Michael A Osborne @maosbot Twitter profile | Pikagi

Pikagi

Michael A Osborne

@maosbot

33,429

Followers

1,119

Following

259

Media

7,405

Statuses

Dad, spouse, Professor of Machine Learning @UniofOxford , Co-Founder Mind Foundry, Director @aims_oxford . Bayes, Long Covid, porridge, AI must be good for humans

Oxford via WA, 🇦🇺. He/Him.

https://t.co/Nn1RyH76TL

Joined July 2014

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

Pinned Tweet

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

When I got #LongCovid in March 2020, I was 38 and healthy. If you are anything like I was then, it is hard to understand how bad Long Covid is. I think that we all have an instinct to just… look away. But, please, it is important that you look. 1/15

879

11K

33K

Last Seen Profiles

@ciyoum

@nolan_2525

@GoldCup

@enhypentradetr

@cnhasehuta

@Ziyan_Su420

@TsCandice

@bluddRed

@houssam_eddin

@dog_erc

@atiselsts_eth

@TypoX_AI

@mmgallo64

@yaacov_elizur

@GabiNycola

@aseidman

@MaxFilby

@AsakaDistillery

@YUSUKE_BANQUET

@escapismos

@vipbook_sp

@ourgasme

@shaunti_elicia

@transjyokyu

@Sttephanie___p

@vicmiyo

@JShaundrea80428

@ES16_Official

@Skokka_BR

@_irinamailen

@nanashi_nogi

@rafazjh

@iTego8

@msdawgs08

@Radio2000_ZA

@GenevaAthletics

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

Is Omicron mild? Or perhaps it just attacks lungs less, leading to less quick hospitalisation/death, while attacking the rest of the body more, leading to more progressive illness & disability over months? Letting Omicron infect everyone before we'd figured this out seems… bold

410

6K

38K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

I keep seeing people say "the world has moved on from masks"—um, I'm in Japan, *everyone* is masked, indoors and outdoors, and last I checked Japan is, in fact, part of the world

780

4K

24K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

"Omicron is mild" translates to "I don't care about disabled people"

341

3K

19K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

Calling Omicron "mild" because it is possible that it may be less lethal than Delta is like calling Jeff Bezos "poor" because it is possible that he is less wealthy than Elon Musk

326

4K

18K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

To those who provided negative feedback on one of my in-person lectures because I was wearing a mask—unfortunately, the very long list of things for which I will happily apologise does not include wearing a mask

128

538

9K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

You may be concerned about being manipulated by fears of #LongCovid . Fair enough. Please trust me—I have nothing to gain from tweeting on this topic (look at my bio). I am here to say, simply, that I can personally attest that Long Covid is real, very bad, and seems far from rare

176

1K

8K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

"Do you expect me to wear a mask for the rest of my life?" How do you feel about brain damage for the rest of your life?

388

1K

8K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

When, in casual conversation, someone notes how many heart attacks are happening now, I always point out that covid can cause microclots, and they always *immediately* change the topic, like I had said that I was secretly a pineapple

316

1K

8K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

"Long-term masking is unrealistic" translates to "I know nothing about Japan". I'm in Tokyo and the overwhelming majority are masked even on the street.

761

1K

8K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

When I got covid, it was "mild". However, over months, it got worse, and then much worse. The effects of a virus on the body work on a timescale not of days, but of months, of years, of a lifetime.

122

2K

7K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

5 months

I have spent my entire academic career working on probability theory, and, I'm telling you, a 3% probability of Long Covid does not mean "rare", it means "wear a mask"

1K

2K

7K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

Most are not OK with eating a raw egg because of the 1 in 20,000 risk of Salmonella—which causes diarrhoea & vomiting. Most seem OK with getting covid (when triply-vaccinated) despite the **1 in 20** risk of #LongCovid —which causes diarrhoea, vomiting, BRAIN DAMAGE & much more

242

2K

7K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

The name "brain fog" doesn't do justice to the experience. Practically, it means that you can't think right. It turns out that thinking is pretty core to meaningful existence! At my worst, over several minutes, I couldn't work out a seatbelt. 5/

55

642

7K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

A mask is not a form of restriction, it is a form of freedom—freedom to live as we wish, rather than as a virus decides

915

1K

7K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

Just a theory, but perhaps not everyone is 100% open about post-covid problems with their brain?

