Scaling down survival mode

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

Whether one agrees or not with the coronavirus pandemic response taken by most of the world, the fact is we've all had to live with the constraints for well over a year now.

School's still out in many parts of Bogotá, even if some kids would like to see it back.

Fear mentality

As is well known, and as is the case for so many causes of death, those who have had most to fear from covid-19 are the elderly, followed by people with underlying conditions.

For the rest of us, the majority, the risk the infection represents is minimal. 

However, the extraordinary measures introduced across the globe to reduce contagion resulted in irrational reactions by some folk who in reality face greater threats to their lives than this virus. (Some will say, altruistically, they've done it to save the lives of others. All they may have done, though, is caused more harm to themselves and others.)

The lifting of this fear mentality is not something that will come easily. This is particularly so when we have overly cautious leaders who continue to suffer from covid monomania and a majority in the media who submissively follow the official line. It has been as if no other cause of hardship and death really exists.  

This myopia appears most acute in high-income countries, places where many enjoy a comfortable existence, relatively speaking, with restrictions less impactful. While Colombia has had its lockdowns and the like, the approach of late has largely been 'carry on regardless'.

Except, that is, for arguably the most pressing area where a return to "normality" is needed: primary and secondary education. Most schools are continuing with sub-standard virtual learning. 

OK, we have seen some in-person classes with reduced capacity and alternate days, but it's the private schools that have been more proactive on this front. The public institutes, as they tend to do, lag behind. Thus, the divide between the privileged and the rest deepens.

'The monster is the irrational fear that continues to dominate public discourse and policy.'

The thing is, because of health concerns amongst teachers and other staff — misplaced as they are for many — plus the general state of covid fear being promulgated, no one is in a major panic to go back to pre-pandemic ways.

Monster mash

In the same way that people mistakenly call Frankenstein the monster — Frankenstein was, of course, the monster's creator — coronavirus is not monster-in-chief, it created the conditions for a scarier one to emerge.

That monster is the irrational fear that continues to dominate public discourse and policy. Even those of us who have questioned the pandemic response can't avoid being caught up in this.

I, for one, went into survival mode, financially speaking in any case. 

So even though one has been free to travel around Colombia largely unrestricted for months now — the national strike disturbances notwithstanding — nonchalantly moving around the country, eating into one's steadily diminishing savings just hasn't seemed prudent. (OK, my own future would have been uncertain pandemic or not, but the overall atmosphere doesn't help whatsoever.)

As is the case for millions of others across the world, the lack of a steady income muddies the waters further. When one isn't sure where the next significant payment is coming from, it makes it more difficult to ease off the financial brakes.  

A more liberal approach would be to not get bogged down in cash concerns (for those who have the luxury to do so, that is. Most of my Colombian friends live, at best, from week to week). Bet on things improving both personally and on a grander scale in the not-too-distant future. Calmer waters are on the horizon.

While there may be truth to that, my conservative side dominates my thinking here. Or based on last week's post, some of you might say my doomsday, glass-is-half-empty view darkens the landscape.

Whatever the case, there are certain things beyond our control. The best we can do is to have mechanisms in place to ensure those uncontrollables have less of an impact on us than they might otherwise have if left unthought of.

That is to say, survival mode is somewhat permanent. It's just that certain events see us scale up this modus operandi more so than others. They also tend to make us more risk-averse in numerous ways, damaging as that may be over the medium to long term.
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Computer says "no"

There have been numerous movies in recent years – too many to mention – that depict scenarios where computers/technology take over the human race. Most people put such stories very much in the realm of science fiction: How could the creators of these machines be mastered by them?

"Eh OK, but what do you say?"

Well, you don’t have to go too far out of your way to see that this process has already begun. 

Something you can call the traffic light approach to life. That is, an inability to do anything unless a system gives you permission to do so. It’s a phenomenon that was brilliantly parodied by the ‘computer says no’ lady from the British comedy sketch show Little Britain.

Now, while it might be humorous to mock, being on the receiving end of such behaviour is generally quite the opposite. 

As a rule, those who live their lives this way tend to ignore the physical realities staring them in the face if they don’t match up to what their piece of machinery tells them. 

Of course, it’s always good to have a scapegoat or to relinquish all responsibility whatsoever, and in this technology age many people shove all the blame and accountability on to the computer screen sitting in front of them should there be any problems.

Take the following example. Having commenced a new twice-weekly class for a client here in Bogotá, we had been entering the industrial estate where the company is located trouble-free for weeks, registering with security staff at the main reception each time, as is required. 

Then, one day, one of the security staff who had been dealing with us regularly tells us that we can’t enter. 

“Why so?” 

“Well I’m sorry but the system doesn’t recognise your document number” (well, it was said in the gruff Spanish equivalent of the same). 

“But it’s us, standout extranjeros/foreigners (and thereby infinitely more trustworthy than locals) and we’ve been coming here for weeks – we teach a class for 90 minutes and then we’re out again. Surely you can let us in?” 

“Nope, you’re not on the system and therefore you cannot enter.”

Crap!

Cue a few choice expletives from ‘Team Wrong Way’ aimed at the controlled-by-technology security man (perhaps that should be robot) and that was that. 

The students didn’t get a class that morning, although, thankfully we still got our payment. Cheers to BSR Idiomas for that – the best English language institute in Colombia bar none (we’re still good for that 20K Colombian pesos plug deal Robert, right?).

The above instance is just one of a number of similar experiences we’ve had in the last few months since we started work here in Bogotá. This is not to say that it’s solely a Bogotano or Colombian occurrence – though, it does seem quite endemic here. 

It’s just that due to the nature of our work (see The money tongue http://bit.ly/V8ELH4 for more) we’ve been unlucky enough in having to face it in these parts more regularly than in any other location. 

However, more or less by definition many in the developed world are much more ‘corrupted’ by computers.

That ambiguous phrase, ‘to think outside the box’, may be doing the rounds for some time but thanks to the rise of technology, it has taken on a whole new, clearer, meaning. 

That is, try and use your own brain from time to time rather than letting a square lump of wires and chips sitting in front of you dictate your actions. Perhaps, though, judging by the way some people behave it’s best that a computer makes the decisions for them.

The monster cometh — beware.

In our Unsocial media post a few weeks back, we wrote about how people’s overuse of social networking sites may see them living like hermits but with technology. At least, in this regard, they may still be able to use their own initiative. With the computer-says-no mentality, however, we run the risk of severely hampering people’s innovative skills.

So, while technology – arguably – has vastly improved the way we live our lives and has put previously difficult-to-obtain information at the fingertips of billions of people, there are obvious drawbacks.

It has been argued before that laziness, not necessity, is the real mother of invention. So is the human race on the cusp of being consumed by what can only be described as true, suicidal laziness? That is, to submit the use of our brains to technology.

‘Frankenstein's monster’ walks menacingly amongst us.