THINKING WHILE THE WORLD SHUTS DOWN

It is an amazing thing to watch the world shut down. Malls have closed, stadiums have cancelled games, political rallies have been cancelled, churches have transferred services to be watched on the internet, trainings have been postponed, schools and universities have closed their doors, and the list goes on and on.

The last time I recalled the world shutting down was nearly twenty years ago as an aftermath of 9/11. As I was scheduled to fly to Washington DC on September 11, 2001, I got up early to get ready when I heard the news about the first plane flying into one of the twin towers. By the time I had finished packing and was ready to go to the airport, the second plane hit. Then came the grounding of all airplanes. “Maybe I’ll fly tomorrow.” But on the morrow, continued grounding and cancellation of all flights. And so it went for over a week.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb called 9/11 a Black Swan event. It was an event that no one saw coming, an event that was unpredicted (although it was a predictable event) and it was an event that changed the world. Coronavirus (covid-19) is likely to be another Black Swan event. It will make us re-think many aspects of our lives. Here are some of my thoughts as the world is shutting down.

First Thought In spite of all the urgent and frantic plans, demands, and deadlines that organizations, companies, and families invent and put on themselves—when the world shuts down, they all become irrelevant. Suddenly7 we see them for what they are—human constructs. In the months after 9/11 I saw and heard first-hand how plans which seemed written in stone were actually quite flexible. It is as if we had all been in a trance— assuming that deadlines and plans were real, that they were static, impentratable, unquestionable, and “that way it is.”

In the days of no travel after 9/11 and after the cancellation of so many events— we suddenly had time to think and to reflect. Some did, some did not. Why were we all in such a rush, such a hurry? What did all of that rushing generate except stress and pressure and psycho-somatic illnesses? Realization: we can (and should) slow down the pace of life. We can and should focus more on the quality of life, than on the quantity of appointments or money.

Second Thought Why exactly is the world shutting down? Because of the fear of a virus. But the virus is not the virus of Zombie Movies where it spreads with a bite and within 15 seconds turns you into a mindless, teeth-chattering, inhuman zombie. Nor is it like the contagion movies where 95% of

the planet, some six-billion people, die. No. I think somebody has been watching too many sci- fi virus-contagion movies!

Instead it is a virus that’s more like the flu. The great majority who get it will have mild symptoms and as with any flu, a very small percentage will die. Yet the indulgent and never- ending 24/7 communication of social media has turned things into an intense fear-and-panic trance. People are emptying stores, stocking up food and supplies for months, wearing masks, and behaving as if actors in a zombie virus-contagion movie. Geraldine showed me some pictures that are all over the internet of people strapping water-bottles to their mouth and face, some putting their entire head in a large plastic bottle, wearing layers of masks— 6 at a time, some wearing panties, some wearing half-of-a-bra over the mouth(!), covering themselves up in plastic like spacemen, even covering up their dogs in plastic. It is a case of stupidity run wild.

What are people so afraid of when, even in the worst case scenario, they catch the virus, they will recover and then be immune? And why? They are in a fearful-panic trance. They have been induced into that trance by social media and are fully hypnotized. Realization: Information from social media, like any state-induction information, induces people into trances— if they are not conscious and able to catch it. The cure is to be de-hypnotized from this fear- panic.

Third Thought There is so much negative and unhelpful spin going on. Not only by people who want to make a quick buck by intensifying people’s fears, but especially by politicians. It’s an ideal opportunity for those not in power to complain about everything which is imperfect about the current administration’s responses. And they are. Their message is, “Everything would be great if I was running things.”

Now when it comes to communication, spinning news to fit one’s agenda is not only common, it is to be expected. Everywhere it dominates the news media and social media. It is the rear event when news is simply reported in terms of what happened, to whom, where, and how. Mostly, when we get the news, someone has put their own spin on it so that we get the news as filtered and colored and perceived through that person’s filters and biases. Today we even talk about different news outlets in terms of their spin — New York Times —left spin, CNN —Trump hatred spin, Fox — conservative spin, etc.

About spin, we all do it; we all spin. We do it both in receiving and in giving information. We do it, in part, because it is inevitable—inevitable unless you have trained yourself to catch your spin. Why is it inevitable? Because we all have perceptual filters, beliefs, preferences, understandings, and biases. We also have agendas (goals, objectives, intentions) which we are seeking to achieve. All of this explains why we do not think very clearly or accurately.

Spin is the dark side of communication. It distorts the facts, it convolutes the news, it prevent us to knowing how best to respond. It also creates a false presentation of the world, a false map, a map that will not lead us where we want to go. Realization: Instead of passively receiving information— think critically about the source’s agenda and take it with a grain of salt.