Yet, it is with a certain degree of humility and a tincture of honesty that we come to terms with the truth that emotionally we have gained very little wisdom compared to the ancient Sumerians. Our emotions seem to soar and sour with the rise and fall of our weighted biased assumptions. Our thoughts find balance, however precariously, between the past and the present only to realize, especially when we are true to our inner voice, that not much has changed since we were troglodytes.
We continue to have the same emotional outbursts of fight and flight. Our appetite remains at full tilt for sudden and unintelligible furies that arise sometimes with little or no provocation. Ignorance and fear are mostly at the heart of this fury.
At times we hide behind our fears, at other times we gear up for a perverse response. The prejudice that exists within all of us drives the desire and our wants. For some, the innate impulse is to cower behind others so they can lay blame on anyone who bares their blind spots and other related deficiencies. Today our weakness is compelled and propelled by the speed of useless information bombarded upon us on a 24/7 basis. We feel proud of our distractions and fidgety when contradicted. Our understanding of reality fades with time from the constant drumbeat of useless information, and that shades and at times wipe out the permanence of our comprehension. In reality not much seems to stick in our memories, being mostly clouded by the contrails of distractions and hence cannot find a foothold for its own place of permanence.
It is unfortunate we let the experience and knowledge accrued through time not to crystalize among the young. Instead, we layer upon the youth our built-in biases and burdens. As Alain de Bottom said, “The knack of our species lies in the capacity to transmit our accumulated knowledge down the generations. The slowest among us can, in a few hours, pick up ideas that it took a few rare geniuses a lifetime to acquire.” We simply need to educate the young with the historical data and not the useless and unusable drivel being drummed into their heads.
Today we find ourselves trapped behind closed doors cowered with fear. A tiny virus has us imprisoned. It threatens our very existence or at least we deem it to do that. But in a moment of reason, we find that it is like all other past dangers to mankind have been. This too can be overcome.
The question that arises then is, what is fear and what is real? Many including myself have talked and written about the tenacity of this Coronavirus to gain a foothold onto any human for its own survival. Humans are the vessels for the propagation of this menace. Some of us fear more than others. Some see every blemish on a surface as the enemy, while others retire to a more reality-based concept of self-responsibility. Both are soiled, unfortunately by the prejudices of their past experiences. Similarly, under the banner of responsibility, some feel indestructible and have a devil-may-care attitude; having gatherings in their homes that is a sure-fire mechanism to spread this invisible microbe and also think that washing hands and social distancing is for everyone else. That they will be protected by the “herd immunity.” Unfortunately, this mindset drives the percentage of the overall caseload and deaths from this illness.
The other misinformation that has ramped up by the unsuspecting media pundits is that young ones don’t get it or if they do, their illness is brief and fully recoverable. That myth is being slowly debunked. It appears that the young ones who develop the infection can have residual damage to the lungs and in some cases yield life to this microbe, and if they survive, the virus can pose a problem over a long period of future time. And depending on the size of the viral inoculum some young ones have developed heart damage including, inflammation (myocarditis) or have died from rhythm disturbances. The young ones who recover quickly from a faint collection of symptoms, however, shed a significant amount of virus which can be mislaid onto the path of the ones who are elderly and sick. Usually, however, the victim in this Coronavirus infection is the latter with one or more co-morbid diseases; diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, who pays the greatest price.
What then is the difference between the unreasonable and the reasonable ones? Indeed, a question worth pondering over
The reasonable ones follow the rules and keep the societal norms functioning. They work and play under the auspices of the established rules. In the current crisis, they wash hands, they clean surfaces, they distance themselves from others as proscribed by the Centers for Disease Control. Nothing is mandated, only suggested for the benefit of each individual. On the other hand, the unreasonable, feel an infringement on their freedoms. And given these feelings, they act out against the suggestions. These are not the gifted and driven unreasonable ones that advance society through innovation, to generate a better future. These are the ones that do harm, the “antiauthority” individuals who believe that they are above it all and are not concerned with the safety of others.
Perhaps this is the time to take things seriously and follow the simple directions of good hygiene, hand washing and not touch the eyes, nose or mouths. Those simple acts eliminate more than 90% of all transmissions. The other less than 10% is from the unrestricted sneezes and coughs which propel viral droplets at speeds of 60mph from the mouth to a distance of 6-25 feet. So cover up the coughs and sneezes.
Use reality-based information to determine your actions and not cower behind falsehood to propel and diffuse unnecessary fear.
Life is short, follow your passion and live responsibly…
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