06-25-2020, 05:53 AM
I came across this comment on Reddit that explains why some people refuse to wear masks. It seems so irrational to not wear a mask right now, but when viewed through the lens of a Loyalty Test it makes more sense albeit twisted and wrong.
"Mask wearing in the USA has become a loyalty test for certain groups of people. In most other countries dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, mask wearing is simply a preventative public health measure. In the USA, however President Trump initially downplayed the significance of the pandemic and was criticized for this. As a result he doubled down and signaled to his followers that their group should treat the disease as fake and that people taking the disease seriously would be enemies. As u/Boxboy7 correctly pointed out, Trump has explicitly signaled that people wearing face masks are his enemy.
Humans live in groups and Loyalty Tests are an important part of human social cohesion. A Loyalty Test involves some kind of social signal that tells other people what group you belong to. The bigger and more dangerous the signal is, the more valuable it is to your in-group. For example, Yakuza in Japan will get extravagant full body tattoos and cut off their pinky to demonstrate their loyalty to their group. Both demonstrate that you have put yourself through extreme amounts of pain and have permanently marked yourself as part of the gang. This is such an extreme expression of loyalty that you have basically stated to the group that you are with them forever until you die, because you literally cannot leave the gang and rejoin normal society because you are marked for life. In return the group will protect you.
All human social groups have Loyalty Tests and signals of one sort or another. Sometimes it's an obvious thing like flying a flag, or speaking with a recognizable accent or language. You could also be sharing certain articles or memes on social media. If you're filling up your posts with memes supporting BLM then you are clearly signalling your loyalty to a certain social group. They are often part of rituals, especially if you are seeking admission to a group. Think of hazing at college fraternities and sororities. Extreme hazing means you've earned your spot.
Seen in this way, face masks are sort of the ideal expression of loyalty to certain social groups in today's society. Face masks are a very visible marker, they are literally worn on the face, the seat of our identity. This has historical precedent, see the Anti-Facemask League that was formed as San Francisco dealt with the Spanish Flu in 1918. In general, Loyalty Tests are more powerful when they are socially visible and incur risk. If no one can see your action and if your action was easy and riskless, then it's kind of worthless at demonstrating your loyalty. Refusing to wear a face mask is extremely visible and incurs the risk of getting a debilitating disease and is thus an extremely powerful loyalty test."
https://old.reddit.com/r/TalesFromYourSe...k/fvspfvb/
"Mask wearing in the USA has become a loyalty test for certain groups of people. In most other countries dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, mask wearing is simply a preventative public health measure. In the USA, however President Trump initially downplayed the significance of the pandemic and was criticized for this. As a result he doubled down and signaled to his followers that their group should treat the disease as fake and that people taking the disease seriously would be enemies. As u/Boxboy7 correctly pointed out, Trump has explicitly signaled that people wearing face masks are his enemy.
Humans live in groups and Loyalty Tests are an important part of human social cohesion. A Loyalty Test involves some kind of social signal that tells other people what group you belong to. The bigger and more dangerous the signal is, the more valuable it is to your in-group. For example, Yakuza in Japan will get extravagant full body tattoos and cut off their pinky to demonstrate their loyalty to their group. Both demonstrate that you have put yourself through extreme amounts of pain and have permanently marked yourself as part of the gang. This is such an extreme expression of loyalty that you have basically stated to the group that you are with them forever until you die, because you literally cannot leave the gang and rejoin normal society because you are marked for life. In return the group will protect you.
All human social groups have Loyalty Tests and signals of one sort or another. Sometimes it's an obvious thing like flying a flag, or speaking with a recognizable accent or language. You could also be sharing certain articles or memes on social media. If you're filling up your posts with memes supporting BLM then you are clearly signalling your loyalty to a certain social group. They are often part of rituals, especially if you are seeking admission to a group. Think of hazing at college fraternities and sororities. Extreme hazing means you've earned your spot.
Seen in this way, face masks are sort of the ideal expression of loyalty to certain social groups in today's society. Face masks are a very visible marker, they are literally worn on the face, the seat of our identity. This has historical precedent, see the Anti-Facemask League that was formed as San Francisco dealt with the Spanish Flu in 1918. In general, Loyalty Tests are more powerful when they are socially visible and incur risk. If no one can see your action and if your action was easy and riskless, then it's kind of worthless at demonstrating your loyalty. Refusing to wear a face mask is extremely visible and incurs the risk of getting a debilitating disease and is thus an extremely powerful loyalty test."
https://old.reddit.com/r/TalesFromYourSe...k/fvspfvb/