I see this problem all the time with regard to things that can be classified as “childish”. Beside pandemics, the most striking examples in my mind are risk of nuclear war and risk of AI, but I expect there are lots of others. I don’t exactly think of it as signaling wisdom, but as signaling being a serious-person-who-undestands-that-unserious-problems-are-low-status (the difference being that it doesn’t necessitate thinking of yourself as particularly “smart” or “wise”).
I see this problem all the time with regard to things that can be classified as “childish”. Beside pandemics, the most striking examples in my mind are risk of nuclear war and risk of AI, but I expect there are lots of others. I don’t exactly think of it as signaling wisdom, but as signaling being a serious-person-who-undestands-that-unserious-problems-are-low-status (the difference being that it doesn’t necessitate thinking of yourself as particularly “smart” or “wise”).