I believe (1) and (2) are sufficient in themselves to explain this. It is a common cause of so many issues, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t at least somewhat central here.
I think it’s important here that in general, by default, we humans think in stories and metaphors, not numbers. Tobacco is an old story, we know how it has gone so many times in the past, we expect that if there were an easy way to change it someone would have told us and/or done it. Also, society already has institutions and rules based on that story—the drama and lawsuits and whatnot seem to have mostly already happened. Covid is a new story, we don’t yet know how it ends, and so it seems like maybe our leaders can decide the ending more easily (especially for people who really don’t have in mind a plausible physical model of how the relevant parts of the world work). Also, stories that seem like they could affect us or that do affect those like us feel more salient than distant stories affecting others. We understand them more intuitively.
I believe (1) and (2) are sufficient in themselves to explain this. It is a common cause of so many issues, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t at least somewhat central here.
I think it’s important here that in general, by default, we humans think in stories and metaphors, not numbers. Tobacco is an old story, we know how it has gone so many times in the past, we expect that if there were an easy way to change it someone would have told us and/or done it. Also, society already has institutions and rules based on that story—the drama and lawsuits and whatnot seem to have mostly already happened. Covid is a new story, we don’t yet know how it ends, and so it seems like maybe our leaders can decide the ending more easily (especially for people who really don’t have in mind a plausible physical model of how the relevant parts of the world work). Also, stories that seem like they could affect us or that do affect those like us feel more salient than distant stories affecting others. We understand them more intuitively.
It makes me sad but I think 1 and 2 are enough as well.