It just occurred to me earlier today why scientific facts don’t matter when it comes to policy decisions or personal behaviour, or at least why they appear not to matter.
For many people, the only fact that’s worthy of consideration is this one : “I am afraid of coronavirus”. That single fact is big and real and important.
All of the research about the spread of the virus (that is, what helps and what doesn’t - to the extent that anything works at all) is meaningless in the context of their fear. Likewise with the facts about mortality - ie., that your additional risk from COVID-19 is quite modest compared to your all-cause risk.
These facts are perhaps acknowledged, but the fact of one’s fear is all-consuming. The facts about the virus do not register on one’s personal radar for the same reason that facts about rainfall patterns in Abu Dhabi aren’t on one’s personal radar. They are deemed uninteresting.