219

617

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

People do realise that the "long" in #LongCovid could mean "the rest of your life", right? *403,000* people in the UK have already been ill for TWO YEARS

158

2K

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

My views on covid seem to have become a bit, well—radical. Please allow me to explain. I did not start out radical. I am lucky to have a settled, establishment-adjacent, career. Three years ago, on the eve of the pandemic, I trusted the establishment.

Tweet media one

Tweet media two

139

2K

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

Long Covid feels like a hex. Your body and brain are wrong, in different ways on different days, unpredictable and unsettling. On the good days, you doubt yourself; on the bad, you doubt everything. The illness is capricious, boundless, wicked. 3/

26

618

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

Now, I am doing a lot better. I have not had any real symptoms for six weeks. What does that mean? Well, for me, it means the world. It feels like a miracle. However, otherwise, it means nothing. Doesn't mean you can ignore Long Covid. 11/

30

296

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

I continue to write about Long Covid, not because I'm trying to milk sympathy (I'm doing well, honestly), but because there are so many people still sick, and many more getting sick, many much more sick than I was. 12/

21

355

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Re: "masks don't work"—I just spent fourteen days masked at home with my covid-positive wife and two covid-positive young kids (including lots of up-close and physical play) without getting sick

1K

769

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

"Fatigue" similarly does no justice to the experience. Fatigue means there is less of you. You are less. You can't, just can't, get out of bed. This is *not* psychological (although fatigue may *cause* depression!). Your body, physically, does not have the energy. 7/

14

489

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

Brain fog is a bit like being *extremely* sleep-deprived—remember, sleep deprivation is literally a technique of torture—but you can't sleep off brain fog. It feels like being lost in a fog, sensing dark shapes shifting around you, losing yourself. 6/

21

485

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

My own low-points: early on, I collapsed, shaking, and was taken to A&E in an ambulance. A year later, I did not have the energy to leave the house. Formerly, I was a marathon runner, but I brought on a bad relapse with a 700m walk. Many people have it much, much, worse. 2/

24

485

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

In the UK alone, * 1.1 **million** people have had symptoms for over 4 weeks, * 831,000 for over 12 weeks, * 405,000 for over a year. * 211,000 have had their day-to-day activities "limited a lot". 13/

14

822

6K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

And Long Covid seems eerily-similar to another virally-induced illness, ME/CFS. 17-24 million globally suffer from ME/CFS, many have suffered for decades, many without getting better () 14/

@winstoncb

Winston Blick

3 years

Dr. Fauci has stated that he has personally treated several acquaintances battling #LongCovid , which he emphasizes “is very real” and is “very strikingly similar to #MECFS ”. ME/CFS already affects as many as 2.5 million Americans and for many is triggered by a viral infection.

Tweet media one

37

422

1K

56

811

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Forced into this dumb binary, I choose masking forever over covid forever

256

694

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

Worst, ME/CFS research has been shamefully underfunded, treatment usually more harmful than helpful, the suffering ignored. This has to stop. Don't look away. This is important. 15/15

@winstoncb

Winston Blick

3 years

@ResearchSloth @NIHDirector @NIH True, the most funded disease receives over 100x the per-burden funding of ME/CFS so the vertical dimension of the graphic might exceed Twitter’s limits. Animations can help, like this comparison of #MECFS funding to #MS funding:

11

66

208

148

598

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Imagine if, in 2020, we had invested in FFP3 and HEPA filters, rather than hand sanitiser and toilet paper

123

898

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

Symptoms are interlinked. Clearly my worst cluster is neuropsychiatric, including co-occurring headache, dizziness, insomnia and anxiety, alongside brain fog. 4/

16

372

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

"Long-term masking is unrealistic" translates to "I know nothing about Japan".

