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Your take on COVID-19, Peanut Gallery

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  • Your take on COVID-19, Peanut Gallery

    EDIT: Please post feed back to the peanut gallery: http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/sh...Peanut-Gallery

    The COVID-19 pandemic is now affecting virtually every aspect of life. As of the time I write this (9:00 a.m. CT), the number of confirmed infections globally is on track to pass 400,000 in an hour or two and will likely top 500,000 by today's end. In the US, we're currently at 46,000 confirmed infections. Given the recent acceleration in the rate of spread (for 6 days now, our expansion rate has amounted to doubling every 2.3 days), we will be at 6 figures by Friday. Across the globe, governments have been instituting various lock-down efforts to attempt to slow the virus's spread. For many countries, the measures taken have been done so at tremendous and unprecedented economic expense. The US appears to be on a trajectory for unemployment levels that exceed what the country saw during the Great Depression. The stock market has been plummeting and threatens to wipe out accumulated wealth and retirement savings of a vast swath of the populace.

    We've all got our own internal mental model of the "big picture": where we are, how we got here, what we're doing about it, and where we're headed (one week from now, one month from now, and one year from now). We also harbor a pretty solid sense of "what we should be doing" (i.e. if Bald Ape was calling the shots, here's what we'd be doing, and here's how "the Bald Ape way" would fix everything).

    However, most discussions of COVID-19 (here and elsewhere) focus on individual topics: toilet paper hoarding, PPE shortages, rise in gun sales, Italy's plight, whether "Chinese virus" is racist, etc., etc. Lots of people weigh in on these, but all we see are how these discrete topics intersect with the participants' "big picture". This forces us into the "3 blind men trying to describe an elephant by touch" mode when it comes to understanding where someone is coming from and what they mean when they respond to a thread with a single emoji.

    This thread is intended to be an opportunity for each of us to just put out our respective "big picture" conceptions. Some guidelines:
    • This is not a discussion thread: it's a collection of monologues. After posting this, I'll start a peanut-gallery thread so everyone can do what discussion forums are meant to do: tear each other's worldviews to shreds and dance around in the subsequent confetti party.
    • These are March 24-March 25 snapshots- what you believe right now. If you're going to contribute, do so before midnight of March 25 (early morning March 26 for the stragglers). I will request the thread be locked in 48 hours (around 9:00 a.m. CT March 26). After that time, editing or deleting of anything written, either by the author or by mods/admins, may be considered a form of unethical revisionism.
    • There is no set structure, but do try to cover the big 3: where we are, how we got here, and where we're going; and, optionally, your take on what people/societies should be doing differently
    • Take your time. I'm going to submit my post as a follow up, but I don't expect to have it ready until later tonight.
    • Before March 26, feel free to edit and polish up your post... fix typos, clarify wording, update statistics, or even expand on subtopics you might have inadvertently excluded. I'm hoping the peanut gallery yields a lot of constructive feedback (e.g. "what did you mean by X?" or "You left a zero off, that number should be 500 not 50").
    • Be thorough: omitting a particular topic may be taken to mean you consider it of less import than topics you include.
    • Be concise: aim for 500 words, cap at 750 words. (for perspective, this sentence is at the 625-word point of this post).



    Goals:
    1. People can point to their post on this thread if they feel it adds clarity to their take on a specific COVID-19-related subject.
    2. People can point to others' posts in this thread if they feel someone is being inconsistent with what they put here.
    3. In peanut gallery thread, we can compare things that actually happen to how people thought they would unfold as of March 25.
    4. If this proves successful/popular, in 10 days, I'll start an April 4 edition. Basically a chance for people to revise and update their March 25 posts to reflect how things in the world have changed and, perhaps, how their own perspectives have changed.
    Last edited by Bald Ape; 03-24-2020, 09:47 AM.

  • #2
    Your take on COVID-19, Peanut Gallery

    META: I don't start many threads, so I hope I'm not penalized for doing two in a row.

    This thread is meant for discussion of things people post in the "Your take on COVID-19" thread (or to discuss the thread itself - suggest new guidlelines, request clarifications, or just tell me what an all around stupid idea you think it is).

    No rules; no holds barred.

    Comment


    • #3
      I'll start with some constructive criticism. I feel I should pull this chunk out of the thread and incorporate into my own personal post:
      The COVID-19 pandemic is now affecting virtually every aspect of life. As of the time I write this (9:00 a.m. CT), the number of confirmed infections globally is on track to pass 400,000 in an hour or two and will likely top 500,000 by today's end. In the US, we're currently at 46,000 confirmed infections. Given the recent acceleration in the rate of spread (for 6 days now, our expansion rate has amounted to doubling every 2.3 days), we will be at 6 figures by Friday. Across the globe, governments have been instituting various lock-down efforts to attempt to slow the virus's spread. For many countries, the measures taken have been done so at tremendous and unprecedented economic expense. The US appears to be on a trajectory for unemployment levels that exceed what the country saw during the Great Depression. The stock market has been plummeting and threatens to wipe out accumulated wealth and retirement savings of a vast swath of the populace.
      My intent was to set a somber tone with some objective facts; however I now realize that there's a subjective quality to this: my actual choice of which facts/statistics to include has a bias toward my personal perspective. This violates my greater intent: to start a thread without slant or bias wherein people can just weigh in on the aspects of this they think are important. This is a theological forum, and I shouldn't be too surprised if many respondents feel such stats are insignificant when juxtaposed with , say, their Christian take on things. Maybe some people will have a coronavirus "big picture" of prophecy fulfillment, wherein things like exponential rate of infection or lethality are utterly inconsequential.

