Humans Are Too Optimistic to Comprehend the Coronavirus

If America had taken the threat of coronavirus more seriously, countless deaths could have been prevented. The federal government could have stocked up on masks and testing reagents. The United States could have built field hospitals sooner, as China did, in dense places that were likely to be hardest hit. Officials could have advised people to avoid travel and mass gatherings earlier.

Instead, even as evidence of the coronavirus’s severity mounted, an epidemic of wishful thinking spread among both the American public and policy makers. As the virus roamed freely, Americans partied. In mid-March, Italians shared videos of themselves giving the advice they regretted ignoring early in the course of their country’s outbreak. Now some Americans wish they could similarly issue their past selves—and those of elected officials—a wake-up call. Some of us are asking, Why didn’t we see this coming?

The coronavirus caught the U.S. unprepared and turned into one of the biggest disasters in recent memory for many reasons: of testing equipment, officials reportedly the president happy, a that has been underfunded for