Tweet card media

Mask use in Japan at 86% despite eased guidelines, AI analysis finds

Revised guidelines that went into effect in March leave it up to individuals to decide on whether to wear a mask.

www.japantimes.co.jp

161

1K

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

More precisely, maybe you could get out of bed, but the cost to your health would be horrific. Pushing beyond your limits is a sure-fire way to make all symptoms much worse, maybe even to bring on new ones. You may not realise your mistake for a day or so. 8/

11

367

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

4 months

The thing is, we've tried all the *easy* answers to covid—we've tried "herd immunity", we've tried "vax-and-relax", we've tried "you do you"—and people are *still*, four years in, getting way too sick. All we've got left are the *hard* answers—let's try cleaning the air

162

997

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

8 months

It sucks that the only people currently masking in public are exactly the same people least likely to be infectious

153

584

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

8 months

Things a mask-wearer does not owe you - an explanation - removal of their mask to improve communication a teeny bit - emotional reassurance that you, a non-masker, will be fine

91

904

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

No-one who tells you not to mask will be there for you if you get Long Covid

252

1K

5K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Fascinating how 99% mask in Tokyo and 1% mask in London—we must have a different virus in the UK

164

618

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Imagine trying to convince people in 2019 that they'll become completely chill about brain damage

Tweet card media

Does COVID-19 damage the brain? - Harvard Health

Most people who get COVID-19 don't suffer damage to the brain. But some do, and even people who initially get just mild COVID symptoms are vulnerable. COVID's potential to damage the brain is anoth...

www.health.harvard.edu

70

1K

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

But there are so many other symptoms! I have had ongoing gastrointestinal symptoms; at one point, diarrhoea more than twenty times per day. I also had a sore throat, continuously, for a year and a half, during which time my voice sounded hollow, weak. 9/

11

305

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

I wear a 3M Aura when I lecture, as I feel that the flat central portion makes me easier to hear. I expect I'll be wearing a mask when lecturing for the rest of my life

Tweet media one

4K

400

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Since we're doing "masks don't work" again, I thought I would remind you of the two weeks I spent masked in the same rooms as my covid-positive wife and two kids without getting sick. Might be worth considering now H5N1 is in the air

418

481

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

Please do not tell people with #LongCovid that "it is time to stop being scared of the virus"

57

678

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 months

The covid-cautious are bearing the heavy emotional load of knowing what has been done to us all

157

723

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 months

I don't mind committing to masking for as long as is required, what I mind is that, if we all made a similar commitment, we probably wouldn't even require all that long

151

705

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

I have now been sick with #longcovid for almost a year—below, some reflections on my convalescence. (1/10)

116

933

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

I am pretty sure #LongCovid has changed me forever. Certainly, the illness has left its biological scars—I still get these minor pains in my arm and neck—but, perhaps, more importantly, I cannot unsee what Long Covid showed me about our society

126

500

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 years

Then some weird symptoms. For six months, my eyesight got progressively worse; then, it got better. A dull ache halfway up my left arm, always happening at exactly the same time as a sharp, stabbing pain in my Adam's apple. 10/

16

290

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

A society in which everyone wears masks, testing is cheap, air is kept clean—is not science fiction. Such a society doesn't require any big breakthroughs. Doesn't require big sacrifices. Doesn't require much at all, beyond a commitment to not ignoring mass suffering.

189

1K

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

How come what "we have to learn to live with" is mass disability, and not just: occasionally wearing a mask

92

1K

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Things to worry about - covid - bird flu - climate change - AI - nuclear war Things not to worry about - the impacts of a few weeks spent at home three years ago

563

557

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

In retrospect, the only influence that stopped me from getting even more sick with #LongCovid was—not my doctors, not my employer, not the health authorities—but a collection of sick strangers on Twitter

72

488

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

I'm a bit annoyed that when my heart rate got up to **200** during a short walk, my (former) doctor said that my Garmin must have been wrong, rather than investigating whether it might have had something to do with my having been infected by a virus causing endothelial damage

98

377

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

4 months

Masking during the pandemic has revealed that the almost-universal answer to "if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?" is "yes, and we would mock anyone who did not jump our entire way down"

119

838

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

I can tweet about my #LongCovid because I have tenure. Many people without this security are not telling you how sick they really are

57

616

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

"Masks are virtue-signalling"—what's wrong with communicating that you care about the health of those around you?

