Contradictory Conclusions and Assessments

On the menu today: The late comedian George Carlin used to joke: “Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” There’s probably a perspective at work in how people respond to the ongoing pandemic — you most likely know someone who seems to be paranoid and overreacting, and you probably also know someone who seems to be taking unwise risks. Why do some people become Karens and some people become lackadaisical? Also, a pollster with a record of being on one end of the range of results suddenly offers a surprising result.