Homicides have increased in some areas

[Aseahawkfan]

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/just-crazy-12-major-cities-110800295.html

What do we think is the cause of increased homicide rates in certain areas? Lockdown fever? Political division? Vilification of the police causing them to be less likely to intervene for fear of ending up on the bad end of a Democrat Progressive witch hunt? Or the random ups and downs of human behavior causing a particularly bad year? Some combination of these factors?

[RiverDog]

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/just-crazy-12-major-cities-110800295.html

What do we think is the cause of increased homicide rates in certain areas? Lockdown fever? Political division? Vilification of the police causing them to be less likely to intervene for fear of ending up on the bad end of a Democrat Progressive witch hunt? Or the random ups and downs of human behavior causing a particularly bad year? Some combination of these factors?

Your last answer. All of the above.

Some people think I'm nuts, but I think that the wearing of masks has a lot to do with the increase in violence we've seen since the onset of the pandemic. I go into a grocery store, and I feel as if I'm amongst a bunch of mindless zombies. If someone cuts in front of me, since I can't see their facial expression, I don't know if it was accidental or intentional, and of course, since I'm also wearing a mask, they can't see my facial expressions, either.

I feel (although some of you may disagree) that I am a reasonably levelheaded guy and can handle such a phenomenon without reacting irrationally and wonder how someone else that is not as mentally stable as I might process similar thoughts.

[Aseahawkfan]

Could be. I've heard masks make emotional cues much harder to read and thus cause greater paranoia during social interactions.

If you think about it, masks are normally associated with criminal activity. The masked robber or the masked gunman. People usually wear masks when they're trying to hide something as humans derive a great deal of information from social cues given by expressions that you can't see with masks on. Not a great environment for human social interaction.

[RiverDog]

Could be. I've heard masks make emotional cues much harder to read and thus cause greater paranoia during social interactions.

If you think about it, masks are normally associated with criminal activity. The masked robber or the masked gunman. People usually wear masks when they're trying to hide something as humans derive a great deal of information from social cues given by expressions that you can't see with masks on. Not a great environment for human social interaction.

Exactly. Ski masks and hockey goalie masks have been frequent props in horror movies because it helps heighten the fear factor.

Humans are a social species. We need to interact with others. The dental hygienist I've had for 30 years retired when the pandemic broke out. She was the wife of my racquetball partner for decades and used to spend 10 minutes just shooting the breeze. She recommended a replacement and I've made 3 trips for teeth cleaning since then and have yet to see my new hygienist's face. I wouldn't know her if she walked in the room. I'm sure that it's played a major role in the increase in violence that we've seen since the start of the pandemic.