If ever one needed crystalline evidence of the anti-scientific hysteria that surrounds masking, this would be it:

A member of the Montgomery County, Md. school board argued during a Thursday meeting that school mask mandates should be extended regardless of their efficacy on the grounds that they create a comforting illusion of safety for students and faculty.

"The last thing I want is for schools to be a source of anxiety for our students and it feels like making masks optional because of all the messaging, especially at the beginning of the pandemic that my mask not only protects me, it protects my community," Hana O'Looney said.

As an aside, have you ever noticed how seamlessly the arguments in favor of masking shift from one calculus to the other? At the start of the pandemic, pro-maskers argued almost exclusively that you must wear a mask to protect everyone else; as time has gone on, natural infection has spread and vaccines have become available, they've switched to claiming that you must wear a mask to protect yourself, too.

O'Looney continued:

"That's still a lingering sentiment, regardless of what data says, perception is reality for students and families. I'm really afraid that if we get rid of the mask mandate it's going to cause a lot of fear for our students and families."

Ahh, yes: "Perception is reality." One of the great scientific standards of the last 500 years of civilization.

You can expect a lot of these types of outbursts as masks continue to come off; so many people have gotten so fixated upon wearing masks that they are going to struggle mightily with letting them go.

Thankfully, you don't need to wait for them—you can take yours off whenever you want!

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