Chatting to a social psychologist this morning who said that watching people 'losing their minds' over Covid19 has been an excellent case study on how fear overrides all rational thinking and reasoning. She referred to it as "mass fear-induced hysterical derangement syndrome".

I asked for her views on how decades of scientific literature were being replaced with guesswork. She said 'in times of fear people more so than ever look to have that fear confirmed so will accept any reasoning, no matter how junk it may be, that confirms their vulnerability.'

"Face-masks are a great sub-study. It doesn't matter that their use in such settings isn't supported by science. When fearful, people look to authority to protect them. Try reasoning with them and they'll lash out because they see you as part of that threat to their survival."