If you buy some bulletproof glass that's rated for 9mm or whatever, the glass will 100% stop that bullet. Now sure, there are manufacturing defects, but we are talking about equipment built to specification. Now how many 9mm bullets can the glass stop, is another question.
Maybe I need a better example. Since apparently you are just going to grab whatever low hanging fruit you can. A tank is 100% bulletproof from small arms fire. It is simple physics here. The energy of the bullet cannot breakthrough steel or glass at a specific density. Just like the energy of a feather falling from the sky isn't going to land on a rock and break said rock. Now sure, by some random occurrence maybe the feather does break the rock, but in any case, it will be because the rock is already broken.
Absolutes in science and medicine definitely exist. And while I appreciate your anecdotal evidence to back up your position, your arguments are poorly written at best. I said your life is in your own hands, and you tried to refute that by admitting YOU choose treatment options. So I'm just wondering where your head is really at atm.
When you said "This isn’t really about masks though, is it? Risking your own health to protect your civil liberty is one thing, but risking someone else’s? " That is 100% you deploying a guilt trip, and you can try to walk it back, but it's too late.
Oh, I’m sorry my arguments aren’t well enough written (or maybe it’s constructed) for you.
Sorry where did I refute the assertion that your life is in your own hands by admitting that An individual chooses his own treatment options. If you’re talking about me asking if you would allow yourself to be treated for Covid-19, you appear to have missed the point.
That question was an attempt (clearly a poor one) to show the hypocrisy of someone who refuses to help protect others by wearing a mask, but won’t stand by their principles and leave their own recovery to chance if they become infected.
I can tell you, that when you are unconscious and on a ventilator as a result of Covid-19,you most certainly will not be in charge of your own life. If they decide that there is no way back for you because all of your organs are failing and they decide to stop treatment, with the consent of your family of course, your life is really not going to be in your own hands.
You can argue with me until you are blue in the face but there are no absolutes in medicine and science. Theoretically, there may be. However, you have by your own admission acknowledged that there are independent factors which are outside our control, that will always have the potential to interfere with the reality. If a flaw in the manufacturing process of bullet-proof glass or an armoured tank means that there is even a tiny possibility that it might fail, then it isn’t an absolute. That’s not me grasping at low-hanging fruit, that’s just reality. No matter how absolute something looks on paper, when you introduce things like the potential for human error into science, there is always a risk. I don’t know what country you are from, so I don’t know how science is taught. Here, in subjects like biology, chemistry, physics, kids learn to answer questions about control of experiments and how to maximise reliability and assess risk. Even at that basic level of understanding, they are taught that there are always elements in the practical process, which are outside our control. We can put procedures in place to minimise those risks. We can not eliminate them. You ask your bullet proof glass or armoured tank manufacturer to give you an absolute, 100% guarantee that it won’t fail and I can assure you it’s unlikely they will. They may give you a statistic that’s pretty close to 100% but it won’t be 100%. No one in their right mind would do that.
I mean if you want to take another example. Say for talks sake, we look at the burden of proof in a criminal court case, and I’m using the U.K. because that’s what I’m familiar with. The burden of proof, is beyond reasonable doubt. It is reasonable rather than all, because it can never be beyond all doubt - even when in theory it looks like it is. You may have a confession, witness statement and even video evidence of the crime being committed. In theory that proves beyond reasonable doubt who committed the crime. Is there still room for any doubt? Absolutely. Why? Because none of that is absolute proof. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be. Witnesses can be wrong; video evidence can be tampered with; people confess to things they didn’t do.
Perhaps I’m being pedantic. It’s a really annoying characteristic of mine. It even annoys me some of the time. I just don’t suffer fools gladly, particularly when they are trying to make a fool of me and resulting to personal insults such as where is your head at and your arguments are poorly written. Perhaps I’m a bit sensitive to questions like that because I’m acutely aware of the restrictions, my acquired brain injury has on my daily life. It’s difficult when you feel unable to express yourself with as much clarity as you used to be. Nevertheless, I still feel I am more clear and rational than other people here.
Oops, am I trying to guilt trip you again? That’s really not my intention. I mean, if you’re absolutely certain of your position why would you even feel the potential to be “guilt tripped”?