This week, we thought we’d look at subject matter experts, taken from the lens of carbon emissions with lessons for both entrepreneurs, and investors.

The good news about the lockdown: carbon emissions, which we’ve been told are a danger and will wipe us all out in X amount of years, are decreasing, given that fewer factories are fully operational, and there are fewer commuters on the roads. On the other side of the coin, although COVID-19 Cuts Car Crashes — But What About Crash Rates? According to StreetsBlog (and underreported in mainstream news), “both car crashes and crash fatalities have more than doubled in the North Star State (Minnesota) since the virus began to accelerate in the state.” In New York City, more motorists died in the period between March 2 and April 8 — even though there are so few cars on the road, as Streetsblog NYC reported.”

Those aren’t the only places, there are always two sides to every story – and for every action, there is a reaction.

As for the reduction of carbon dioxide in the air, which makes us all happy, the required face masks that are supposedly there to protect our health, are upping our own levels of carbon dioxide intake, and may well lead to other health problems, such as hypercapnia (chart on the SOS website, complete with symptoms to look for), or carbon dioxide toxicity or poisoning, which is potentially a real concern.

Remember: in the masks, you’re inhaling recycled carbon dioxide.

Did ‘experts’ concerned for our health and well-being not factor the potential for hypercapnia into their calculations?

“Wear the mask as little as possible,” one of our readers suggested. Good advice, but what happens when the so-called New Normal kicks in? Will people be required to wear masks in the office? For the duration and we know that tech works much later than the typical 9-5 hours, what to speak of meetings that go on for hours? Will Zoom still be used in those circumstances? Zoom may be a good fix under the current circumstances, but we all know that there is no replacement for in-person meetings. Situations may change; human nature does not.

For the record, Woodstock Occurred in the Middle of a Pandemic, noted the American Institute for Economic Research. The Hong Kong flu, to be specific, which killed over a million people globally, yet did not lead to lockdowns or ‘sheltering in place.’ The virus raged from 1968-1969, Woodstock and other large gathering were not cancelled (nor were there large increases in deaths reported after Woodstock, et al) and FYI – while there is something of a Hong Kong flu vaccine available, as Healthline notes, “H3N2 viruses tend to accrue more changes that are different from the H3N2 component of the flu vaccine. This can lead to a poor match between the strain included in the vaccine and the strains that circulate during flu season.”

It can be argued that lives might have been saved had there been lockdowns – and speaking of two sides to every story- but there wasn’t a follow-on pandemic, as people had developed herd immunity.

Which brings us to entrepreneurship and subject matter experts. We’ve heard conflicting information from Covid-19 ‘subject matter experts’ and doctors in the field, which should be a lesson to both entrepreneurs and investors. Every subject matter expert does have a point of view, and while they may have expertise in their specialty, no doubt, do make sure that they are boots on the ground in their particular discipline. Think of many an expert witness: certain ones are often called in on particular cases, as the defense attorney or prosecutor are aware of their bias, and will gravitate towards that, depending on the case. Bottom line: listen; but keep your own counsel. At the end of the day, it’s your company, and you are the ultimate authority.

It’s all right if the expert has a point of view contrary to yours: they may have useful information to impart that you might have otherwise missed, as long as you’re aware as to whether or not they’re dispensing truly useful information, or just more CO2.

Which, at the end of the day, amounts to just so much hot air.

Onward and forward.