I think you might have misunderstood the parent comment (since your reply is somewhat of a non sequitur). My interpretation was that "if I wear a mask, then people will assume I'm infected and give me space, which is actually just better for me regardless of the mask's direct efficacy".

This binary assertion is fairly broadly given and I think it’s a narrow view that is a subtle form of unintentional disinformation that endangers. Any reduction of viral load on exposure is by nature better. The intensity of initial viral Old can help determine whether you get covid 19 and how strong it hits. It’s difficult to believe that some worth of cloth covering will have absolutely zero reduction of viral load. No you shouldn’t think it’s a comprehensive protection. But it’s silly to handwave away as useless as many do. Anything that limits spread should be encouraged. People still need to minimize going out, but if they have to, and have nothing else, dismissing all other masks as useless is not helpful.

I'm not so good with spreading my own potential risk around. It's essentially selfish to not wear a mask because 'it can't help me'.

Further, just yesterday on HN, there was a post about how a University study of airplane travelers showed mask-wearers got both benefits - they rarely caught anything and rarely infected anyone, even with the simplest masks.

False - hand to nose mouth contact is THE primary vector for this illness - masks are very effective in reducing this. Please stop spreading misinformation as it could lead to deaths.