First post of my GA career for those noticing my handshake status. Question: I see peer reviewed and published evidence that masks do NOT work, but has anyone seen the same saying that they do work? I want to be able to say to my boss that there is no such evidence--I have not found any. You?
Edit: Thanks to everyone for comments and links. Looks like this topic has been discussed in the past (like so many items on this site). I appreciate the input and your patience. Being new, this was good to see.
This is a great rabbit hole. There have been quite a few papers that have come out in this last year on the amazing effectiveness of masks at reducing viral transmission. They all start with the same axiom. For example, from this paper.
Or from this paper:
Or this one:
This is the base axiom for numerous studies which go on to show how masks can effectively stop these exhalation droplets.
Where does this axiom come from? Is there science on that?
This is from the CDC:
Mmkay. Where's the link to a study that shows that CDC?
Bueller?
Bueller?
I can't find any evidence that supports this statement from the CDC.
It's like someone just threw the idea out there, and it became accepted science.
They seem to be creating scientific truth (which every scientist knows is an oxymoron) de novo.
There are many papers that use this axiom and provide compelling evidence that masks work. I have seen no papers that test the axiom itself and provide compelling evidence that masks work, or that the virus (or any virus for that matter) are transmitted in this way. In fact, they provide evidence to the contrary.
Even articles that are sited as showing that the virus is spread through these droplets are actually saying the opposite! The third paper I selected above links to this article to show that SARS-cov-2 is transmitted by droplets. This is what that article has to say:
This is the science we are supposed to be following (into our eternal slavery).
It creates, out of thin air, "science" that says that the virus we must all fear as death knocking on our collective door is transmitted via water droplets that we exhale. There is no evidence, it is instead just a spell that is being cast. A wave of the hand, and ALAKHAZAM! a new reality is created.
This is the only reality where a virus that is 120nm can be blocked by masks with holes that are 10,000nm wide. Therefore, that is the reality we live in. There is no science that questions that reality that is approved.
The cake is a lie.
Thanks for the VERY thorough reply. You've set the bar high! What you've explained is sort of the basis for my questions, I think. The peer reviewed article that was on the Gateway Pundit (https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/04/stanford-study-results-facemasks-ineffective-block-transmission-covid-19-actually-can-cause-health-deterioration-premature-death/ ) is what I consider evidence, whereas the other stuff that you so eloquently summarized is common sense. It is true that water vapor can be trapped by my mask... but that does not mean that the virus itself remained trapped--which is tied into the point you were making. Anyway, good stuff. Thanks. I will be incorporating this into my argument. Here is the actual Standford U study on the NCBI direct link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7680614/
It's important to note that the "study" you are quoting is actually an hypothesis and not a study at all. Don't get me wrong, it is very well done and provides a ton of links to studies to support the claims made, but it is not a scientific study, but a well laid out argument.
The study I linked to is the only large scientific study that I have found that shows that cloth masks (or any masks really) do not block the transmission of viruses. That is an actual scientific study. The one you are using (which you absolutely should be using) is an argument.
The distinction is very important when presenting a case, though many laypersons may not recognize the importance.
Excellent clarification. Thanks.