; learning a bit of science; learning to stop and think about what we're believing before we light the torches and form an unruly mob.

But those are all hard work, and I'm afraid I don't see a lot of people, especially in the US and Afghanistan and Iran, doing it.
Really excellent post. Thank you for mentioning vaccines. I say thank God for Medical Science!!! I can't imagine having to live with illnesses like polio and smallpox. We simply take so much for granted.
 

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
What behavior are you calling freaking out? My wife and I have ceased receiving visitors and ceased going out except to purchase essential provisions, and then, we wash our hands, wipe down everything including the cloth shopping bags we take, keys and my wallet, then throw our clothes in the hamper and shower.

We support virtually no businesses other than grocers, and then only twice a week, so we are contributing to their financial hardship. Is that freaking out?

Sorry, but this is best for us and our community. Economics are not what is on our minds at this time.

My complaint is with those who aren't doing their part.
I would call hoarding when there are no food shortages freaking out.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
I would call hoarding when there are no food shortages freaking out.
I'd also call it thoroughly selfish. ;)

Someone stole my baby food right out of my cart a couple of days ago.
I have no baby but I have old cats with kidney disease who need that baby food.
Maybe the thief needed it too, but it was not on the shelf, it was in my cart. :mad:
 

ecco

Veteran Member
For some reason we have evolved this way.

Well, there ya go. It's just evolution. We fear the unknown - especially when the little we know about something is bad. Locusts come to mind. But I'm glad to see that you are rational enough to believe in evolution.

IMHO God is responsible for our evolution.

Oh, darn. You were doing so well. Why drag a bunch of myths into the picture?


My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????

Hint: Maybe he don't because he ain't.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
For some reason we have evolved this way. IMHO God is responsible for our evolution. My question is ... WHY? What purpose does this irrational tendency serve?????
I do not believe humans evolved this way. I believe we were given a rational soul by God but some people are irrational because they do not use what God gave them. ;)

“The human spirit which distinguishes man from the animal is the rational soul, and these two names—the human spirit and the rational soul—designate one thing. This spirit, which in the terminology of the philosophers is the rational soul, embraces all beings, and as far as human ability permits discovers the realities of things and becomes cognizant of their peculiarities and effects, and of the qualities and properties of beings. But the human spirit, unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities. It is like a mirror which, although clear, polished and brilliant, is still in need of light. Until a ray of the sun reflects upon it, it cannot discover the heavenly secrets.”
Some Answered Questions, pp. 208-209
 
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