MarcK. Just like in aviation, if you want ultimate safety you should never leave the ground, you could reduce your risk to virtually zero by staying at home. It all comes down to risk management. I have no problem with people that want to wear masks, if that makes them feel safer, there are countries in the Far East where people have been voluntarily wearing masks long before COVID. But in a free society we shouldn't be mandating that people wear them.
For you the inconvenience of wearing a mask is clearly minimal and your apparent perception of the reduced risk in wearing one makes it a sensible approach.
For others, they either fail to see the benefit (I include myself in this because I observe so many people wearing masks incorrectly, and the major benefit in wearing a mask is to stop you transmitting the virus to others), or there is an inconvenience to wearing one which outweighs their perception of the benefit, this may be a medical condition, or past mental trauma. The point is, it is best to leave it to people to make their own decision, as we should be doing in a free society. Which brings this back on topic, mask wearing on aircraft should not be mandatory, it should be up to the individuals concerned.
I made the comment about empirical evidence because a lot of people are using, as you put it, 'false facts' to justify the removal of our individual freedoms and liberty. We have got things completely the wrong way round and defaulted to removing liberties and then finding the evidence to justify it. The burden of proof should be very high before governments make decisions on behalf of their populace which removes or constrains their individual liberties. And such constraints should come with a clear time limit.
I flew long haul last week, most people were wearing masks but not properly. A gentlemen who appeared to be doing his best to follow the mask wearing protocol (was taking it off only to eat, wearing it properly over both mouth and nose, etc) suddenly pulled his mask off so that he could sneeze into his hand. This wasn't a conscious decision, but was involuntary as a result of years of habit forming, but this was probably the best moment for him to be properly wearing a mask. My point is, it is easy to see the theoretical advantage to face masks, but in the real world, when you involve fallible humans and all the other practicality's, you can see that any benefit they will be providing is going to be less than the theoretical predictions. Of more a concern to me, however, was the reaction of several people when this person sneezed. I am scared at the direction our society is heading.