Category Archives: Human Behavior

Human Behavior

Me and my mother – Greater Kashmir

My elderly mother is quite sharp. She retired from the education department more than a decade ago. Having majored in history and sired doctors she brings an incisive perspective to my struggles in COVID-19. She has read about pandemics while training and teaching. Pasteur, Jenner and Fleming were supposed delivered us from the scourge of the bacterial diseases.

Epidemics and pandemics had threatened in the recent past but seemed to be more hype than substance to her. The Ebola seemed distant, the influenza weak and AIDS a pandemic that never was. I did admire her for the clarity of thought on these issues. But Corona has her at a wits end. She is not able to place it in a neat little box that her ordered life demands. And a lot of the confusion stems from me!!!!

In December 2019 when the early news of the corona virus started hitting the papers, she asked me about it. She understood viral diseases in a broad sense but this time she wanted to know about the virus. Not this particular virus but a virus as a broad organism.

I told her that a virus straddles that space between the living and the non-living adding that it does not do much except inject its genes into a cell and orders the cell to do all the work of producing more viruses.

I added that it is as if the cell loses its capacity to think and blindly follows what the viral gene tells it to do. She thought over it for a while then observed gravely that the closest comparison that she could make was with social media.

It also seems, to her, to make the younger generation behave blindly once the posts enter their minds. I averted her gaze as viral news suddenly seemed to me to suggest more than just the speed of spread.

For a woman who has been very social throughout her life, the social distancing has been quite distressing. She asks with pointed irritability whether the health planners know that several history books start with the statement man is a social animal.

For her, it is difficult to see how the evil of social distancing can overcome the evil unleashed by the virus.

All historic human responses, she emphasizes, have entailed empathy, togetherness and close discussion. She is clearly against this gross mutilation of basic human behavior. The arbitrary lifting of the restrictions makes her sound prophetic to me.

The infodemic that has accompanied the pandemic has made my interaction with my mother quite interesting. Me and my spouse have to do a bulk of our work in the operation theatres. This is in addition to the corona rounds and duties.

Each time we prepare to leave for duties her hands are always in the air praying for our safety. She is free with her dos and donts. I sagely tell her that we might have to go for administrative quarantine, home quarantine, administrative isolation and home isolation. My statements reflect the latest guidelines and interchangeable dictionary gymnastics. When we return in the evening tired and eat together at the table she raises her questioning eyebrows in confusion.

I seem to contradict myself daily these days. It adds to my worries no end that literature and guidelines seem to change every second. There have been U, S, Z and C turns in administrative and medical protocol during the pandemic. If I do not appear coherent, I just cannot blame her.

As a doctor I tend to spend very little time on the internet and am absent from the social media. but that has changed during the pandemic. I have had some time to myself after ages. And, I have an inherently restless mind. Consequently, my nose seems to be perpetually in the laptop. I am trying to write and keep up to pace by attempting to drink from the firehose of the medical infodemic. Her sharp mind takes notice especially in view of my general loathing for the internet and social media. She asks me whether I am appearing for an exam and I vaguely move my head in response. She looks at my greying beard she overcomes the universal weakness of motherhood and calls me out informing me that, as an associate professor, examinations should be far from my mind. I agree wholeheartedly. But I look at the screen and the ever-changing literature. I wonder if this has become an existential crisis. Whether lack of COVID knowledge could mean the end of the world for surgeons. As if reading my thoughts, she shuffles off to the kitchen to bring me that drop of magic. A marvelous cup of tea made with her own hands and filled with love. I protest superficially, asking her to rest and have a bit of sleep. She replies with that tone which makes me feel like a toddler all over again

Mothers dont sleep, they just worry with their eyes closed.

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Me and my mother - Greater Kashmir

Human Behavior

President Dietz’s message on the Minneapolis tragedy (5/30/20) – News – Illinois State University News

We are all experiencing a time in our nation in which the fight against a health pandemic has been supplanted by a crisis of human behavior, with racist acts of violence so vile and so systematic as to test our limits of comprehension.

With three members of the Minneapolis Police Department negligently observing, another police officer held George Floyd to the pavement and pressed his knee to his victims neck with a callous disregard until he stopped breathing. Despite Mr. Floyds strangled pleas and the screams of onlookers, the officers ignored any expression of human decency and let him die on the street.

Extreme acts of hatred across our country are unfortunately all too familiar. But when they occur while we should be joining together to face the greatest global health threat in memory, it borders on the unimaginable.

Millions in our country tonight will mourn and many millions will speak out, not only over the death of George Floyd but also the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. These acts of mourning and protest against racism are a natural response to social injustice and ISU is a community that welcomes the civil discourse among our students, faculty, and staff that can only serve to make our society a better place, and the right of our campus citizens to speak out.

As President of Illinois State, I have pledged to work harder to make ours a campus that embraces the humanity, the gifts, and the diverse contributions of each and every individual who joins the Redbird community. There is no room on our campus for bigotry and hatred, and I ask each of you to embrace and carry out ISUs core values of fostering an inclusive environment characterized by cultural understanding and engagement, ethical behavior, and a commitment to social justice.

Under different circumstances, actions on campus might have included a march, rally, candlelight vigil, or town hall-style meeting in the Bone Student Center. Unfortunately, the time of year and limits of the COVID-19 pandemic make those types of actions difficult.

