Pandemic Insights (II): IN THE EYE OF THE NOISETORM - by Sicopol
What the world has been experiencing for the past year is what some call a "total social event", in the sense that it is shaking up all social relations and actors, institutions and values. Right now, the pandemic has taken us into a profound state of psychological and social entropy. And when the world around us changes and becomes uncertain, we have two paths: to sink into entropy or to emerge with a new equilibrium. A moment like this can be a turning point, an inaugural experience for humanity. My work in the humanitarian world has led me on several occasions to experience what a major natural disaster means, and the world it leaves in its wake. In those moments, during and also after, there is a lot of confusion. The most basic structures of society and community are shaken. We lose our reference points, we feel out of place, we face a new reality to adapt to. Dynamics and behaviors that we took for granted no longer apply, we do not know h...