Mason  🏃‍♂️ ✂️

Going forward, a lot more people should be concerned with viral load. Even post-corona vaccine. Handshakes → bows, nods. Going to work or a dinner/party sick should be received like showing up drunk & agitated.https://twitter.com/barneyp/status/1248298842425966592 …

Generally good ideas but you’re not getting rid of handshakes. No need to either if you’re also promoting good hygiene. I probably wash my hands 25 times a day and have since I was a kid. Just a habit I developed many years ago.

I cannot imagine that the typical person is more likely to start washing their hands hourly than to stop shaking hands

Handshakes are very important. It’s not just hello to a lot of people. And you’re arguing for an extreme when it isn’t necessary. You want to change human culture for what is ultimately very low risk. That’s not a fair trade when a more measured response is approp

Do you think handshakes are *human* culture? Are cheek kisses human culture? Are bows human culture? Frankly, I think it's a bit strange that we culturally obligate people to touch strangers. And we make light of it, but it is at times extremely uncomfortable.

Idle speculation: I feel like the potential for discomfort is actually in handshakes favor as a signaling mechanism. Like, you want to break symmetry - why am I interacting with you and not other - because I trust your hands to not be gross.

If I'm not willing to do a base level of physical contact why are we interacting in the first place? ...I haven't had to act as an agent of an entity I don't identify with. If we're only body proxies for another agent, I guess don't need to bring human into it.