Covid-19 and The Future of Humanity – Brianna Lee Welsh – Elemental

Part 3 of 3 Mental Health in the Covid World

Connecting Humanity

The coronavirus pandemic is going to cause immense pain and suffering. But it will force us to reconsider who we are and what we value. In the long run, it could help us discover a better version of ourselves. When this crisis ends, I hope we will reorient our politics and make substantial new investments in public goods for health, especially. I dont think we will become less communal. Instead, we will be more conscious, more aware, of our interdependency. I hope that it will mark the end of our romance with instant gratification and hyper-individualism. As weve witnessed the market-based models for social organization fail, catastrophically, self-seeking behavior makes this crisis so much more dangerous than it needed to be. The economy and social order would have collapsed into anarchy if the government didnt guarantee income for the millions of workers who suffered unemployment.

But while many of our institutions have failed, the civic responsibility and altruism of millions who have stayed home, lost income, kept their kids inside, self-quarantined, refrained from hoarding, supported each other, and even pooled resources to bolster health workers, leads me to the belief in a better future. Harnessing a new sense of solidarity, we have the opportunity to unify to face the enormous global challenges ahead.

One inspiring outcome from the lockdown is how people are finding new ways to connect and support each other through adversity. Being social animals, our natural instinct during times of crisis is to connect. Not asynchronously through drip feeds of our curated lives, engaging only as voyeurs. But by coexisting, concurrently. Attention-heavy synchronous conversations like raw and unfiltered videochats can foster a new form of closeness reminiscent to older eras. Professional enterprise technology Zoom and TEAMS, for example have been usurped for meandering, motive-less togetherness. Thank god for this sufficiently advanced technology that is practically indistinguishable from magicor wed all be channeling our inner Cast Away!

In the default world, our time is occupied by acquaintances of convenience or circumstance. The co-workers who share our office. The friends who live nearby. The parents of the children our kids go to school with. Were strikingly un-intentional and mundane about our relationships. But now were motivated to build a virtual family, completely of our choosing. The calculus has shifted from who is convenient or who has the best invitation, to who makes us feel most human. Were returning to the form of youthful socialization of just hanging out. In the past two months, Ive connected with old friends I havent seen together in a decade, met new partners I hadnt yet seen in real life, and have had near daily check-ins with both of my parents. In some ways, the pandemic is forcing a new and improved form of mediated social connection the way connecting is innately meant to be.

Another form of raw humanity thats arising from Covid is the frequent but lightweight communication of sharing videos and memes. The internets response to COVID-19 has been a global outpour of gallows humor. From Facebook groups like the quarter-million member Zoom Memes for Quaranteens, to the sardonic Instagram Quentin Quarantine, and the myriad of TikTokers all joining up to weather the crisis. Memes allow us to convert our creeping dread and stir craziness into something borderline productive. Memes offer a new medium of solidarity, of one-ness; were all in this hellscape together so we may as well make fun of it. As one of my friends often claims, we laugh because if we didnt, wed cry. So we force laughter, self-deprecating, but oddly familiar, formulating a connection through the deep understanding of each others misery. Powerless and isolated, were finding that the joke is now our most reliable shield and our warmest comfort blanket.

Media Shake-Up

Oddly, what remains feels more social than social networks have in a long time. Perhaps its because the flood of status symbol content into Instagram Stories has been replaced by our lives in the flesh. No one is going out and doing anything cool to show off, and if they are, they should be ashamed of themselves. For the first time since the dawn of social media, people are sharing their lives in the present, unfiltered, with no lighting or edits or make up. Our highly curated autobiographical content has screeched to a halt, and thank God, it was about time. We had turned social media into a sport where we spent the whole time staring at the scoreboard. Its freed us from the external validation that too often rules our decision making, because fortunately, there are no Like counts on Zoom. Coronavirus has absolved our desire to share the recent past, and our near future is so uncertain that theres little sense in making plans. As shelter-in-place orders get extended in piecemeal, we have no choice but to remain firmly fixed in the present.

And much like our intentional communities, social media has become less about how it looks, and more about how it feels. Does it put me at peace, make me laugh, or abate the loneliness? Then do it. Theres no more FOMO because theres nothing to miss. Staying at home enjoying some self-indulgence finally doesnt have a trade-off. Even celebrities are getting into it. Rather than professional photos and flashy music videos, theyre unedited, and truly live. John Legend did a live quarantine concert with his wife Chrissy Teigen sitting in a towel, Coldplays Chris Martin streamed a song with the tag #TogetherAtHome, promoting the online entertainment of isolated fans, and some even use their platforms to urge people to stay at home.