For faculty, staff, and students who remain in Normal-Bloomington, I encourage you to attend a community gathering of concerned citizens tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the McLean County Law and Justice Center in Bloomington. I am sure those of you reading this will find similar opportunities wherever you are currently living.

If illness, or concerns about social distancing keep you inside of your homes, I urge you to make your voices heard across social media platforms, and to also keep the names of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor in your thoughts, and in your hearts.

On behalf of the University community, I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. We join in mourning their tragic deaths.

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President Dietz's message on the Minneapolis tragedy (5/30/20) - News - Illinois State University News

Human Behavior

Should you fly yet? Here’s what expert scientists say – WESH Orlando

Video above: Virus impact forcing massive job cuts at BoeingAs restrictions open up, and more Americans consider traveling to shake off the quarantine cabin fever, the safest way to travel may not seem so safe. Riding in an airplane, enclosed with people around you, seems like the opposite of social distancing. But with some workplaces requiring travel again, and the prospect of getting away becoming all the more tempting, how, if at all, do you air travel safely?Why the fear of flying?The primary concern with flying or traveling by bus or train is sitting within six feet of an infected person. Remember: Even asymptomatic people can transmit. Your risk of infection directly corresponds to your dose of exposure, which is determined by your duration of time exposed and the amount of virus-contaminated droplets in the air.A secondary concern is contact with contaminated surfaces. When an infected person contaminates a shared armrest, airport restroom handle, seat tray or other item, the virus can survive for hours though it degrades over time. If you touch that surface and then touch your mouth or nose, you put yourself at risk of infection.Before you book, thinkWhile there is no way to make air travel 100% safe, there are ways to make it safer. It's important to think through the particulars for each trip.One approach to your decision-making is to use what occupational health experts call the hierarchy of controls. This approach does two things. It focuses on strategies to control exposures close to the source. Second, it minimizes how much you have to rely on individual human behavior to control exposure. It's important to remember you may be infectious and everyone around you may also be infectious.The best way to control exposure is to eliminate the hazard. Since we cannot eliminate the new coronavirus, ask yourself if you can eliminate the trip. Think extra hard if you are older or have preexisting conditions, or if you are going to visit someone in that position.If you are healthy and those you visit are healthy, think about ways to substitute the hazard. Is it possible to drive? This would allow you to have more control over minimizing your exposures, particularly if the distance is less than a day of travel.You're going, now what?If you choose to fly, check out airlines' policies on seating and boarding. Some are minimizing capacity and spacing passengers by not using middle seats and having empty rows. Others are boarding from the back of the plane. Some that were criticized for filling their planes to capacity have announced plans to allow customers to cancel their flights if the flight goes over 70% passenger seating capacity.Federal and state guidance is changing constantly, so make sure you look up the most recent guidance from government agencies and the airlines and airport you are using for additional advice, and current policies or restrictions.While this may sound counterintuitive, consider booking multiple, shorter flights. This will decrease the likelihood of having to use the lavatory and the duration of exposure to an infectious person on the plane.After you book, select a window seat if possible. If you consider the six-foot radius circle around you, having a wall on one side would directly reduce the number of people you are exposed to during the flight in half, not to mention all the people going up and down the aisle.Also, check out your airline to see their engineering controls that are designed or put into practice to isolate hazards. These include ventilation systems, on-board barriers and electrostatic disinfectant sprays on flights.When the ventilation system on planes is operating, planes have a very high ratio of outside fresh air to recirculated air about 10 times higher than most commercial buildings. Plus, most planes' ventilation systems have HEPA filters. These are at least 99.9% effective at removing particles that are 0.3 microns in diameter and more efficient at removing both smaller and larger particles.How to be safe from shuttle to seatFrom checking in, to going through security to boarding, you will be touching many surfaces. To minimize risk:Bring hand wipes to disinfect surfaces such as your seat belt and your personal belongings, like your passport. If you cannot find hand wipes, bring a small washcloth soaked in a bleach solution in a zip bag. This would probably freak TSA out less than your personal spray bottle, and viruses are not likely to grow on a cloth with a bleach solution. But remember: More bleach is not better and can be unsafe. You only need one tablespoon in four cups of water to be effective.Bring plastic zip bags for personal items that others may handle, such as your ID. Bring extra bags so you can put these things in a new bag after you get the chance to disinfect them.Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer as often as you can. While soap and water is most effective, hand sanitizer is helpful after you wash to get any parts you may have missed.Once you get to your window seat, stay put.Wear a mask. If you already have an N95 respirator, consider using it but others can also provide protection. We do not recommend purchasing N95 until health care workers have an adequate supply. Technically, it should also be tested to make sure you have a good fit. We do not recommend the use of gloves, as that can lead to a false sense of security and has been associated with reduced hand hygiene practices.If you are thinking about flying with kids, there are special considerations. Getting a young child to adhere to wearing a mask and maintaining good hygiene behaviors at home is hard enough; it may be impossible to do so when flying. Children under 2 should not wear a mask.Each day, we are all constantly faced with decisions about our own personal comfort with risk. Arming yourself with specific knowledge about your airport and airline, and maximizing your use of protective measures that you have control over, can reduce your risk. A good analogy might be that every time you get in the car to drive somewhere there is risk of an accident, but there is a big difference between driving the speed limit with your seat belt on and driving blindfolded, 60 miles an hour through the middle of town.

