12M seasonal flu vs Corona virus

Hi Kerry,

Yes, this is a Faulty Comparison . A more formal version of the argument goes something like this:

Many more people die of the flu/contract the flu than the coronavirus.
We don't encourage social distancing (shut down schools, cancel events, etc.) because of the flu.
Therefore, we shouldn't encourage social distancing because of the coronavirus.

A more intellectually honest approach is to ask the question, "Why are we taking such extreme measures for the coronavirus when we don't do the same for the flu?" This demonstrates are humility in that we might not know as the world's health experts on the issue. Then, some Googling can turn up many reputable sites that can answer this question.

Another more ironic way to approach this question is via an analogy. Imagine a fleet of millions of alien spaceships that descended upon earth and one spaceship started shooting at and killing people. Should we still be more worried about the flu than the alien visitors because the flu killed more people? The alien invasion is similar to the coronavirus in that there is a unrealized danger due to both threats being recently introduced.