Thoughts
If the pandemic isn't over by, say, 2030, I'm going to stop wearing a mask, tetra variant or no.
I once read an interesting excerpt from *Being Alive*, by Tim Ingold (p. 36). In it he points out the degree to which we constrain the role of our feet, and moreover, how this is regarded as a mark of how civilized we are as a society.
> Paradoxically, it seems that with the onward march of civilisation, the foot has been progressively *withdrawn* from the sphere of operation of the intellect, that it has regressed to the status of a merely mechanical apparatus, and moreover that this development is a consequence — not a cause — of technical advance in footwear. Boots and shoes, products of the ever more versatile human hand, imprison the foot, constricting its freedom of movement and blunting its sense of touch.
At the risk of over-extrapolating, I would not be surprised if, in 8 years, it is socially expected that everyone remain masked when possible. Not out of a particular fear, as today, but out of respect. "Mouth-breather" is already an insult, and chewing with your mouth open is already rude. Is it really that much of a jump to expect people to cover their mouths with cloth as often as possible?
This mask-wearing would be used as evidence of the advances of civilization, in the same way that wearing shoes is, but it is unclear whether it would be tangibly beneficial. Eradication of some airborne illness is near the bottom of my goals for human progress, far after eradicating hunger, poverty, space travel etc. Many, however, would take this objection without issue.
Why is this a problem? Because wearing a mask drastically reduces our sense of smell. Smell is one of only 4 senses that can really be used to experience the world around us. (The sense of smell is most important outdoors. It's possible, in a projected future, that masking outside is seen as unnecessary. It's also possible that we develop masks that you can smell through, etc.)
But the sense of smell, in modern civilization, isn't valued. Moving your nose to better smell something is an extremely undignified act. Dogs smell things, humans don't. (We praise dogs for their sense of smell, but dogs are unashamed to put their noses to the ground. I've tried it, you can smell a lot more with your face in the grass. I was also immediately scoffed.)
The sense of smell is often neglected, but it still plays an important role in experiencing the world around us.
The nose and mouth are not significantly valued in western culture today. If they were to be blunted or obscured by a mask, most people would not realize the magnitude of what would be lost. It is important to me that I get the fullest possible experience of the world God created, bar of course urgent public-health crises. If mask wearing is still the social norm in 9 years, I think it reasonable to say at that point that this is not a short-term public heath crisis, and is in fact a cultural and value shift. This value shift would be one that I protest.