Here in America what I’ve observed is that most people are overconfident, or just lazy, with regards to the coronavirus. Even though the epicenter of US outbreaks is here in Seattle, many are going about business as usual - attending dinner parties, going skiing, traveling, or whatever else. It’s even worse when I speak to friends in other parts of the country, where there they are exercising no caution whatsoever except when forced to (by businesses closing responsibly or by local governmental action). The mortality rate and R0, along with asymptomatic qualities for many incubating humans, are causing people to not take it seriously even though we have all the information access to know better. I’ve seen coworkers and friends ridicule others for overreacting only to realize weeks later (when it is probably too late) that this is a very serious situation.

I am not sure what the solution is, or what the problem even is. The easy answer is that most people lack intelligence. Maybe a more generous answer is that most people are bad at evaluating anything beyond the short-term. But my gut tells me this is a cultural and social problem, rather than one cause by a lack of (innate/biological) intellectual capability or access to information. But if complacency can be so ubiquitous then how can a democracy hope to function, knowing the same crowds wield votes? I don’t have the answers, just thinking out loud.