One common site now a days is the blatant disregard for the need to wear mask by people in public places. Either masks are not worn or they are half worn up to chin only, as if pandemic has never been there. What explains this type of irrationality among people? Is it just indifference towards oneself and others or just psychological exhaustion among people? Whatever the reason, it is just not acceptable. Perhaps Psychology may have an explanation for this type of behavior?
In psychology there is a concept called as base rate neglect- a decision-making error in which information about the rate of occurrence of something in a population is ignored or not given appropriate weight, these calculations are made by brain unconsciously. In simple words, people have a tendency to judge the probability of something untoward happening erroneously.
People are already occupied by mundane activities and deadline. Working memory being occupied, mind’s ability to assess probability of getting infected from coronavirus gets diluted. Even if a person is surrounded by people in the crowd with no masks, which increases the probability of getting infected, mind will use heuristics and as per the current mood of the person will come to the conclusion that everything is fine and hence no need to keep watch on mask. Simply put, our own poor attention and lack of alertness to guard our mask is causing the pandemic to grow deadly.
One argument which is widely given is that it is impossible to wear masks for prolong period of time and also it is not natural for humans to wear mask. Yes it is tough and uncomfortable for everyone. But unfortunately this argument cannot become a reason to escape from our responsibilities.Little pain today can save many lives in future, more than compassion it is all about alertness and being mindful of our mask.We should not waste this opportunity to become more responsible about little things.
Our already shrunken attention span and irrational judgments should not decide the outcome of this pandemic.
Let us then, start by practicing mask mindfulness…
By:
DIVYE KARTIKEY
INTERN, BRAIN BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF INDIA
In psychology there is a concept called as base rate neglect- a decision-making error in which information about the rate of occurrence of something in a population is ignored or not given appropriate weight, these calculations are made by brain unconsciously. In simple words, people have a tendency to judge the probability of something untoward happening erroneously.
People are already occupied by mundane activities and deadline. Working memory being occupied, mind’s ability to assess probability of getting infected from coronavirus gets diluted. Even if a person is surrounded by people in the crowd with no masks, which increases the probability of getting infected, mind will use heuristics and as per the current mood of the person will come to the conclusion that everything is fine and hence no need to keep watch on mask. Simply put, our own poor attention and lack of alertness to guard our mask is causing the pandemic to grow deadly.
One argument which is widely given is that it is impossible to wear masks for prolong period of time and also it is not natural for humans to wear mask. Yes it is tough and uncomfortable for everyone. But unfortunately this argument cannot become a reason to escape from our responsibilities.Little pain today can save many lives in future, more than compassion it is all about alertness and being mindful of our mask.We should not waste this opportunity to become more responsible about little things.
Our already shrunken attention span and irrational judgments should not decide the outcome of this pandemic.
Let us then, start by practicing mask mindfulness…
By:
DIVYE KARTIKEY
INTERN, BRAIN BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF INDIA
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