quote:“Here is the problem: laypeople look to people they consider experts to answer their uneducated questions. The reason they have questions in the first place is that they have seen something on TV, read something on a blog, in a newspaper or other non-scientific publications, heard a neighbor say something in a bar, or have heard the calm and soothing voices of politicians saying that there is no need for panic. Panic? Was there some tendency to panic before they said that? Is there panic now that they have said there is no need for panic?”
“The media are trying to sell their products, not trying to educate anyone. Governments are trying to show that they are on top of things, that they are competent to provide safety and security for the citizens of their country. The Obama administration certainly does not want to be seen as responding to a disaster as incompetently as the previous administration responded to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Sometimes that adds up to people stirring an unstirred pot to show they can handle a stirred pot. There are more examples of this than I could possibly include in this or in hundreds of columns.”
“Colloquial expressions such as swine flu, canine flu, equine flu, bird flu, etc. are used, but these terms are neither accurate nor sufficiently descriptive. If those to whom swine represents something forbidden, what about elephant flu (might make you gain weight), dog flu (might make you turn around 3 times before you lie down), or administrator flu (makes you want to lock doors, kick people out of parking spaces, and write more rules)? The virus is the virus, the host is (not so simply) a vehicle.”
