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Our social species is tribal.
Our species, being tribal, tends to think first of family, then community, and lastly, sadly, the whole globe. This is one huge factor in why we have the climate crisis and the Sixth extinction, which drives the loss of biodiversity. Right now, we have a pandemic. These are all connected.
Trafficking wildlife led to this pandemic, but we can’t scapegoat Wuhan, China, or anyone. Instead, we must collaborate and cooperate across borders.
A Journey
My journey from Seattle collected hundreds of people in one confined space. This is what happened.
Last week, I left Seattle by air, and it felt very different from other trips. Then, there was as much misinformation, as wise advice. On a full flight, people made slight adjustments I have never seen before.
Covid-19 transmission is mostly respiratory. We breathe air that circulates between people, obviously. On planes, HEPA filters help, but constant vigilance is key. Staff and passengers are more vigilant.
Airports are places where usually you see much warmth, expression, and affection. There would normally be a lot of touching, hugging, and human closeness. But experts (and some non-experts) are calling for people to avoid touching altogether, and in some cases to take draconian measures.
A useful one is to stay beyond six feet — or two meters in metric — from one another.
This impacts some cultures more than others. In Italy, for example. it must be difficult to suppress a natural tendency to kiss and hug.
See all people not as contagious vectors, but as people, first.
A non-useful one is to tell people to buy out all the masks available and make crowded rushes to stores.
People are not germs.
What we need to do instead, is to see all people not contagious vectors, but as people, first. Cooperating people are our best defense for all environmental threats.
I had to give some goodbye hugs when I left Seattle. But all parties more or less pushed their heads off to the side. My husband would not even shake hands with my brother. Instead, they did an elbow bump. We saw others do this too.
We have no symptoms and are very hygienically minded anyway. I am a major hand-washer ever since I read The Hot Zone, years ago.
Psychologically, it felt a bit chilling. As I sat on the plane, I realized that we as a society, do not have norms in place for how to connect without human touch. We also do not know alternatives to human proximity. Losing the natural humanity, and warmth, of these unconscious habits, means that we are a bit lost emotionally.
On the plane, almost everyone wiped with hand sanitizer constantly. This is effective for those formulas that kill the virus. Yet, although we all sat there as “disinfected” people, many were reluctant to talk, gesture, or even face one another.
I think this comes from a very deep-seated, self-defense mechanism that surrounds uncertainty.
Few people wore masks, having been told that most masks are ineffective (at the edges of nose and mouth, the microscopic virus can easily get through). But what I noticed is that people feel a bit unsure about what they think their immediate neighbor expects from them.
Our need to acknowledge one another
One man next to me asked about some photos on my screen. The normal expectation would be that he would go ahead and touch the screen, take a closer interest in that amazing Elk.
But the feeling I got was that he thought, that I thought, it was probably best to not touch anything. In other words, don’t unnecessarily invade others’ personal space.
In fact, he used the front half of the armrest, whereas I used the back half of the armrest. Both avoided any touching of it with hands, and instead, we barely grazed clothed elbows.
This felt a bit unnatural and illogical, yet we were both more comfortable with the avoidance. After all, we are not experts as to whether his generous slathering of sanitizer wipes and my sanitizer saturated handkerchief, were enough to reassure our present company.
We were able, without words, to acknowledge what we needed.
This tells me that people can maintain a sense of consideration of others that is entirely adaptable, evolving, and thoughtful. That, indeed, is a kind of human warmth that is useful.
Choose your words carefully.
Although maybe it is by long-distance, we still talk.
We all verbally interact with one another. Someone will always mention something about the tragedy, their disgust that WHO and CDC funding was cut, an opinion about whether there is too much, or not enough concern. Sometimes people will mention their concern for loved ones, their plans to confront quarantine, or shortages. Very often, people will extrapolate upon how really messed up and inadequate our entire health care system is.
People who must work and can’t telecommute, for example, are at a distinct disadvantage. Many really need that income to keep from getting sick. At the same time, they know curtailing public spaces will keep them from getting sick. Let people express themselves.
Let people voice this frustration. Make no attempt when you talk with them to invalidate what they are expressing. There is a lot of frustration and even blame out there.
When we speak with others, this is an important time to be supportive, caring, and more considerate, not rude, or lecturing.
Thoughtfulness touches the heart.
In times of plague in the past, people found ways to help, even when in quarantine. Leave goods and meals at the location of a loved one, ring the bell and depart, with a smile up to the window for example.
If you know over-worked healthcare workers or caregivers look out for them. Let them know you care. Let them know they are heroes. Harsh judgment, if you must have it, should be reserved to the virus itself, or the broken system of any government that allows cruel wildlife trafficking to unleash the epidemic to the world. (Plagues come from bats, palm civets, pangolins, etc.)
But never blame nations, nor even wildlife vendors. It is not for us to judge their humanity when we ourselves have our own sins of pollution, consumption, and animal welfare. The consequences of these lay ahead of us, to a large degree.
In the end, we are the world we make. We have certainly made mistakes. But claiming our humanity and warmth for one another is the best way to break this fever.
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Previously published on Medium.com
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Photo credit: iStockphoto.com
