Our Decision Too

PARTICIPATE IN DECISIONS ABOUT ISSUES THAT AFFECT YOU

Most people living in democracies have a very limited input into decisions made for us.

Many millions have no say at all.

Our Decision Too provides a way for everyone to participate in decisions about every issue that affects them. Social issues are discussed in a deliberative fashion rather than decided via simple polling.

Proposals can be posted and debated by anyone in a structured, supportive environment. Participants can have their say, learn from and discuss with others, and reassess as a result. Alternatives to the initial proposal can be advanced, with the aim of building a practical consensus.

Using technology developed and used successfully over twenty years, Our Decision Too is a powerful tool for deliberative practice.

Our Decision Too is open to people from any and every background, and any age.

All opinions are welcome. Nothing is censored, hidden, or withheld unless illegal or plainly offensive. Everyone's views and the patterns of their choices are immediately available to all participants, and there are filters to enable 'deep diving' into the data if desired.

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Away with the fairies?

An article in today’s Guardian claims that face coverings are up to 80% effective in stopping the transmission of Covid 19. In a convoluted paragraph the journalist, Andrew Anthony says: “Studies suggest masks cut Covid-19 transmission by up to 80%. Although there is disagreement about how much protection different types of mask o...

September 20th

THE SOURCE OF THE JOURNALIST’S CLAIM ABOUT MASKS

Yesterday we discussed an issue based on an unreferenced claim in the Guardian that “studies suggest masks cut Covid-19 transmission by up to 80%.”: https://ourdecisiontoo.com/Issue/away-with-the-fairies/260

I contacted the journalist who wrote the paper, asking for the reference. He kindly replied, citing this ‘interdisciplinary narrative review of the literature’: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118#sec-2

The paper begins in this way:

“Cochrane (7) and the World Health Organization (8) both point out that, for population health measures, we should not generally expect to be able to find controlled trials, due to logistical and ethical reasons, and should therefore instead seek a wider evidence base. This issue has been identified for studying community use of masks for COVID-19 in particular (9). Therefore, we should not be surprised to find that there is no RCT for the impact of masks on community transmission of any respiratory infection in a pandemic.”

The paper is quite long and makes a range of assumptions. It also uses modelling. Since the journalist has responded, the claim that his article is ‘pure propaganda’ should perhaps be reconsidered.

If you are able to read and comment on the paper, please post your analyses and other comments here.

David Seedhouse