'In the face of uncertainty, we are biased to perceive the world as we would like it to be' — a psychology professor explains why so many people are ignoring the risks of COVID-19 (by Dennis Proffitt)
Beach closures in Hermosa Beach, California are part of an effort to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.Dennis Proffitt is an author and the commonwealth professor of psychology emeritus at the University of Virginia.
More than 20 states now require that face masks be worn in public, other states have left the choice of legal mandates up to municipalities, and currently two states have no regulations at all. Medical science is unequivocal in advocating the wearing of face masks as a means to curb the spread of COVID-19. Nevertheless, many people, including some state governors refuse to act on this advice and instead argue that people should be free to choose whether to wear masks or not.
Third, our intelligence abandons us when we try to reason about facts that conflict with our personal biases.that people's political leanings can interfere with their abilities to do simple arithmetic. Consider, for example, the following hypothetical problem, which has no political implications: In August 2018, 480 people went to a hospital's emergency room and 24 of them had dengue fever.
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