Pandemic leading to more world cohesion?

[Mock Turtle]

Not sure the world-wide demonstrations supporting the George Floyd protests are unique but they do seem to be special in some ways - perhaps igniting the drive to be accountable for the past, where such is quite relevant as to why we still have issues concerning race now. I've never been shy to admit that the UK, like many other countries, has a very chequered past and needs to own up to such. And that we must deal with those issues where equality is often not the norm for so many. But will this carry over to other issues even if we might not see the progress hopefully that comes from this current attention?

Has the pandemic in some way brought us more together, and might we see something similar concerning other issues - like climate change or more equality in general, for example?

Or is this just fanciful and it will be back to normal once the crisis has subsided?

 

[Vinayaka]

Time will tell ... as always.

 

[February-Saturday]

In the Ender's Game universe, written by Orson Scott Card, there was an alien existential threat in the formids. Due to a fear of invasion, the entire world banded together to combat them.

After the formids were defeated, there was almost immediately a world war.

That's the tricky part of human nature, especially among the rich and powerful. If we aren't facing a direct, visible threat then we aren't likely to take it seriously. We didn't evolve to avoid global warming, we evolved to dodge jaguars in the jungle.

Patching the human mind with philosophy isn't easy. Scientific thinking gets rid of almost every cognitive distortion and logical fallacy, but even in first world countries not everyone has adopted it despite how long it's been around for.

I don't see this leading to more world cohesion. I think the cohesion is temporary. That said, I would like to be proven wrong.

 

[stvdv]

Or is this just fanciful and it will be back to normal once the crisis has subsided?

Evolution is know to go "very slow". Humans (esp. older ones) are known to "not change easily".

So, I don't hold my breath. Probably it will be another "wave" in the ocean, but the sea-level won't change that much in a short time.

But it is also known that in "hard times" people do get temporarily more close/friendly. Not all people of course; some very rich are getting more rich because of Corona (Gates, Big Pharma....). And we all know that for the rich to become more rich, the poor will have to pay for it (it just does not rain dollars yet).

 

[Mock Turtle]

In the Ender's Game universe, written by Orson Scott Card, there was an alien existential threat in the formids. Due to a fear of invasion, the entire world banded together to combat them.

After the formids were defeated, there was almost immediately a world war.

That's the tricky part of human nature, especially among the rich and powerful. If we aren't facing a direct, visible threat then we aren't likely to take it seriously. We didn't evolve to avoid global warming, we evolved to dodge jaguars in the jungle.

Patching the human mind with philosophy isn't easy. Scientific thinking gets rid of almost every cognitive distortion and logical fallacy, but even in first world countries not everyone has adopted it despite how long it's been around for.

I don't see this leading to more world cohesion. I think the cohesion is temporary. That said, I would like to be proven wrong.

I'm not optimistic to be honest.

 

[February-Saturday]

I'm not optimistic to be honest.

Ha ha, wonder why.

Nonetheless, I think actual optimism is important in times like these. Not hoping that things will get better or being naive, but remaining positive. It's very easy to slide into fatalism or become overwhelmed with all of the awful events unfurling before our eyes, but it's not healthy to obsess over them.

I don't know how it is in other countries, but here in America our news lives for this sort of thing. It seems that news stations aren't happy unless everyone is pacified through terror, and that sort of exaggerated a culture that sees "reality" as inherently harsh and horrifying. It can be, but there are good things, too.

We don't need world peace tomorrow to focus on the good we have today, you know? Even if it can be hard to focus on when the world seems to be falling apart around us.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Ha ha, wonder why.

Nonetheless, I think actual optimism is important in times like these. Not hoping that things will get better or being naive, but remaining positive. It's very easy to slide into fatalism or become overwhelmed with all of the awful events unfurling before our eyes, but it's not healthy to obsess over them.

I don't know how it is in other countries, but here in America our news lives for this sort of thing. It seems that news stations aren't happy unless everyone is pacified through terror, and that sort of exaggerated a culture that sees "reality" as inherently harsh and horrifying. It can be, but there are good things, too.

We don't need world peace tomorrow to focus on the good we have today, you know? Even if it can be hard to focus on when the world seems to be falling apart around us.

I think history tends to show us not to be too optimistic, and after many decades seen to have passed we seem to have slow progress with intermittent backsliding, or wars as they often called.

But the internet (and mobile phones) seems to provide the means for action in many more countries than used to be the case.

 

[Secret Chief]

Not sure the world-wide demonstrations supporting the George Floyd protests are unique but they do seem to be special in some ways - perhaps igniting the drive to be accountable for the past, where such is quite relevant as to why we still have issues concerning race now. I've never been shy to admit that the UK, like many other countries, has a very chequered past and needs to own up to such. And that we must deal with those issues where equality is often not the norm for so many. But will this carry over to other issues even if we might not see the progress hopefully that comes from this current attention?

Has the pandemic in some way brought us more together, and might we see something similar concerning other issues - like climate change or more equality in general, for example?

Or is this just fanciful and it will be back to normal once the crisis has subsided?

I fear you may have caught lockdown fever.
I'd like to think on a local scale, the social attitude improvements that I've noticed will persist. But nationally and globally if anything problems will be exacerbated by the major economic downturn. And if the stupid orange man-child gets in again you can forget about progress from that quarter.

 

[sun rise]

Has the pandemic in some way brought us more together, and might we see something similar concerning other issues - like climate change or more equality in general, for example?

sea-level won't change that much in a short time.

I agree with both. Things are changing in response to many things, the latest being the pandemic and the murder of another black man.

But it's also true that the changes are not universal yet. But to me the next few decades and perhaps a couple of centuries will overall see fundamental changes.

 

[Mock Turtle]

I agree with both. Things are changing in response to many things, the latest being the pandemic and the murder of another black man.

But it's also true that the changes are not universal yet. But to me the next few decades and perhaps a couple of centuries will overall see fundamental changes.

Well we know that most people in so many countries are willing to change their behaviour quite drastically when circumstances demand such so it is possible for us all to do so perhaps in other ways, but I think I'm with many probably in thinking that most might not want to be forced into actions where they have some choice as opposed to what we currently have, or had. But the fact that we have complied, mostly, should encourage the many hoping for more progress in the future.