One stock argument against social distancing and other restricted responses to the COVID-19 pandemic was to conclude these measures should not have been taken because we do not take similar approaches to comparable causes of death. In the next pandemic, we can expect the same reasoning which can be formalized as follows:
Premise 1: Another cause of death kills as many or more people.
Premise 2: We do not impose X measures to address this cause of death.
Conclusion: We should not impose X measures to address the pandemic.
Those making the argument often used the flu as an analogous cause of death, but there were also comparisons to automobile accidents, suicides, heart disease, drowning in pools and so on. While the specific arguments were presented in various ways, they were all arguments from analogy. Or at least attempts.
Informally, an argument by analogy is an argument in which it is concluded that because two things are alike in certain ways, they are alike in some other way. More formally, the argument looks like this:
Premise 1: X and Y have properties P, Q, R.
Premise 2: X has property Z.
Conclusion: Y has property Z.
X and Y are variables that stand for whatever is being compared, such as causes of death. P, Q, R, and are also variables, but they stand for properties or features that X and Y are known to possess, such as killing people. Z is also a variable, and it stands for the property or feature that X is known to possess, such as not being addressed with social distancing. The use of P, Q, and R is just for the sake of the illustration—the things being compared might have many more properties in common.
An argument by analogy is an inductive argument. This means that it is supposed to be such that if all the premises are true, then the conclusion is probably true. Like other inductive arguments, the argument by analogy is assessed by applying standards to determine the quality of the logic. Like all arguments, there is also the question of whether the premises are true. The strength of an analogical argument depends on three factors. To the extent that an analogical argument meets these standards it is a strong argument.
First, the more properties X and Y have in common, the better the argument. This standard is based on the commonsense notion that the more two things are alike in other ways, the more likely it is that they will be alike in some other way. It should be noted that even if the two things are alike in many respects, they might not be alike in terms of property Z. This is one reason why analogical arguments are inductive.
Second, the more relevant the shared properties are to property Z, the stronger the argument. A specific property, for example P, is relevant to property Z if the presence or absence of P affects the likelihood that Z will be present. It should be kept in mind that it is possible for X and Y to share relevant properties while Y does not actually have property Z. Again, this is part of the reason why analogical arguments are inductive.
Third, it must be determined whether X and Y have relevant dissimilarities. The more dissimilarities and the more relevant they are, the weaker the argument.
These can be simplified to a basic standard: the more like the two things are in relevant ways, the stronger the argument. And the more the two things are different in relevant ways, the weaker the argument. So, using these standards let us consider the cause of death analogy.
One thing that all causes of death do have in common is that they are causes of death. This is true of everything from swimming pools to the flu to COVID-19. Obviously, different causes of death will be more or less like COVID-19 or other pandemic caused deaths and a full consideration would require grinding through each argument to see if it holds up. In the interest of time, I will consider two main categories of causes of death that should encompass most (if not all) causes.
One category of causes of death consists of those that cannot be addressed by social distancing and the other science-based approaches to COVID-19 and other likely pandemic pathogens. These include such things as suicide, traffic fatalities and swimming pool deaths. We obviously do not use social distancing to address these causes of death because they would not work. As such, arguing that because we do not use social distancing to combat traffic deaths so we should not use it to combat COVID-19 (or another pathogen) would be a terrible analogy. To use an analogy, this would be like arguing that since we do not use air bags and seat belts to address pandemics, we should not use them to reduce traffic fatalities. This would be bad reasoning.
To be fair, someone could argue that what matters is not the specific responses but the degree of the response. That is, since we do not have a massive and restrictive response to traffic fatalities, we should not have had a massive response to COVID-19 or have a similar response to the next pandemic. While it is rational to make a response proportional to the threat, the obvious reply to this argument is that we do have a massive and restrictive response to traffic fatalities. Vehicles must meet safety standards, drivers must be licensed, there are books of traffic laws, traffic is strictly regulated with signs, lights and road markings, and the police patrol the roads regularly. Even swimming pools are heavily regulated in the United States. For example, fences and self-locking gates are mandatory in most places. Somewhat ironically, drawing an analogy to things like traffic fatalities supports massive and restrictive means of addressing a pandemic.
Horribly, the best (worst) way to argue against a strong response to a pandemic would be to find a cause of death on the scale of the pandemic that we as a nation do little about and then argue that the same neglect should be applied to the pandemic. Poverty and lack of health care are two examples. This analogy would certainly appeal to evil people.
The second category of deaths consists of causes that could be addressed using the same methods used to address a pandemic. The common flu serves as an excellent example here. The same methods that work against COVID-19 and many other pathogens also work against the flu. As many argued, even in a bad flu year life remains normal: no social distancing, no closing of businesses, no mandatory masks. While this analogy seems appealing, it falls apart quickly because of the relevant differences between COVID-19 and the common flu. The same would also apply to the next dangerous pandemic.
When people started advancing death analogies against pandemic responses, the best available estimate about COVID-19 was that it killed 3-4% of those infected—though there was considerable variation based on such factors as age, access to health care, and underlying health conditions. In contrast, the flu has a mortality rate well below .1%. It kills too many people but was less dangerous than COVID-19. So, it makes sense to have a more restrictive and extensive response to something that is more dangerous. We also have(or had) measures in place against the flu: people are urged to take precautions and flu shots are recommended. As this is being written, people feel that the threat of COVID is like that of the seasonal flu and acting accordingly. Likewise, if a dangerous strain of flu emerges again, then it would make sense to step up our restrictions.
In closing, this discussion does lead to a matter of ethics and public policy. As those who make the death analogies note, we collectively tolerate a certain number of preventable deaths. We must seriously address the issue of determining the acceptable number of deaths from the next pandemic and match our response to that judgment. And we should not forget that we might be among those tolerated deaths. We should also consider why we do tolerate so many other deaths.
Stay safe and I will see you in the future.