Social media was ready for a colossal shift. For the past 18 months at least, Ive felt nauseated by it all the virtue signaling, the status symbols, the FOMO-inducing stories, the blatantly plastic or plastered, and the #blessed. The solipsism on Instagram that comes with flying on someone elses jet or sailing on a billionaires yacht, it just felt soover the top. Kind of like the visceral feeling of angst that you get in Las Vegas or Dubai. And Facebook and Twitter werent any better. The vitriolic comments, deliberate shaming, the fake news and just generally vapid chatter, has permeated my online experiences for years. But suddenly, the discourse shifted. The nature of conversations recently has shifted from utterly vacuous brain candy, to profound, useful, data-driven, supportive and inclusive communication. Friends offering strangers time to talk if theyre lonely, peers volunteering with the elderly, shout-outs to companies and entrepreneurs dedicating their resources.

Some of the most heartwarming outpourings of the internet have been the willingness of others to share their offerings. What would ordinally come with a steep price tag, is suddenly available as a gift. Its like Burning Mans gifting economy moved online. The webs mental immune system has kicked into gear amidst the outbreak. Rather than wallowing in captivity, weve developed digital antibodies that are evolving to fight the solitude. Weve developed digital congregations to compensate for the loss of physical ones. One-off livestreams have turned into online music festivals, self-help conferences, remote classes and coordinated mindfulness retreats. Despite being physically separated, weve never been closer. Investors are offering free pitch feedback, performing arts centers are screening live plays, and pastors and rabbis have moved online. And yes, Burning Man, finally, has gone digital.

Perhaps we can use our time with our devices to rethink the kind of communities we can create through them. This is a different life on the screen from disappearing into a video game or polishing ones avatar. This is cracked open humanity, leveraging tools for the broader good premised on generosity and empathy. This is looking within and asking: what can I authentically offer? What do people need? When the infection waves pass, I hope this swell of creativity and in-the-moment togetherness stays strong. The internet is just a tool that reveals the fabric of humanity, and for the first time in a while, Im proud of the way people are showing up for each other, rather than showing off.

Value of Truth and Expertise

Social media as a public square is a place for discourse and commiseration. But its also the place for gossip and instant accusations and judgment. Click baiting, sensationalist headlines have been emblematic of the last decade. And theyve become even more present during the Covid episode, propelled by a system built to attract eyeballs that inadvertently becomes a race to the bottom. For years, it has incentivized controversy, outrage, and half-baked contrarianism, because this is entertainment at its worst.

And America, in all its glory and triumph, has become the zenith of it all. For the past several years, America has become a fundamentally unserious country. This is the luxury afforded us by peace, affluence and the convergence of consumer technologies. We were absolved of the necessity to weigh our existentialism through real threats of nuclear war, oil shortages, high unemployment, skyrocketing interest rates. We even posted a reality TV star to the presidency; whose defining tribute is a populist attack on the expertise that makes government relevant. But when our health and livelihoods are at stake, we are forced to accept that expertise matters. Perhaps we will witness a return of Americans to a new seriousness, or perhaps resign to the idea that government is a matter for serious people. The colossal failure of the Trump administration both to keep Americans healthy and to slow the pandemic-driven implosion of the economy might shock the public enough back to insisting on something from government other than emotional satisfaction

And as people are demanding unambiguous data, seeking clear information from science-based experts, its interesting to watch who the world is gravitating to; who emerges as leaders and which leaders lose the trust of their people. Bill Gates, who presciently predicted this outbreak in a 2016 TED Talk, has been elevated as a true world leader. A trusted (and importantly, relatively apolitical figure), who uses science and raw data to support his arguments. Similarly, epidemiologists and medical clinicians are experiencing a brand-new reach.

Now on social media, administrators are starting (though somewhat inconsistently and half-heartedly) to punish people who have internalized the dopamine-hit incentives. Recognizing the spread of misinformation, Chinese tech giants, already well-versed in censorship, put their tools to good use to prevent the spread of such lies. The creators of WeChat have integrated a fact-checking platform to dispel harmful misconceptions. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, are also actively working to ensure that only correct sources get amplified. Content from reputable accounts is given priority, while amateur claims are being scrutinized and factchecked. Twitter is voraciously erasing quack cure tweets from former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani and Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro, and Facebook taking down two videos by Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro that disputed the need for social distancing. WhatsApp has restricted users ability to forward posts, a blanket measure meant to flatten the curve of disinformations spread. But its still a game of whack-a-mole. Banning the most offensive might be a straightforward call, but many of the less egregiously bad tweets tweets that do not appear to violate any of the platforms rules but nonetheless sow unnecessary fear or cause confusion regarding matters of life and death come from people who are merely trying to be good at Twitter. Social media was always designed to give us what we want, not what we need. But the problem is too systemic to be reversed overnight; a bad tweet, morally speaking, is often a good tweet, judging strictly by the numbers. And this is why we needed a shift.