      I think I should strike my paragraph altogether - will do so if nobody disagrees in next hour or so (gotta switch gears from discussion board)

      Moderated By: DesertBerean

      This IS a discussion board. Merging with the other thread since it's the same topic.

      ***If you wish to take issue with this notice DO NOT do so in this thread.***
      Contact the forum moderator or an administrator in Private Message or email instead. If you feel you must publicly complain or whine, please take it to the Padded Room unless told otherwise.

      Last edited by DesertBerean; 03-24-2020, 01:46 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Moderator Notice

        Threads merged.

        ***If you wish to take issue with this notice DO NOT do so in this thread.***
        Contact the forum moderator or an administrator in Private Message or email instead. If you feel you must publicly complain or whine, please take it to the Psychotherapy Room unless told otherwise.

        Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Bald Ape View Post
          I will request the thread be locked in 48 hours (around 9:00 a.m. CT March 26). After that time, editing or deleting of anything written, either by the author or by mods/admins, may be considered a form of unethical revisionism.
          Just for your information:

          Members are not able to edit their posts if it has been longer than 45 minutes since it was posted (last I checked) and an "edited by" note with timestamp automatically appears at the bottom of a post that has been edited by anyone, mod or no, if it was edited more than three minutes after it was posted.
          Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by QuantaFille View Post
            Just for your information:

            Members are not able to edit their posts if it has been longer than 45 minutes since it was posted (last I checked) and an "edited by" note with timestamp automatically appears at the bottom of a post that has been edited by anyone, mod or no, if it was edited more than three minutes after it was posted.
            I think it's two minutes. And if someone's post gets edited by a mod there is a reason for it not because of "unethical revisionism"

            I'm always still in trouble again

            "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
            "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
            "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

            Comment


            • #7
              A heartfelt apology. Well, two.

              First and foremost, I'm sorry for having implied participants on this board would be prone to revisionism. I'm especially sorry for implying that the mods and admins who volunteer their time and energy to running and supporting theologyweb.com would allow or themselves engage in any such nonsense.

              Second, I apologize for the self-importance and egoism that I exuded in these two (now merged) threads. I had an idea for a post (or series of posts) that I felt could grow into a handy resource for the forum. The humble and community-centric approach would've have been to start a discussion: "Hey, does anyone think this (or something like it) would be worth trying? Any thoughts on how it might work?" Instead, I enamored myself with how very great and wonderful my idea was; built it myself; and shoved it down y'alls throats (with an arrogant "my way or the highway" air).

              Anyway, I did this wrongly. Gonna reflect a bit on how to keep my ego in check going forward.

              Comment


              • #8
                A heartfelt apology. Well, two.

                First and foremost, I'm sorry for having implied participants on this board would be prone to revisionism. I'm especially sorry for implying that the mods and admins who volunteer their time and energy to running and supporting theologyweb.com would allow or themselves engage in any such nonsense.

                Second, I apologize for the self-importance and egoism that I exuded in these two (now merged) threads. I had an idea for a post (or series of posts) that I felt could grow into a handy resource for the forum. The humble and community-centric approach would've have been to start a discussion: "Hey, does anyone think this (or something like it) would be worth trying? Any thoughts on how it might work?" Instead, I enamored myself with how very great and wonderful my idea was; built it myself; and shoved it down y'alls throats (with an arrogant "my way or the highway" air).

                Anyway, I did this wrongly. Gonna reflect a bit on how to keep my ego in check going forward.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Bald Ape View Post
                  A heartfelt apology. Well, two.

                  First and foremost, I'm sorry for having implied participants on this board would be prone to revisionism. I'm especially sorry for implying that the mods and admins who volunteer their time and energy to running and supporting theologyweb.com would allow or themselves engage in any such nonsense.

                  Second, I apologize for the self-importance and egoism that I exuded in these two (now merged) threads. I had an idea for a post (or series of posts) that I felt could grow into a handy resource for the forum. The humble and community-centric approach would've have been to start a discussion: "Hey, does anyone think this (or something like it) would be worth trying? Any thoughts on how it might work?" Instead, I enamored myself with how very great and wonderful my idea was; built it myself; and shoved it down y'alls throats (with an arrogant "my way or the highway" air).

                  Anyway, I did this wrongly. Gonna reflect a bit on how to keep my ego in check going forward.
                  I think it is a good idea, one of the hard things is to assess how ideas compare over time, even out own ideas alter over time.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Bald Ape View Post
                    A heartfelt apology.
                    Don't let the counts fool ya. I've been posting with these folks for nearly twenty years now, through two board crashes that erased nearly everything we've written, and with some of them before that on a predecessor Board That Shall Not Be Named. I love even the guys and gals I hate on here.

                    Comment

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