What? You do know what the Smokey The Bear Effect is, don't you? The Smokey The Bear example of the effect is somewhat complicated. The best example of the effect is what happened in China in the late 50s, early 60s - They wanted to increase crop production. They noticed that birds eat the crop. Which is 100% true. Birds eat the crop. So they killed as many birds as they could. Because if there were no more birds eating the crop, then they'd have more crop. And that's 100% true.... on it's own. But what else happens? Birds eat bugs. And without the birds eating the bugs, the insect population exploded. Instead of crop production increasing, it instead decreased by 70%. A farmer that grew enough food to feed 100 families, now only grew enough for 30. 40 million people didn't just go hungry. 40 million people starved to death. Yes it is true that masks prevent your spittle from hitting others in the face when you talk. It is 100% true that masks limit the distance that you breathe out viruses. Those are 100% true. 100% UNDENIABLY TRUE!! Just like it's 100% undeniably true that if you kill all the birds, then there won't be any birds eating your crop. But other things happen when people wear masks. They're more likely to go out when sick or potentially sick, believing that it's ok because they have a mask on. They touch the mask with their hands, transferring everything on their hands onto the mask to eventually be breathed in. Viruses get sucked into the mask in one place or area, transported to other places and areas, where they are blown out of the mask spreading viruses that much more. It's the Smokey The Bear Effect. The intent makes perfect sense on its own..... On it's own it makes perfect sense.... On it's own it is 100% undeniably true and makes perfect sense...... But due to other outside factors, you end up with the exact opposite result.