I have switched from an N95 mask to an Aura today, well in a few days as I wait for them to arrive. Seeing everyone cough their lungs out in crowded public transit is absolutely horrible and especially cause no one seems to care about that either. Depressing to see I'm one of the only ones wearing a mask in a huge city, at maximum I see one person every few days with a mask, often wearing it incorrectly. Of course I get harassed for it cause "you're the paranoid one" they say while they had covid 6 times at this point or worse, exposing little kids too, and I'm the one who gets weird looks just because I protect myself. The amount of justifications I have to say to various people to leave me alone is perplexing, I have to either say a person in my family has autoimmune problems (which is true), or that I'm not wanting to get the flu which apparently is a better excuse than Covid for some reason.
Every time a coworker brings up "immunity debt" I want to strangle them as I patiently explain that the concept just isn't real. And of course I sound like a conspiracy nut because it's the dominant ideology.
It’s because they don’t understand there’s different types of germs.
Commensal germs are the bacteria/viruses present in your (natural) environment. They’re like giving your immune an opportunity to exercise.
Pathogenic germs are the bacteria/viruses that cause illness in people/animals. They’re like hitting your immune system with a lead pipe.
With my kid we call them “nature germs” and “sick germs.” It’s not that difficult of a concept. They know the difference and they’re 3-years-old.
Sp many people have been conditioned to think “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” about health in general. They wrongly believe pathogenic bacteria/viruses are what “strengthen your immune system.” That’s not entirely untrue. Just like it’s not entirely untrue that putting some kind of liquid in my car will make it go.
Another thing that bothers me about people’s misconceptions about their own bodies is how they treat the immune system as separate from the rest of the body. You’re telling me things like my eyes, things I use to see snot dripping out of another persons face, aren’t part of the system that keeps my body healthy?
If you want a strong immune system then drink water, eat nutritious food, get good sleep, and touch grass, and try not to get sick.