The World Needed a Shift

As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. There will be much financial and economic pain along the road to a recovery, but something had to awaken us from headlong rush towards the perdition of over-indebtedness, overconsumption, overpriced assets and general overindulgence.

There are, to a certain degree, parallels that can be drawn between the current COVID-19 pandemic and some of the other contemporary crises our world is facing. All require a global-to-local response and long-term thinking; all need to be guided by science and need to protect the most vulnerable among us; and all require the political will to make fundamental changes when faced with existential risks. In this sense, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic may lead to a deeper understanding of the ties that bind us all on a global scale and could help us get to grips with the largest public health threat of the century, the climate crisis.

Coronavirus is upending everything from aviation to retail and its also having a big impact on the environment. A drop in air pollution was first observed by NASA in Chinas Hubei province, where the coronavirus outbreak began in December. Marshall Burke, a researcher at Stanford University, calculated the improvements in air quality recorded in China may have saved the lives of 4,000 children under 5 years old and 73,000 adults over 70. Even more conservative estimates would put the number of lives saved at roughly 20 times the number of deaths from the virus directly. Though while it is clearly incorrect and foolhardy to conclude that pandemics are good for health, the calculation is a useful reminder of the often-hidden health consequences of the status quo. Nothing should go back to normal; normal wasnt working.

Nature is sending us a message with the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis, said the UNs environment chief, Inger Andersen. Andersen claimed humanity was placing too many pressures on the natural world with damaging consequences, and warned that failing to take care of the planet meant not taking care of ourselves. To prevent further outbreaks, the experts said, both global heating and the destruction of the natural world for farming, mining and housing have to end, as both drive wildlife into contact with people. An end to live animal markets which they called an ideal mixing bowl for disease and the illegal global animal trade.

Refresh Button

The scale of the coronavirus crisis calls to mind 9/11 or the 2008 financial crisis events that reshaped society in lasting ways, from how we travel and buy homes, to the level of security and surveillance were accustomed to, and even common vernacular. But this cocktail of constraints and boredom is a potent trigger for innovation. Constraints are, in a way, a reverse Occams Razor a force that removes the most obvious and mundane solutions from the table. With constraints, were forced to recalibrate and search for ways to solve problems that already have simple solutions. Crisis moments present opportunity: more sophisticated and flexible use of technology, less polarization, a revived appreciation for the outdoors and lifes other simple pleasures.

The 21st century has been firmly dedicated to the self. Self-reliance, self-help, self-growth and self-independence. But this virus is reminding us that we are all connected, we need others and we need social support. Its the quality of your relationships that determines the quality of your life, they say. It is reminding us that the false borders that we have put up have little value as this virus does not need a passport. It is reminding us of how precious our health is and how we have moved to neglect it through eating nutrient poor manufactured food and drinking water that is contaminated with chemicals upon chemicals. If we dont look after our health, we will, in fact, be sick. Disease knows no xenophobia, and suffering knows no borders. We are being stress tested, and if we pay attention theres a huge opportunity to learn about ourselves. Were shedding layers from our past that dont serve us anymore. As we become still, whatever stillness means to you, we will be given ideas and messages about how we are to come out of this, what our role will be.

As Eric Davis says, this is the moment when baseline reality dissolves and no new reality has emerged and its pixelating weight. As Shots of Awe host, Jason Silva claims, its like someone dosed our drink with acid and didnt tell us, and were collectively realizing the only way out is through. Once we contend and metabolize the panic and converge our brilliance and creativity, we realize from an ego death can come renewal, transformation, reinvention. This is our chance to be the phoenix that rises from the ashes.

Weve been heading towards mad max and now we have the opportunity to head towards star trek. In the rush to return to normal, we must use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to. We took life for granted. It was heavy, and toxic. And while this crisis will pass like every other, we must not forget it, we must come out wiser than we went in. This can either be an end or a new beginning. This can be a time of reflection and understanding, where we learn from our mistakes, or it can be the start of a cycle which will continue until we finally learn the lesson we are meant to. Perhaps Corona is the great corrector we all needed.

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Covid-19 and The Future of Humanity - Brianna Lee Welsh - Elemental