Video above: Virus impact forcing massive job cuts at Boeing

As restrictions open up, and more Americans consider traveling to shake off the quarantine cabin fever, the safest way to travel may not seem so safe. Riding in an airplane, enclosed with people around you, seems like the opposite of social distancing. But with some workplaces requiring travel again, and the prospect of getting away becoming all the more tempting, how, if at all, do you air travel safely?

The primary concern with flying or traveling by bus or train is sitting within six feet of an infected person. Remember: Even asymptomatic people can transmit. Your risk of infection directly corresponds to your dose of exposure, which is determined by your duration of time exposed and the amount of virus-contaminated droplets in the air.

A secondary concern is contact with contaminated surfaces. When an infected person contaminates a shared armrest, airport restroom handle, seat tray or other item, the virus can survive for hours though it degrades over time. If you touch that surface and then touch your mouth or nose, you put yourself at risk of infection.

While there is no way to make air travel 100% safe, there are ways to make it safer. It's important to think through the particulars for each trip.

One approach to your decision-making is to use what occupational health experts call the hierarchy of controls. This approach does two things. It focuses on strategies to control exposures close to the source. Second, it minimizes how much you have to rely on individual human behavior to control exposure. It's important to remember you may be infectious and everyone around you may also be infectious.

The best way to control exposure is to eliminate the hazard. Since we cannot eliminate the new coronavirus, ask yourself if you can eliminate the trip. Think extra hard if you are older or have preexisting conditions, or if you are going to visit someone in that position.

If you are healthy and those you visit are healthy, think about ways to substitute the hazard. Is it possible to drive? This would allow you to have more control over minimizing your exposures, particularly if the distance is less than a day of travel.

If you choose to fly, check out airlines' policies on seating and boarding. Some are minimizing capacity and spacing passengers by not using middle seats and having empty rows. Others are boarding from the back of the plane. Some that were criticized for filling their planes to capacity have announced plans to allow customers to cancel their flights if the flight goes over 70% passenger seating capacity.

Federal and state guidance is changing constantly, so make sure you look up the most recent guidance from government agencies and the airlines and airport you are using for additional advice, and current policies or restrictions.

While this may sound counterintuitive, consider booking multiple, shorter flights. This will decrease the likelihood of having to use the lavatory and the duration of exposure to an infectious person on the plane.

After you book, select a window seat if possible. If you consider the six-foot radius circle around you, having a wall on one side would directly reduce the number of people you are exposed to during the flight in half, not to mention all the people going up and down the aisle.

Also, check out your airline to see their engineering controls that are designed or put into practice to isolate hazards. These include ventilation systems, on-board barriers and electrostatic disinfectant sprays on flights.

When the ventilation system on planes is operating, planes have a very high ratio of outside fresh air to recirculated air about 10 times higher than most commercial buildings. Plus, most planes' ventilation systems have HEPA filters. These are at least 99.9% effective at removing particles that are 0.3 microns in diameter and more efficient at removing both smaller and larger particles.

From checking in, to going through security to boarding, you will be touching many surfaces. To minimize risk:

Bring hand wipes to disinfect surfaces such as your seat belt and your personal belongings, like your passport. If you cannot find hand wipes, bring a small washcloth soaked in a bleach solution in a zip bag. This would probably freak TSA out less than your personal spray bottle, and viruses are not likely to grow on a cloth with a bleach solution. But remember: More bleach is not better and can be unsafe. You only need one tablespoon in four cups of water to be effective.

Bring plastic zip bags for personal items that others may handle, such as your ID. Bring extra bags so you can put these things in a new bag after you get the chance to disinfect them.

Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer as often as you can. While soap and water is most effective, hand sanitizer is helpful after you wash to get any parts you may have missed.

Once you get to your window seat, stay put.

Wear a mask. If you already have an N95 respirator, consider using it but others can also provide protection. We do not recommend purchasing N95 until health care workers have an adequate supply. Technically, it should also be tested to make sure you have a good fit. We do not recommend the use of gloves, as that can lead to a false sense of security and has been associated with reduced hand hygiene practices.

If you are thinking about flying with kids, there are special considerations. Getting a young child to adhere to wearing a mask and maintaining good hygiene behaviors at home is hard enough; it may be impossible to do so when flying. Children under 2 should not wear a mask.

Each day, we are all constantly faced with decisions about our own personal comfort with risk. Arming yourself with specific knowledge about your airport and airline, and maximizing your use of protective measures that you have control over, can reduce your risk. A good analogy might be that every time you get in the car to drive somewhere there is risk of an accident, but there is a big difference between driving the speed limit with your seat belt on and driving blindfolded, 60 miles an hour through the middle of town.

Visit link:
Should you fly yet? Here's what expert scientists say - WESH Orlando

Human Behavior

By now, you probably have experienced the long lines and empty shelves at grocery and warehouse stores. Or you – mg Cannabis Retailer

By now, you probably have experienced the long lines and empty shelves at grocery and warehouse stores. Or you may have tried to buy staples such as canned food and toilet paper online from companies such as Walmart, Target, and Amazon only to discover they are sold out.

This seems unprecedented, but a look back at our history helps explain the phenomenon.