499

451

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

I cannot get over the fact that the thing we are supposed to be completely blasé about is… our kids' long-term health

43

721

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

9 months

To my regret, I have taken my mask off a few times (for important photos for work)—due to what felt like irresistible social pressure. I think social pressure is the main reason a LOT of people are not currently wearing masks, which they may also come to regret

347

317

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

8 months

I really feel for the brilliant engineers who built these astounding, cheap, devices (HEPA, FFP3) capable of plucking microscopic viral particles from the very air we breathe, only for everyone to be like—thanks but no thanks, give us some more of those viral particles

73

740

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

6 months

The pandemic has ended in the same sense that people end a game that their team is losing by turning off the TV

31

971

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

Some say that wearing a mask is cowardly, but I think that wearing a mask is brave—brave for standing out, brave for standing up for the vulnerable, and brave for looking reality square in the eye

554

648

4K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

I had to "pass" a depression screening before getting a referral to a #LongCovid clinic. Confirming that someone is not depressed before allowing them care for Long Covid is like confirming that someone is not emitting smoke before allowing them care for being on fire.

116

570

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

7 months

Reminder that it's only been around four years since the first people were infected with SARS-CoV-2—it takes around eight years after someone is infected with HIV for them to develop AIDS

92

725

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

My taxi driver just said, "you know, the world health organisation just said that covid was over". I kept my cool, and explained that covid most definitely is NOT over, and, by the end, he seemed to agree that we still need to take precautions. I tipped both cash and a mask

Tweet media one

3K

367

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Why isn't our capitalist economy all-in on trying to get us to buy masks? Business masks, summer holiday masks, aeroplane masks, baby masks, new season masks, masks that match your shoes? Why is the only accessory that is not ruthlessly marketed the one that could stop you dying?

274

699

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

Some people don't mask because they think, somewhere at the back of their mind—"even if I do get #LongCovid , I will overcome it, because I am strong". I'm sorry, but Long Covid is not like that. Like, at all

185

614

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

9 months

I feel like I should have the legal right to not catch a life-altering virus in a public space

226

597

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

As far as I can tell, the only people now promoting public health are folk on twitter

55

406

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

8 months

My wife, wearing a FFP3 respirator, got harangued in the hospital by a nurse because "masks don't work unless they're properly fit tested". The nurse was unmasked

206

259

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

5 months

To recap, we had an opportunity to normalise masking and cleaning the air, to destigmatise and address chronic illness, and to defeat the anti-vaxxers once and for all—and we blew it

290

534

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

"Omicron is mild" is a distraction. "Masks don't work" is a distraction. "Long Covid is rare" is a distraction. What they're trying to distract us from is current reality—a rapidly-evolving virus, that can damage every organ in our bodies, is infecting us over and over and over

97

853

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

7 months

In inviting my six new undergraduate students to a welcome meeting today, I had written "FYI I will be masked"—and all six arrived at the meeting masked!

111

125

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

9 months

I wish people would stop getting so offended when I ask them to test, put on an air purifier, open a window—the whole point of asymptomatic infections is that it is not necessarily that I don't trust YOU, it's that I don't trust this mendacious bastard of a virus

75

608

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 months

Getting used to wearing a respirator is easier than getting used to having Long Covid

79

590

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Aside from me, my wife and kids—I don't know anyone who always masks when indoors in a public space. As far as I know, we could be the only four in the whole city. Feels lonely.

568

131

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

11 months

Thinking of using the stares I get when I wear a respirator to do some science communication

Tweet media one

908

463

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

5 months

Shout out to everyone still masking—the smart, the kind, the stubborn

371

376

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

7 months

During my journey to Tokyo, I masked from the moment I left home until my portable HEPA filter had purified the air in my hotel room (~20 hours). I unmasked only briefly to sip water, and to pass immigration/customs checks—I wish those checks required the officer to mask.

