In the midst of a greater social upheaval than wartime, we're seeing countless active instances of the human trait of adaptivity. What's your view of that?

Honestly, I was expecting you, @Jeruba to be asking if have been reaching new levels of depravity.

I could make a better case that people are more depraved, more selfish, more frozen, and more incompatible, than I could say ‘more adaptable’.

And yet, in direct opposition to what @elbanditoroso says, I have noticed that in my town, in my, and my friends’ neighborhoods, just the opposite prevails. We are being kinder, more cooperative with one another, more helpful and caring. Food gets shared (even though none of us are hungry) skills are being traded, concern more readily expressed.
I hope this lasts.

Usually, the human nature is to use something all up until it is all gone. Not much adaptability in that…

Whew. Ok, I was thinking of pandemic-related things such as these:

• Drastic social upheaval: social distancing, shuttered theaters and empty playing fields, closed schools and businesses

• Adaptivity: mask-wearing, Zoom meetings, cardboard-cutout audiences

• Lasting changes (perhaps): working at home, avoiding dense crowds, screening one another for symptoms

• Temporary substitutes (perhaps): take-out instead of in-restaurant dining, virtual visits with doctors, waving instead of hugging

And I was, I confess, thinking about ancient ancestors—prehistoric cave dwellers wearing animal skins, climate-change migrants to more hospitable regions, hunters learning to herd animals and cultivate the land, that sort of thing. Pretty big changes for those old guys. Are we in their league or not?

Depravity warrants discussion too, but that would have to be another question.

A lot of the work arounds are actually more convenient than what we were doing before the pandemic. I wonder if that was the case during prior massive changes to how we functioned in daily life?

With this current situation we have technology that was being developed, or already developed, but not being utilized very much yet. Some people and companies might already have been thinking of making a change, and this forced them to, but something they were considering anyway. Like working from home (lowers expenses for most companies) or adding delivery or curbside pick up to a retail business. We already know working from home is sticking with some companies, some companies still believe being in person makes a difference for collaboration, but they had a forced test run. I have friends who say they will continue to use grocery pick up because they find it so convenient.

I would add some of the practices to prevent spread of infection have been good additions. I hope companies will be more willing than previously to allow a sick employee to stay home.

Wearing masks all day long I know a lot of people will be happy to do away with once the threat is diminished. I personally hope masks become more accepted in our society, especially during air travel during flu season, and if someone is sick and has to leave the house for some reason. I think East Asian countries did better with the pandemic, because they masked up without question, because they have been doing for years.

I LOVE that the stranger handshake is gone. I really hope that stays away for good. I think people are probably split on that.

I hope forever more when restrooms are put in public places that they have open-out doors when leaving the bathroom without a handle whenever possible.

I used to go to discussions and lectures regularly where I live, some of which have moved to zoom. In some ways the zoom is awesome, because if I am out of state I can still zoom in, but I miss the in person interaction too. Some of the lectures I go to fill up, so if they will also zoom when they go back to in person fewer people will be left out.

One group I started attending recently on zoom is a Mystery Lovers book club that is about the authors, how they develop their characters and plots and sometimes it involves learning about what was happening in the country or world, it can be a history lesson for me along with learning about the life of the author. You don’t have to read the books ahead. I have two close friends who write mysteries, and they are going to be guest speakers! That never would have happened without zoom. My mom and dad will be able to watch even though they don’t live where I live. Their parents can zoom in too if they want to.

Some of my Zumba classes are even on zoom, and so I can see zumba friends from other cities I lived in. I would love if we keep a combination of zoom and in person once we go back to in-person. People becoming more accustomed with zoom is a positive thing in my opinion.

The unemployment we are not dealing with well. During the last 3 boom years in the economy no money has been saved by the federal government, a lot of people are struggling. People having all this time on their hands and worrying about paying bills is a bad recipe.

I think we are doing pretty well overall though in handling the changes. Businesses and people are adapting. Some people are very resistant to change though.

I guess you have never experienced a carpet bombing of your city before.

I stand by the idea that (generally speaking) objectively, things are better in the world than say in 1918, during the last pandemic.

Mankind has the same percentage of horrible people it always has, but due to technological advances in communication (the internet primarily), we learn about the actions of more horrible people, more often, and on repeat. So it seems worse, but that’s just perception.

@ragingloli, no, I haven’t, and I didn’t say a greater catastrophe. The bombing of a city is a terrible thing. It also has a perimeter and does not affect the whole world. The explosion in Beirut was a disaster, and so are earthquakes and tsunamis, but when there’s a hurricane in Haiti, people in Sweden don’t have to put on masks or avoid human contact. People in Egypt don’t lose their livelihoods, and people in Chicago don’t have to worry about how to educate their children at home. The sweep of this thing has yet to be measured. When Rome burned, I doubt that anyone in Peru cared.

@ragingloli When did you experience a carpet bombing? Was it Dresden? Or Berlin? Or another WWII bombing??

I wish no one had to die, but this whole situation was perfect for my introversion.

I do feel bad for young people, so I hope it gets better: When I was younger I got to travel and party in bars and attend huge raging parties. Now people have to be more clandestine about being wild and free.

My only goal now in life is to go to work and go home. And now I’m less likely to be seen as a loser or boring person because I can always use the excuse that I’m afraid of and don’t want to contribute to the spread of covid. Yes….I got to catch up on so many amazing shows and cleaned my place really well, went through junk and made more space for myself.

I hope to have a house in the next few years and never leave it.

I’m with Michael Meade:

“The point is to recognize the archetypal ground of extremes, the surprising and unpredictable territory where things both end and begin again. To be alive at this time is to enter a “liminal” state, a betwixt and between condition that occurs when an era comes to an end, when many things are ending and everything seems about to fall apart. Yet, it is in the middle of the darkest times when things secretly begin again. In many ways, the “world as we know it” has already ended and we are standing unsteadily on the threshold of a world just beginning to be revealed.”
https://www.livingmyth.org/shop/why-the-world-doesnt-end