Sander van der Linden, an assistant professor of social psychology at Cambridge University, said a fear contagion phenomenon has taken hold in America. When people are stressed their reason is hampered, so they look at what other people are doing, he said. If others are stockpiling, it leads you to engage in the same behavior. People see photos of empty shelves and regardless of whether its rational, it sends a signal to them that its the thing to do.

As humankind has become more civilized and technological advancements have changed our lives, the survival instinct can become dormant. However, as current events clearly indicate, this survival behavior quickly can be reignited and spread like wildfire.

A look back to the Great Depression can cast some light on human behavior during a crisis.

John Montgomery Ph.D., wrote about this human condition. When we live in environments, such as modern cities, that are drastically different from the environments that were biologically adapted for, we become subject to various evolutionary mismatch effects that can be extremely detrimental to our physical and emotional health, he wrote. Perhaps the most important consequence of this mismatch is that we become highly prone to being triggered repeatedly and unnecessarily into various states of survival mode.

A look back to the Great Depression can cast some light on human behavior during a crisis. As conditions worsened over the course of the Depression and people increasingly lost confidence in banks, they started withdrawing their money in large numbers. Recognizing the crisis, in 1932 President Herbert Hoover denounced traitorous hoarding and organized an anti-hoarding drive. He also delivered a radio address pleading for people to stop hoarding and cease converting bank deposits into cash. Few listened.

Why policy and leadership matter

In the aftermath of the Great Depression, many argued the financial sector was so important it needed to be closely monitored and regulated. For a while it was. But then Republican administrations continued to wind back many of the regulations that kept financial institutions from gorging themselves to death. The lack of oversight ultimately led to the Great Recession of 2007 2009.

After then-President George W. Bush left office, President Barack Obama implemented new regulations aimed at keeping the banking system healthy. However, those safeguards again were rolled back once Donald J. Trump took office.

Early in his administration, as if a thank you to Wall Street, Trump signed a directive aimed at dismantling the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, crafted by the Obama administration in response to the 2008 economic meltdown. Trump also signed a memorandum to reverse the fiduciary rule, which requires brokers to act in their clients best interest, rather than seek the highest profits for themselves, when providing financial planning advice.

Trumps action on the fiduciary rule, which Democrats and consumer groups immediately denounced, allows financial advisors to steer unsuspecting clients toward investments that may enrich the broker but not be in the clients best interest.

The great disconnect from the facts

The premise that the Republican party is the party of fiscal conservatives and the Democrats are fiscal numbskulls just doesnt fit with the facts. In fact, during the past thirty-nine years, all the United States recessions occurred under Republican administrations.

The Great Recession, set off by a subprime mortgage crisis, began in December 2007 under President George W. Bush.

The early 2000s recession, sparked by the dot-com market crash, began in March 2000 under President George W. Bush.

The early 1990s recession, precipitated by a savings-and-loan crisis, began in July 1990 under President George H.W. Bush.

The 1981 recession, which found its genesis in an energy crisis and stagflation, began in July 1981 under President Ronald Reagan.

Moreover, Americas deficit spending, once anathema to Republicans, has increased more under recent Republican administrations than under Democratic presidencies.

Reagan took the federal deficit from $70 billion to $175 billion. George H.W. Bush took it to $290 billion. President Bill Clinton reduced it to zero. George W. Bush took it from zero to $1.4 trillion. Obama halved it to $584 billion. The Trump administration has raised it back to more than $1 trillion.

The U.S. is now in another crisis. The health of the countrys citizens and economy is under attack. People are hoarding supplies, and a survivalist mentality has infected the populace.

In this election year, voters can decide whether we have thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate leaders in Washington or boisterous, dishonest fools on the hill. The choice may be at the very heart of our survival.

Randall Huft is president and creative director at Innovation Agency, an advertising, branding, and public relations firm specializing in the cannabis industry. While working with blue-chip companies including AT&T, United Airlines, IBM, Walgreens, American Express, Toyota, and Disney, he discovered what works, what doesnt, and how to gain market share.

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By now, you probably have experienced the long lines and empty shelves at grocery and warehouse stores. Or you - mg Cannabis Retailer

Human Behavior

COVID-19 Is a Symptom of a Bigger Problem: Our Planets Ailing Health – TIME

The COVID-19 outbreak is a global tragedy. Hundreds of thousands have died, healthcare systems are buckling, and the future is uncertain for millions of people whose livelihoods are collapsing. It is absolutely right that the focus today is on saving lives here and now. In the same spirit of doing what we can to safeguard peoples wellbeing, we must not content ourselves with containing the acute crisis. We must also look ahead to what we can learn from this crisis to prevent future risks. COVID-19 is a reminder of how vulnerable even our modern, technologically advanced societies are.

The biggest lesson is that COVID-19 is more than an illness. It is a symptom of the ailing health of our planet. Humanitys dysfunctional relationship with nature has caused this wider disease. Understanding this root cause is critical, if we want to rise stronger after the crisis. COVID-19 is a zoonotic virusmeaning it spilled over from wild animals to humansand evolved into a pandemic due to the now well-established risk cocktail of the 21st century: ecosystem destruction, species loss, global warming, colliding with risky human behavior like illegal wildlife trade. All of this has played out in a globalized network of trade and travel.

COVID-19 is not an isolated event. Research shows that 60% of all known infectious diseases in humans and 75% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic. As we move into natural habitats, and exploit ever more wildlife, contact between humans and disease-carrying species increases.

