Hi,

I run a fish & chip shop and only closed for 3 weeks right at the start of the lockdown only because there was noone coming out and it wasn't worth our while opening. Most my customers are sceptics and think it's all most bollocks although of course there are also a lot of people who have been brainwashed and fearful for their health (or rather their kids are).

I also had my annual meeting with my accountant yesterday, and everyone in the office is a full on sceptic and can't understand any of this and very critical of the nonsensical rules. The meeting was in their offices, no screens, no social distancing etc. (as is the case in my shop)

And of course the few close friends I have are also sceptics. There is one couple I know who I can't really read though. She's a fairly cautious person I feel, and has underlying health issues, though not unfit or unhealthy as such. He's a stickler for rules (Navy man) and will follow them although in all other circumstances is a sensible and competent person. I haven't really had a chance to talk to him in detail but he does know my views (I've sent him so many links to the data and alternative scientific views) and he hasn't ostracised me yet. He still insists on having 'social distanced' get togethers, though I'm not sure if he's saying this to wind me up (as he is prone to doing) or being serious.

I find it hard to tell. When I feel confident enough to share the sceptic message, folk are generally astonished by the facts and figures.. especially the number of deaths in Aus. If I tell people how few covid deaths there have been in Australia they just don't believe me. Those that give me the time to make my case will seem to agree that I may have a point but I feel they think it's just an opinion, and that the authorities must be right. Even my husband is sitting on the fence! It is fascinating how easily the majority can be so efficiently separated from their rationality and common sense. It is hugely depressing. And, for the first time in my 56 years I am actually beginning to believe that contra-thought is being censored. I am grateful for lockdown skeptics, but am disturbed by the right wing bias and the schoolboy name calling. It undermines a lot of the really good information being posted.

I am grateful for lockdown skeptics, but am disturbed by the right wing bias and the schoolboy name calling. It undermines a lot of the really good information being posted.

Welcome commonsense.

"Schoolboy name calling", such as using the term "schoolboy" (which becomes derogatory when applied to adults, male or female)?

As for the rest: cognitive dissonance is a bitch (difficult or unpleasant).

This is not a new phenomenon, the same sort of puerile name calling is directed at anyone who questions the role of carbon dioxide is climate change or the role of cholesterol in cardiovascular disease.
Don’t forget that Copernicus was reviled because he postulated a heliocentric view of the solar system, to the point that his book wasn’t published until after his death.
Galileo was put into house arrest because he agreed with Copernicus and saw spots on the perfect suns surface.
When Einstein was told of 100 people who didn’t agree with his theories he said it doesn’t need 100 to show where he is wrong, when 1 will suffice.
The difficulty is overcoming the momentum that ideas develop as they spread round the Internet, rationality goes out the window, this creates a serious inertia in trying to express alternative views even with good evidence.

I suspect that most people would not jump off a bridge when instructed to do so.

However, Stanley Milgram demonstrated that most people will obey legitimate authority (whether benevolent or malevolent) when combined with a presumption of scientific expertise. (Milgram, Stanley. 1974. Obedience to Authority; An Experimental View.)

His work generated a large body of clinical research on social influence (e.g., belief perseverance).