Wednesday, July 15, 2020

The power of touch

Journalist and writer Olivia O'Leary in her RTE Radio 1 Drivetime talk yesterday spoke about some of the damage that Covid-19 has inflicted on all of us.

She was speaking about the power of touch.

During her short talk she remembered with affection the balming hand of her mother on her forehead when she was sick as a child. 

She also spoke of that feeling of reassurance as her late husband on one occasion put his arm around her.

She referred to lovers not being able to meet during Covid-19.

What does priestly celibacy do for a man?

For how many priests does celibacy play a positive role?

11 comments:

Andreas said...

The power of a smile could have been another good title on the same topic. I remember an article there that I can't find in a hurry. I try to give a rough description of the content here:

If I smile at someone, but wear a mask in my face that covers my mouth, the smile will not reach the person opposite. If a mask became compulsory in public places, it would have an emotional cooling effect on society, the report said.

Michael said...

If I smile at someone and fail to wear a mask, perhaps more than our smiles may reach each other. If a mask becomes compulsory in public places, it may have a reassuring affect on society because we might realise we take each other’s health seriously as we do our own.

Michael Commane said...

For the purposes of clarity, the Michael who comments on this post is not the writer of this blog.

Andreas said...

Masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic
"We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic."

https://www.collective-evolution.com/2020/07/14/wearing-a-mask-offers-little-if-any-protection-from-infection-harvard-doctors/

Michael said...

From the Mayo Clinic;

Can face masks help slow the spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19? Yes, face masks combined with other preventive measures, such as frequent hand-washing and social distancing, help slow the spread of the virus.

So why weren't face masks recommended at the start of the pandemic? At that time, experts didn't know the extent to which people with COVID-19 could spread the virus before symptoms appeared. Nor was it known that some people have COVID-19 but don't have any symptoms. Both groups can unknowingly spread the virus to others.

These discoveries led public health groups to do an about-face on face masks. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now include face masks in their recommendations for slowing the spread of the virus. The CDC recommends cloth face masks for the public and not the surgical and N95 masks needed by health care providers.

Michael said...

From the Mayo Clinic:

Can face masks help slow the spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes
COVID-19? Yes, face masks combined with other preventive measures, such as frequent hand-washing and social distancing, help slow the spread of the virus.
So why weren't face masks recommended at the start of the pandemic? At that time, experts didn't know the extent to which people with COVID-19 could spread the virus before symptoms appeared. Nor was it known that some people have COVID-19 but don't have any symptoms. Both groups can unknowingly spread the virus to others.

These discoveries led public health groups to do an about-face on face masks. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now include face masks in their recommendations for slowing the spread of the virus. The CDCrecommends cloth face masks for the public and not the surgical and N95 masks needed by health care providers.

Michael said...

As to collective-evolution, the report below comes from media bias fact-check.com:

Overall, we rate Collective-Evolution a quackery level pseudoscience website based on promoting miracle cures, anti-vaxx propaganda, and 9/11 conspiracies.
Detailed Report

Factual Reporting: LOW
Country: USA
World Press Freedom Rank: USA 45/180

History

Founded by Joe Martino 2009, Collective-Evolution is a clickbait, conspiracy, and quackery level pseudoscience website. According to their about page, “CE has grown to become one of the world’s most popular conscious media outlets that provide readers and viewers an opportunity to expand their consciousness, unlock their potential and reshape their everyday way of being.”

Read our profile on United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

Collective-Evolution is owned by Joe Martino and is funded through advertising, paid subscriptions to CE-TV, and donations.

Analysis / Bias

In review, Collective-Evolution promotes numerous conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. For example, they promote 9/11 conspiracies such as this: Important 9/11 Investigation Reveals Undeniable Truth. Some other topics you will find are alien visitations, chemtrails, miracle cancer cures, anti-GMO propaganda, and of course anti-Vaxx articles such as this: Why You Can’t Trust the CDC on Vaccines. There are many others as well, with the common theme being that almost none of it is supported by evidence.

Failed Fact Checks

“The COVID-19 death rate across the US has now been confirmed to be so low that it’s on the edge of no longer being qualified as an epidemic.” – False
Overall, we rate Collective-Evolution a quackery level pseudoscience website based on promoting miracle cures, anti-vaxx propaganda, and 9/11 conspiracies. (D. Van Zandt 7/20/2016) Updated 7/11/2020)

Andreas said...

Michael, i guess you can find the same content directly on "The New England Journal of Medicine" if you feel better about that:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372

I found Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove from the WHO quite convincing that patients who don't show symptoms (like nearly most of us) aren't driving the spread - i wonder where the Majo Clinic got their information from?

Michael said...

Advice has changed since the May article. The World Health Organization (WHO) has changed its advice on face masks, saying they should be worn in public where social distancing is not possible to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

The global body said new information showed they could provide "a barrier for potentially infectious droplets".

Some countries already recommend or mandate face coverings in public.

The WHO had previously argued there was not enough evidence to say that healthy people should wear masks.

However, WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that "in light of evolving evidence, the WHO advises that governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where there is widespread transmission and physical distancing is difficult, such as on public transport, in shops or in other confined or crowded environments".

Andreas said...

Michael, I wonder if the "evolving evidence" mentioned by the WHO Director-general is based on solid scientific foundations? Please let me know if you are aware of a research document which reflects that. I also wonder if they have thought about air conditioning in public transport or supermarkets that can transport viruses from nose to nose through the air circulation?

Anyway, I am still surprised how fast scientific findings are revised - the comment of Dr Maria Van Kerkhove was made in the press conference on June 09th which is not long ago ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQTBlbx1Xjs ) - well for the moment we are all stuck with it since Monday this week and have to wear it for the next year or so.

I would like to end this with a letter from Todd Hayen who is a registered psychotherapist practicing in Toronto:
https://fort-russ.com/2020/07/the-scarlet-letter-of-covid19/

All the best and stay healthy!

Andreas said...

one add-on:
Still Face Experiment: Dr. Edward Tronick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzXGEbZht0

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