Zoonotic diseases arent the only symptom of poor planetary health. Climate change is an even more serious crisis; it potentially poses existential risks for future generations, and is already having real-time impact on millions globally, for example through extreme weather events such as cyclones and floods. Changes in climate have a multiplier effect, leading to other problems, from ecosystem stability to food production and human conflict. Ecosystem and biodiversity loss are threatening the planets ability to provide goods and services deforestation for example, disrupts our weather patterns and the water cycle, contributes to climate change, and destroys the habitats of important species. Chemicals and waste are polluting the air, soil and water, killing millions each year.

All of these symptoms make clear that the planets health, and therefore our health, is deteriorating rapidly. And nature, just like a human, can only take so much before things reach the point of collapse.

We have known for a long time that we face a climate crisis and an ecological crisis. And now we are in the midst of another crisis, a tightly interconnected pandemic. It is not enough to focus only on economic recovery. Building resilience based on a whole-system approach is fundamental. This means the protection and sustainable management of our global commonssuch as our atmosphere and the earths rich diversity of plant and animal speciesmust be center-stage of priority-setting in our societies.

This year was meant to be a super year for nature,the world was due to agree on a global plan to protect and restore biodiversity beyond 2020. The next global climate meeting was scheduled to take place in Glasgow, with natural solutions to climate change a key issue for discussion and countries expected to propose new commitments to lower their emissions, in line with the Paris Agreement. The international community was also due to set out a framework for better management of chemicals and waste.

COVID-19 has made it crystal clear that we must deliver on these agendas. They are the means to form a blueprint for an economic and societal future that factors nature into everything we plan and build, from homes to cities to food systems.

But we cannot effectively address common global concerns, such as the environment, individually. The spread of this virus has proven once and for all that, in this globalized world, there are no local problemspollution and pathogens know no borders. Faced with the multifaceted impacts of COVID-19, multilateralism has to evolve. Governments, businesses, the UN, international organizations, scientists and individual citizens need to unite as a single global community to safeguard people from avoidable risks.

After COVID-19, nothing will be the same. But life can be better. We have had a moment to think and reflect. Perhaps we dont need as much stuff as we thought we did. Perhaps we can fill our lives with closer relationships, with moments, with creativity. Perhaps we recognize what really counts in our lives: being safe and being free. When we overcome COVID-19, we should not risk what we have won. We should do what we can to stabilize our environment, our support system. We need to think about how we can restore nature by living life differently.

One thing is clear. We cannot just develop a vaccine for COVID-19, call it job done and rev the economic engines back into the red. We need to use the reboot to incentivize sustainable innovation and green investment. The credits and subsidies that many governments are handing out so generously in this moment are not just a necessitythey are also a chance to direct economic progress towards sustainable development. This is an important insurance policy to avoid future pandemics.

To stabilize the climate, we have the Paris Agreement on keeping global temperature from rising more than 2C above pre-industrial levels. This translates into reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. For biodiversity and ecosystem stability, we need a similar binding target to halt the loss of biodiversity. Of course, setting targets alone does not do the job. Governments must work hard to achieve them. However, we have an important window right now, thanks to the bailout programs and financial stimulus packages arising from the COVID-19 crisis. Coupling science-based targets on climate and nature with these recovery mechanisms is a key strategy we need to deploy now, to win twice: we build resilience against future shocks and we create healthier economies. Because investing in sustainability is not something we do for nature or for the climate. We do it for us.

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Contact us at editors@time.com.

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COVID-19 Is a Symptom of a Bigger Problem: Our Planets Ailing Health - TIME

Human Behavior

IMPERIUM GROUP INTRODUCES DAVID SCHLOSS AND HIS NEW MARKETING TACTICS THAT UTILIZES HUMAN BEHAVIOR – GlobeNewswire

Los Angeles, CA, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As time progresses society is seeing different ways to do just about everything. A largely affected industry is marketing. There are so many traditional marketing tactics that simply do not work as well and instead of a clever billboard social media is being utilized. David Schloss is the founder of Covert ROI, a well-established advertising agency. David does not follow the many outdated marketing tactics that have not been adapted to modern technology, he utilizes each and every tool to maximize impressions and audience reach. Coming from being in his mid-twenties with no money in his bank account, David has now had 10 years in this field. Instead of seeing his clients as just a customer like many other agencies, David wants his clients to succeed and create their six or seven-figure income. Services can include setting up Facebook or Instagram ads or completely reconstructing a company's marketing tactics.

After combing through a company's current marketing tactics, David implements new marketing tactics that utilize human behavior to create an attraction to the company or product. One could choose to allow the agency to set them up with different Facebook and Instagram ads or even hire complete social media management teams. David offers lots of other useful services like training or keynote speaking and even case studies that work to get to the core of what is keeping a company from succeeding. David has made it his mission to provide the best services possible in order to maximize his clients profits. His website, https://davidmschloss.com/ , showcases his many success stories. Satisfied clients range from small business owners to high profile CEOS and best selling authors. His website also showcases the many established companies like The Huffington Post, Forbes or Entrepreneur who have written about his very inspiring story.