62

133

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

8 months

As a masker, am I "living in fear"? Yes! I do fear my family being maimed by covid. And I think people who refuse to mask, even in healthcare settings, are ALSO living in fear—fear of standing out, fear of change, fear of acknowledging vulnerability

654

544

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

10 months

Did we respond well to a long-anticipated pandemic? No. But, 3.5 yrs in, have we learned our lessons? Also no. But have the hardships strengthened bonds within our communities? Um still no. But have we carried those who have been harmed with unwavering strength? Again—that's a no

24

831

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

9 months

You don't know if you are (asymptomatically) infectious You don't know if the people around you are vulnerable You don't know if the people around you are infectious You don't know what will be left of you after your next infection But you think you know not to mask?

90

875

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

9 months

A lot of people sure feel entitled to an explanation of your mask. What they probably want, of course, is *reassurance*, that you are weird, that they are fine, that they are not at risk—if so, hoo boy, are they talking to the wrong man

78

410

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 month

Reasons someone may be masking outside - reducing the number of times they take a respirator on/off to make straps last longer - (invisibly) vulnerable - protecting the vulnerable - allergies - pollution - accessorising outfit - none of your business!

194

504

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

In the lectures that I give in-person—masked, to audiences almost universally unmasked—I have started subtly mentioning that we are in a pandemic of an airborne virus that causes long-term disability. This feels quite rude! But I think speaking up is the right thing to do?

171

253

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

You need to know someone pretty well to hear their real covid stories—an athlete losing most of their lung capacity, a dad now using a cane to walk, a daughter now only able to work half-time (all true stories from folks I know). Why aren't such stories more out in the open?

190

474

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

"Wearing a mask is not normal"—well, yes, you are probably right that the "normal" thing to do during a pandemic, historically, is to get sick and maybe die

54

511

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

10 months

For me "back to normal" does NOT mean "no more masks", it means "not being repeatedly infected by a virus that causes brain damage"

60

621

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

10 months

I saw a stranger in the airport also wearing a 3M Aura (~everyone else was unmasked) and so I ran up to him and congratulated him on his mask choice. He seemed so happy! I will definitely be congratulating respirator wearers in future—I think it helps us to feel less alone

103

169

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

"covid is mild, except for #LongCovid " is a bit like "smoking is mild, except for lung cancer"

62

628

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 months

Masking did not just *become* political—masking was *made* political, to be used as a wedge issue, by the American far-right

130

523

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

4 months

All of us who got Long Covid *before vaccines were even available* need to keep telling our story because there seems to be a concerted campaign to rewrite history with "it's the jab"

500

573

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

I know society isn't upset, but is it OK if I AM upset—that our two little kids have a multi-system vascular disease, with who-knows-what consequences for their long-term health, AGAIN

145

260

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

Today, Mar 15th, is #LongCovidAwarenessDay . Please amplify Long Covid voices.

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

My views on covid seem to have become a bit, well—radical. Please allow me to explain. I did not start out radical. I am lucky to have a settled, establishment-adjacent, career. Three years ago, on the eve of the pandemic, I trusted the establishment.

Tweet media one

Tweet media two

139

2K

6K

23

1K

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

I know someone (non-immunocompromised, vaccinated) who has had covid SIX times—I am a bit skeptical that we're going to be saved by hybrid immunity

170

253

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

22 days

@gershbrain I believe that such sickness is likely related to covid, due to the acute phases of repeated covid infections, the lingering effects of Long Covid, and the susceptibility to other illnesses caused by covid-induced immune damage

79

119

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

10 months

Sometimes I think about how we could have spent the last three and a half years installing HEPA filters, implementing East Asian masking policies but with high-grade respirators, running Warp Speed-like research programmes on Long Covid and ME/CFS—and I get very sad

68

523

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

8 months

Schools should include "covid ed", covering the real basics—aerosol physics, asymptomatic transmission, Long Covid (including myalgic encephalomyelitis, POTS, dysautonomia)—established science that everyone really needs to know

147

438

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

2 years

I have learned that, during a pandemic, some err on the side of caution; others err on the side of a virus that eats brains

28

446

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

1 year

I miss public health

50

280

3K

@maosbot

Michael A Osborne

3 months

If you don't mask because you're worried about feeling like an outsider, you're going to love Long Covid

78

514

3K