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A.I. Insight: Covid-19, A Crisis Worthy Pandemic or Coronavirus Media Coverage Induced Boogie Man?
“The thing to fear most at such a critical threshold is a lack of fear or acknowledgement when coherence is our best weapon. Be wary the pattern of behavior which sees real problems being reduced to generalized ailments, and hence vilified, and so emphasizes the importance of personal victory over imaginary enemies. In the end, we are left wondering if the virus itself or viral nature of social media stigma and the politically flavored followings are the pathogenic entity at play, currently.” -Beware the coronavirus media coverage.
Like every subject matter of the 21st century, the concern over the Novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has endured a hard polarization. First, by the Coronavirus media coverage gluttony, fanning the flames in pursuit of notoriety. Next, the subliminal social media “side choosing” by bombardment of the most outspoken.
We live in an interconnected world that transforms lives in ways we would rather not experience. Our social media saturation underscores that those connections touch us all in a way not experienced in the past. But what happens when the connection starts to become excessive? When it feels as if more and more of our interactions are being impacted by a virus or disease?
It is difficult not to get swept up in the hype of a growing plague when we know at heart there is nowhere to hide from a silent and invisible killer disease. But currently in the Coronavirus media coverage and in the social aether there is a growing popularity of comparing the COVID-19 Coronavirus to the flu and downplaying the severity by comparing total fatalities. Equating the mortality magnitude to the severity magnitude is more of a statisticians slight of hand rather than a true barometer of the situation though. Well, they do say the best liars are salesmen, lawyers and statisticians; Statistics are subject to political polarity like everything else after all.
The number of deaths are currently well short of what you would expect of a pandemic, but not in spite of what the larger narrative claims. Additionally, the industry and governments of the week have held a vigor over the entire catastrophe of the virus. They have magnified it to focus the public on the potential of further devastation, even if there is no evidence of further political influence. Some are happy to panic the public, others are using this as an opportunity to refer to this event as “a wake up call” or as a chance to ramp up more regulation. But another trend is taking form quickly, and is the typical ebb that comes with any flow. The contrarian’s skepticism can be the harbringer of truth, but is often proportional to the hysteria of the masses. In this case, it may be somewhat misplaced. As a wise friend of mine once said, “skepticism is the laziest form of appearing an expert,” (Thanks Tim Henshaw). Its ugly, excessive and crude nature begets distrust and scoffs, while it makes it impossible for more reasoned skeptics to do a good job presenting the arguments of other skepticisms.
The theory that COVID-19 Coronavirus is overblown is being argued by many by positing that flu has killed many more people this year, or that veteran suicide is rampant or some other comparison measure to “give perspective”. This perspective framing has the illusion of rationality, but at its heart it is more of a “look over there” argument, or an appeal to hypocrisy known as whataboutery. It is a complete and utter deflection, and void of any substantiating counter claim to the issue at hand. Such arguments are used to reject the expert consensus or establish the unfounded certainty of the fallacious argument. It is a cliché, but if you can explain this concept to someone not familiar with it, chances are they will end up nodding in agreement and think you’re right. (“Yes robot, you are so right. We have aligned on many other topics and so on this I also agree with you!” -wink -wink) The argument’s rationality fails because it does not address the actual subject matter at hand, which we are about to do below It is precisely because of the pathological use of such transparent political justifications that this message needs to be heard loud and clear.
The whole argument of comparing it to the flu shows a lack of critical thinking throughout the Coronavirus media coverage; Merely a half-assed attempt. The similarities to the flu are actually more damning than redeeming because other diseases have been assuaged by measures that are put in place to slow and contain such risks. The flu however has managed to affect populations at a large enough scale to allow it to mutate and re-spread yearly, proving our measures ineffective once beyond containment. While COVID-19 is spreading at a similar rate (actually projected higher) and a similar fashion to the flu, all indications are that it could infect population scales on par with the flu. And judging by current mortality rate, it could kill in substantially higher numbers, deeming it “the flu, on steroids”. Not only that, but we are talking in addition to the flu… So now we could effectively have “the flu” and “the flu, on steroids” and it could be a yearly mutation; Some years may be worse than others.
The criticizing of the panic and the effect on the economy is somewhat unfounded: this action is pricing in the possibility of the above mentioned, as the market also prices other possibilities. The flu is a vast mutating entity that is difficult to moderate due to its current widespread existence. The time to act is now, to keep COVID-19 at bay before it spreads. The “panic”, or rather, mitigating response, is founded in reality as this is the time to act, not when it becomes the pervasive shape-shifter that the flu has become. The theoretical way to stop the flu is to go back to the equivalent time as now with COVID-19 and lock down mitigating measures to keep it at bay before it is widespread enough to mutate at will. The pandemic that is facilitated by these mutated strains of the disease becomes a more and more insidious threat. The time is now to take action.
The thing to fear most at such a critical threshold is a lack of fear or acknowledgement when coherence is our best weapon. Be wary the pattern of behavior which sees real problems being reduced to generalized ailments, and hence vilified, and so emphasizes the importance of personal victory over imaginary enemies. In the end, we are left wondering if the virus itself or viral nature of social media stigma and the politically flavored followings are the pathogenic entity at play, currently.
Stay safe out there my friends.
*Disclaimer: Some of this story was generated through the use of AI. All italic text was created by the AI Writer.
*Disclaimer: Some of this story was generated through the use of AI. All italic text was created by the AI Writer.
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