Technology has progressed so quickly and changed marketing forever. Instead of looking into the sky for fun and quirky billboards we are looking at our screens and David has found the best way to utilize all this new technology. His blog is full of helpful tips and tricks as well as detailed discussions that would help anybody with their marketing tactics. These articles come with helpful recommendations on how much to spend on marketing depending on the season and gives you statistics that reinforce the recommendations. Everything about the website is impressive and if the free blogs are not enough for you there are plenty of different paid services for everyone. The different articles about David provide insight on how he was able to create such a large business and even tell his inspirational story of going from flat broke to creating his successful agency. David Schloss is very persistent and reflects it through his work and all the amazing services that set his company apart. By dissecting his clients companies and using all the different human psychological ploys as well as the tools that are on all the different forms of social media and his genuine dedication to helping companies succeed, he has created a true marketing experience

Contact:

Shazir Mucklai

Imperium Group

shazir@imperium-pr.com

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IMPERIUM GROUP INTRODUCES DAVID SCHLOSS AND HIS NEW MARKETING TACTICS THAT UTILIZES HUMAN BEHAVIOR - GlobeNewswire

Human Behavior

Fighting against the rising tide of misinformation – KING5.com

The "Infodemic" is confusing facts and fiction, stoking unrest, and putting lives at risk. Where is it coming from and how do we stop it? #newdaynw

SEATTLE Along with COVID-19, an upcoming Presidential Election, and nationwide protests, the World Health Organization declared we are also facing an Infodemic" - A huge wave of misinformation making it hard to discern facts from fiction. Where is it coming from and how do we stop it?

Dr. Kate Starbird is an Associate Professor of Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington & Co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public. Shes spent more than a decade researching human behavior and how information flows during crisis events. Her research centers on how people use social media or information-communication technologies to seek out and make sense of what's happening during crisis events and man-made disasters.

We talked with Dr. Starbird about misinformation and its spread, why it spikes during crisis events, and what we can do to fight it. Follow @katestarbird on Twitter for ongoing research and updates.

>>Twitter Thread from @katestarbird on on taking care around misinformation/disinformation in regards to protests

>>Use the SIFT Technique, pioneered by Mike Caulfied: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original coverage.

>> Learn to understand how bad actors influence both sides of a conflict in order to create chaos: The Surprising Nuance Behind the Russian Troll Strategy

Segment Producer Dawn Boughton. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.

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Fighting against the rising tide of misinformation - KING5.com

Human Behavior

Do Unto Others – Thrive Global

Do unto othersas you would have themdo untoyou.Known as the golden rule. I think that we can all agree that, in principle, this sounds good to us. It makes perfect sense. Its interpretation is for all of us to love one another. To be kind. To forgive.

This, of course is predicated on the idea that you, in fact, love yourself. It would hold little meaning if you didnt give yourself the same respect. It may not even occur to you to reciprocate the gesture if you werent in a good place.

In actuality, its when you dont feel good about yourself that you tend to want to throw stones. It goes something like this; Youre not pleased with yourself for whatever reason you see someone else (or others) doing well and flourishing you think;Why them, not me?Youre not where you want to be, so you project onto others. Now, Im not saying that this is what you do. Im saying that this tends to happen. Human behavior is our fickle friend. You may not be able to stop yourself from feeling compelled to compare your life to others. Realistically we know that this kind of thinking sabotages our efforts.

Not only would you be a lot happier, imagine if you really embraced and practiced this idea of doing unto others. In fact, why wouldnt you want love, justice, integrity and equity for all people?

It would no longer be random acts of kindness. It would mean to love others at all times. Prejudice and racism would vanish (I have a dream Martin Luther King Jr.) your fellow human would be treated as, guess what? A human being.

Dont get me started with the current state of affairs in our world. We have a long way to go before the human race is one big global community. In fact, it wont happen in my lifetime. Differences of opinion are skewed. Reality is out of whack.

One way to proceed, particularly during worrisome and fearful times, (although it shouldnt make a difference) is to be even more aware of our actions, and how we treat ourselves and others.

Times have shifted. A new reality has given way. Were being told a lot of things. Our life circumstances have changed. Have tightened. Government is playing a more prevalent role in our lives by telling us what we need to be doing. This does not sit well. Especially whendo unto others isnt really part of the conversation. Its one-sided.

Protesting is inevitable when there is inequality, unlawful acts, human rights violations, and ones dignity being compromised. This is a far cry fromdo unto others and more like aneye for an eye.And yet, weve swung so far over, that we need some kind of consideration. Consideration of others.

We have a responsibility. Each and every one of us. It must start with us. If you lead with love and kindness, guess what, the world will start to be a more loving and kinder place. Intolerant to anything else.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto youis a smart place to start.

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Do Unto Others - Thrive Global

Human Behavior

Cameras reveal possible uptick in urban wildlife – University of Georgia

In late March, as communities began to issue shelter-in-place orders, it seemed animals came out of hiding.

Across the globe, reports began to surface of wildlife taking to the newly deserted streets. Even in Georgia, people reported foxes in shrubbery, yips of coyotes or, in one case at the University of Georgia, deer walking across campus. But were animals relishing in fewer humans around, or were we just noticing them more?

As it happens, data collected for a study on wildlife behavior around metro Atlanta may provide some insight. Wildlife cameras set up by researchers at the University of Georgias Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and biologists from Georgias Department of Natural Resources point to a possible uptick in daytime wildlife sightings that may correspond with stay-at-home orders.

