i think that health policies that are specifically designed to protect aging professors, many of whom will likely live into their 90s if they can get through this, are justified, actually. that's one of the things that mortifies me most about these stalinists; they're almost eager to wipe out the smart people, they just get in the way. no - we need to protect the brains, we might need them, later.

it may turn out to be more practical in some contexts to introduce more flexible rules around sabbaticals, temporarily.

but, the point is that getting the health response right means understanding the different demographic footprints of covid-19 and influenza, which means letting go of some of the assumptions we have about influenza-like illnesses.

this disease is really a disease of the elderly, and the public health response should be designed to reflect that.