A Digression of Sorts

I spend most of my time here talking about technology, and acquiring and using one's skills. What I haven't really talked about is the why. Why study this, why learn this, why write about it? The why is just as important as the how. I firmly believe humans are meant to explore and build. We also have a tremendous desire to determine how it all fits together and where we stand within it. Our science, art, religion, and our very cultures are a reflection of this desire. We also have a need to understand the way things work so that we may prosper as an individual and as a species. Anything that furthers this goal of knowing we undertake. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

The Covid-19 pandemic is an excellent example and has brought a few things into better focus for me. I have worked my whole adult life around hazardous materials and under hazardous conditions. It's not my death or injury that concerns me, I'm used to taking that into account. A pandemic, and the response to it, potentially threatens our society and that is an entirely different matter.

Back in February no one knew much about this disease and it's potential for causing casualties. It was assumed, rightly or wrongly, that there would be mass casualties and the quarantine measures started going into effect. The first part of my response was trivial for me. If there were any risks to be taken they would be examined, planned for, and I would take them. In operational risk management the first thing you do is limit the number of people exposed to the risk. So among other things that meant driving to the various places my children and other family members live to deliver supplies and tend to needed maintenance so they could limit their exposure.

One of those trips involved travelling to Seal Beach. I hit the 405 in the San Fernando Valley and it was empty. Not just light traffic, but empty. It was the fastest I have ever crossed the LA metro area in my life. At that point I knew this won't go on, no society can survive under these conditions. Humans are social creatures and everything we do revolves around interacting with other people. Business, love, entertainment, everything. We don't just do it because we enjoy it, we must have it. Consequently, regardless of government decrees people will risk exposure, it is and was inevitable.

This is where my secondary response came in. Our experience and current state of knowledge can only take us so far in a novel situation.  I have no time for people that cannot or will not provide me with good information that I can use to help me make decisions. People in government and the news business have been sorely lacking in this case. Just on the role of masking they couldn't present a coherent story. I have never expected much from government, and even less from journalists, and in that regard they were successful. If this meant I must delve into the basics of disease transmission/mitigation to develop a better understanding, so be it. Mathematics and proper analytical techniques are fine tools.

If I can then transfer information to someone else that helps dispel some of their uncertainty so much the better. That is why.