Human natural instinct is to gather with your 'clan' , your close family and friends. This is a powerful survival instinct deeply embedded in human brains by Nature: the dangerous prehistoric world would quickly kill homo sapiens who did not seek the protection and benefits of the tribe.
BUT the coronavirus turns that instinct against us. ONLY a rational analysis, going directly AGAINST our gut reactions, can protect us against COVID-19. All the possible protections are medical, scientific, deliberate, conscious--rational. Those literally happen in a different part of the brain. This example from Texas clearly separates out those with and those without the ability to overrule instinct with rational decisions.
All opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the authors, and do not reflect those of University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, or any organizations of which either is a member.