Chatting to a social psychologist this morning who said that watching people & #39;losing their minds& #39; 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 & #39;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.& #39;

"Face-masks are a great sub-study. It doesn& #39;t matter that their use in such settings isn& #39;t supported by science. When fearful, people look to authority to protect them. Try reasoning with them and they& #39;ll lash out because they see you as part of that threat to their survival."