While the researchers didnt set out to record animal movements during a global pandemic, their 30 wildlife cameras set up from February through April did just that.

Wed been starting to monitor and look at behavior of wildlife in urban Atlanta to better understand how they behave, which is often very different than rural animals. If we can better understand the behaviors of both people and wildlife, we can better guide management and education efforts in the urban landscape, said Michel Kohl, an assistant professor of wildlife management and wildlife Extension specialist for Warnell.

All of a sudden, this pandemic happens, and we see this massive switch in human behavior that, across the globe, has led to anecdotal evidence that wildlife are responding quite quickly, he said. Now, we have this data that we can dig into and see, maybe, if we saw something similar as Georgia shut down and then started to pick back up.

Although Kohl and Benjamin Carr, a fourth-year Warnell student assisting with data collection and video analysis, have only begun looking into the data, it appears that wildlife responded. At the beginning of the study, around mid-February, cameras were recording a daytime wildlife sighting about every other day. But by late March, as more people began to limit nonessential trips, they were capturing more and more videos during the day.

How this directly relates to the COVID-19 shutdown is still not clear, but its something Kohl and his team will dig into in the coming months.

Our hope is to pair this information with direct measures of human use across the landscape to see how in tune wildlife are with their society, says Kohl. Data from cellphones and other measures of human social distancing can help answer these questions, and additional data might be available from wildlife cameras set up in other parts of the country.

Fourth-year University of Georgia student Benjamin Carr sets posts into the ground as part of a research project to understand more about how coyotes adapt to urban environments. (Submitted photo)

The metro Atlanta cameras were part of a study on coyote behavior in urban environments. With assistance from organizations such as Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the Quality Deer Management Association, cameras were placed in urban and rural areas stretching from DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties all the way to Elberton in Northeast Georgia. When an animal walked in front of one, it would record a 30-second video of wildlife behavior as evidence. Half of the cameras were set up with an object meant to be unknown to coyotesfour small posts set into the ground, surrounded by rope and baited for coyotes.

The study, supported in part by the USDAs National Wildlife Research Center, is part of an international project, spanning sites in Canada, the United States and Mexico, that aims to understand more about how urban coyotes navigate their world and adapt to urban landscapes. Typically, coyotes would approach the unknown object with apprehension and even fear, said Kohl. But urban coyotes can be seen on daytime camera footage nonchalantly trotting right by, barely noticing it.

This information is important for wildlife managers such as Kaitlin Goode, program manager for Georgia DNRs new Urban Wildlife Program. The program provides assistance and education to nine metro Atlanta counties, with the goal of resolving conflicts with wildlife, preventing conflicts before they start and promoting better wildlife habitat and conservation in backyards.

The majority of wildlife conflicts can be resolved by removing food sources and understanding why wildlife do what they do, Goode said. Collaborating on research to understand how wildlife behave in an urban environment helps us provide residents with the best advice for resolving conflict.

She adds, too, that the Urban Wildlife team, which regularly receives calls about human-wildlife interactions, didnt notice an increase in conflict reports during this time period. And Kohl notes that in spring, animals are also on the move which could also explain the uptick in camera videos.

Thats because the camera data represents daytime wildlife sightings from all the research teams cameras and doesnt yet account for sites where there may be large numbers of certain animals. This is squirrels, deer, coyotes, turkeys and whatever else we find, Kohl said. Regardless, the relationship between stay-at-home orders and wildlife sightings suggests an intriguing trend that they plan to continue investigating.

Whether or not animals were more active during stay-at-home orders, Kohl and Goode agree that its an opportunity to better understand wildlife populations in urban areas. Its important, said Kohl, to consider the entire population of a species, not just individual animals.

People think about deer in their backyard, but thats just one data point on an urban landscape, and its one animal in a larger population, said Kohl. When we assemble data about what all animals are doing across the entire urban landscape, we can better understand wildlife populations and their behavior. This means we can more efficiently manage and conserve wildlife, which in turn improves the quality of life for both humans and the wildlife.

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Cameras reveal possible uptick in urban wildlife - University of Georgia

Human Behavior

Coronavirus and the Flu: A Looming Double Threat – Scientific American

Uncertainty about the future seems to be the one sure thing in the coronavirus pandemic. No one knows if COVID-19 will persist at its current pace or if recent increased interactions among people will spawn an onslaught of smaller outbreaks or a larger second wave. But a few things are clear: The virus that causes the disease is likely to continue circulating through the population until there is a vaccine. And flu season is only a few months away.

The overlap of COVID-19 and influenza has epidemiologists and some policy makers concerned. The U.S. may soon face two epidemics at the same time, they worry, and this combination could precipitate a crisis unlike any other. The worst-case scenario is both [the coronavirus and the flu] are spreading fast and causing severe disease, complicating diagnoses and presenting a double burden on the health care system, says Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard University. A few states are planning for extra capacity in hospitals to deal with both illnesses.

Yet another, more favorable future also might be possible as these viruses cross paths, Lipsitch and other infectious disease forecasters say. The behavioral changes people have already adopted to flatten the curve of COVID-19such as social distancing, hand washing, and mask wearingcould lessen the impact of the flu.

It is hard to predict, says Sarah Cobey, an epidemiologist at the University of Chicago. Not only is it unknown whether the coronavirus will ebb and flow as seasons change, but what's really hard is that I dont have a good forecast for human behavior and policy decisions that are going to be made over the next couple of months, she says.

Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, says if SARS-CoV-2 follows seasonal patterns like some other coronaviruses and influenza viruses do, it could subside in the summer. But that could come back to haunt us, he adds. We might get complacent; we might not be prepared. Four flu virus pandemics over the past 100 yearsH1N1 in 1918, H2N2 in 1957, H3N2 in 1968 and H1N1 in 2009had a deadly second wave around the fall and early winter. COVID-19 could do the same. The concern that we might have a double whammy of flu and coronavirus is legitimate, Shaman says.

[Both indoor and outdoor factors influence how viruses wax and wane with the seasons.]

Every year, influenza sickens millions of people in the U.S. In particularly bad years, flu surges overwhelm hospitals and health care systems. During the 20172018 flu season, local news outlets reported that hospitals across the country flew in nurses from other states, erected tents in parking lots and sent incoming ambulances to other facilities because of the overload of patients. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 46,000 and 95,000 Americans died from the illness that season.

Though the new coronavirus and influenza viruses can cause some of the same symptomssuch as fever, cough and fatiguethese similarities are mostly superficial. The pathogens use different receptors on cells to gain access to our bodies. As a result, SARS-CoV-2 could enter one way, while a flu virus slips in another. A study of about 1,200 patients, conducted in northern California and published in JAMA in April, found that one in five people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 were coinfected with another respiratory virus. The risk of such coinfections is typically low, says Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, but it gets higher when two viruses are circulating heavily in the same region. Its possible you could get infected with both at the exact same timeif you're having a really bad day, he says.

Cowling and some other epidemiologists think the way viruses interact and interfere with each other could reduce the impact of any coronavirus-influenza collision, however. They have tracked epidemics for decades and have found that outbreaks of respiratory viruses usually do not reach their peaks during the same time period. Though no one knows exactly why, a study published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA hypothesized that temporary bursts of immunity to different viruses on the cellular level could shift the course of future epidemics. For example, an outbreak of a rhinoviruswhich causes a common coldappears to have delayed the arrival of the 2009 influenza pandemic in Europe. And that effect, in turn, likely postponed epidemics of another disease: respiratory syncytial virus.

Right now COVID-19 has a huge fraction of the population susceptible to it, Cobey says. Assuming that were not incredibly diligent about stopping transmission, its going to continue burning through populations, leaving this wake of immunity that might be slightly effective against other viruses. She admits this idea sits on the speculative side of hypotheses. And the theoretical immunity would not be strong enough for, say, someone who has recovered from a coronavirus to shrug off the flu, or vice versa. But on a population level, it could mean that other viruses might not spread as quickly as normal, so their epidemic peaks could be delayed.

Another reason why the collision might not be dramatic has less to do with virology and more to do with human behavior: both COVID-19 and the flu are transmitted, for the most part, by respiratory droplets, so the same prevention strategies used to reduce the spread of the former will also work for the latter.

[How does the coronavirus spread through the air? Scientists explain what they know about transmission.]

In a study in the Lancetin April,Cowling showed that the public health measures introduced in Hong Kong to contain the coronavirussuch as border restrictions, quarantine and isolation, social distancing, mask wearing and hand washingled to a rapid decline in flu activity. In the U.S., new flu cases plummeted a few weeks after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. The 20192020 flu season, once headed to be among the worst in decades, ended six weeks early.

But as states in the U.S. ease restrictions on activity and travel, peoples behaviors could change in ways that ease virus transmission, so a double threat is still possible. And it is not clear what, if any, federal response is being mounted to prepare for it. In April Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, told the Washington Post that were going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time. After President Donald Trump claimed that Redfield was misquoted, the director walked his statement back, saying he did not mean the current crisis would be worse, just more difficult and potentially complicated. (The CDC did not respond to Scientific Americans requests for further comment.)

In late May a group of Democratic senators sent a letter to the White House asking it to prepare for the worst overlap scenario. We urge you to begin planning for and activating the resources of the federal government now, they wrote, to increase capacity, supplies, and vaccinations to prevent public health and medical systems from being overwhelmed by simultaneous peaks of both of these deadly infectious diseases in the fall.

On the state level, some are updating hospital surge plans and expanding infectious disease surveillance programs to include both the flu and COVID-19. North Carolinas state health director Elizabeth Tilson, who co-chairs the states coronavirus task force, has been working with health systems to develop plans for increasing their surge capacity by converting unused facilities, procuring extra beds or hiring extra staff. Thankfully, we havent had to pull the trigger on any of our emergency med surge plans. But we have all those plans in place, whether it be COVID-19 or COVID-19 and flu, she says.

Cobey has been trying to convince the government of her home state of Illinois to set up a sentinel surveillance plan that could alert officials to coming surges of COVID-19 and flu cases. But she says her suggestions have received little traction. Such surveillance systems already exist in other states, including North Carolina and Michigan. The CDC also tracks both illnesses on the national level and releases a weekly surveillance report on the viruses that cause them.

Tilson points out that whatever happens, there is one basic step people can take that may alter the trajectory of either epidemic. Look, we dont have a vaccine for COVID-19, she says. We do have a vaccine for flu. Get the vaccine.

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak from Scientific American here. And read coverage from our international network of magazines here.

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Coronavirus and the Flu: A Looming Double Threat - Scientific American