What the coronavirus tells us about ourselves(Part 3)
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen”-Vladimir Lenin
I doubt anyone feels as if this pandemic has been short-lived. It has engulfed every aspect of our lives. But the prolonged nature of the stillness it has caused has indeed made these few months feel like an eternity.
When one spends a lot of their time at home. The one thing they realize quickly is that they find themselves living quite aimlessly. There will be a few times where societal or familial demands ask of us to perform a role. Outside those particular tasks— especially for individuals living alone—it becomes quite obvious that there is no sense of purpose. To regain a sense of productivity— not necessarily to society at this point, but for oneself— habits are necessary. These are difficult to build, but provide a sense of stability in the long-run.
How do you feel right now? Are you working? If not, do you feel as if you should? In a pre-coronavirus world, many of us felt it necessary to be constantly active. But this lack of stillness has metamorphosed into what can only be described as anxiety. It is abundantly clear that human nature thrives in motion. But that the most minuscule amount of rest, seems bothersome to many of us, is nothing but pathology imbued into us by an increasingly flawed global society.
Those most active on twitter were bound to be far more informed about the impending pandemic. After the full-blown pandemic, most people retreated online, so much so that many online-based companies find them having to reduce the amount of used bandwidth to avoid a breakdown of the internet.
In this particular case, we are quickly finding out, that reality isn’t the flesh and solid we usually claim it to be. It is far more the collective presence of others. How this realization benefits us in the future, I do not know.
In a pandemic, what matters most is the use of technocratic, data-driven judgment. Some decisions are far better than others, and in many cases, these decisions aren’t even close when it comes to their efficacy. Everyone is and should be a pragmatist in a pandemic. Ideologies do not solve pandemics. Your ideological inclinations may provide some measure of help in the economic devastation caused by the virus, but it won’t solve it or prevent many from receiving it. Only expert judgment and good intentions will.