Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General How did Common Sense Die?

Was it neglect? Murder? Suicide? Or was it all an illusion to begin with?

Maslow created a conception to describe human behavior he called the "hierarchy of needs". Above the most basic level of survival, was safety, then love/belonging and then, more esoterically, esteem. It's a useful rubric in understanding behavior and follows what is normally described as "common sense".

In recent days, however, Maslow's hierarchy has been inverted. Logically, common sense would dictate that one would take steps, for example, to survive a plague, one of those basic need, but instead people are protesting "common sense" measures like masks, vaccines and social distancing in favor of esteem or more esoteric issues. Other than "crazy", I don't know how to describe these people. Is this an indication that common sense is dead, or on vacation, or what?

If it helps at all, Mazlow’s Theory isn’t the be-all and end-all that it used to be, in large part because it’s not verifiable. It’s still widely used though; I’m not contradicting you, just offering you an option.

It's an indication that SARS-COV2 actually causes brain damage, even among those who had asymptomatic infections. This is not really so far-fetched. It certainly can cause Long Covid in people who didn't even know they were infected, with all sorts of neurological symptoms like "brain fog", loss of smell, insomnia, fatigue, lack of concentration, etc. My wife tells me victims are losing weight because food smells like gasoline or cigar smoke.

Pondering, I think I missed something, and as I have a cousin with “long” I’d like to be sure I understand. What is the indication that Covid causes brain damage, and do you know where I can read more?

In the near complete absence of data or context, my opinion is, “Yes.”

One comment relative to modern usage of the term as an argumentative proof is that claiming the turf of common sense is self negating. The reason being that if there is an argument being had about a subject, the sense is, by definition, not common. This might fit the illusion category.

I do think electronic communication has enhanced the untempered frequency and degree of the appearance of uncommon sense, so there’s that. Could be an example of neglect.

And the viral opportunity to spread uncommon sense is extraordinary. Perhaps that fits suicide.

And, there is an industry specializing in the trade of uncommon sense as an intentional endeavor. That would be murder.

I would add that the speed and complexity of life adds to it. There is so much complexity in everything. I have no idea what my phone contract says. There are more cycles on my washer than I can ever use. I don’t use half the buttons on my remote control. The manual for my car, which is the size of a trade paperback (maybe larger) has a page and a half of directions and two small, nonsensical tables — to explain the freakin’ headlight controls.

Those are simple, minor frustrations but we deal with them, and others, every day - and small frustrations build up, unnoticed. But they eat time and brain cells.

Who has time to put in the time and/or effort to identify an issue we’re supposed to care about, figure out who has the best information? And then actually think about it? Especially if it doesn’t directly affect our lives. Let somebody else think about, and we’ll just adopt whatever sounds good.

I guess they used to call it information overload. It takes up an awful ot of time, energy, and brain cells.

Sorry. /rant

That is half the name of the site.

Julia, the information about neurological damage is out there in some published scientific papers. I watch a lot of This Week in Virology (TWIV) on YouTube and they spend a few hours each week reviewing the literature regarding Covid. Mostly peer-reviewed and journal published, so pretty reliable. I can't recall exactly which one, but it was discussed. They actually have 800 2 hour discussions, but if you want the latest info in incredible depth, you could just watch the last 10 or so. They alternate between discussions of papers among virologists, immunologists, and evolutionary biologists. They also do a weekly report from Dr. Daniel Griffin, the leader of a large medical group treating lots of Covid patients. The past couple of weeks they have been talking more about Long Covid in both adults and children.

Ok, thanks, that’s probably going to be a bit more than I can handle; I’ve tried reading scientific papers before and I’m not up to it. MaybeI’ll start with the CDC. But I’m grateful to you for letting me know the Covid/brain issue was out there - it had gone right by me.

I can only offer my own personal firsthand experience.
In February 2020 I caught the virus, and after a day or two of steadily worsening symptoms I found myself wandering into the ER, where the staff CLEARLY had no clue other than a couple of news items they MIGHT have read about.
My oxygen levels went into the 70's and I coded, then woke up on oxygen for a few hours.
They didn't diagnose me other than saying "acute respiratory distress".
They gave me prednisone, which I HATED (because it made me feel like being back on crack again) and they sent me home with a pocket full of asthma puffers. I spent the next three weeks feeling like I was breathing through a straw, and my O2 levels did not get back into even the high eighties until almost a month later. I might have gotten about two or three hours of sleep a week during that 3-week period.
I couldn't sleep because it felt like drowning.

I STILL only feel like I am maybe 75% back to where I used to be now, nineteen months later.
I am guessing it will never be one hundred percent. 😟
I still have little to no sense of smell, balance issues and my breathing is still very labored.
I look at stuff I wrote two years ago and I do NOT recognize it, it's like I am reading something written by a stranger.
COVID BRAIN sucks bad.