Opinion | Covid-19 has messed with our world. Here’s how we can build a more resilient future
- Our world looks calm most of the time, letting us make decisions without worrying about the underlying forces
- However, the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic means we need to consider the complexity driving the shape of our world
My daughter, who lives in Hong Kong, called me one Sunday recently to ask if she should send her older son, Charlie, to camp. I had to stop and think. The family lives in a tiny flat. Charlie is massively energetic and bored.
To be honest, many of my daily decisions – such as what to wear, what to eat or should I take an umbrella with me – are trivial ones. These are trivial because they either do not involve choices (I only have one clean shirt), involve no uncertainty (I know what the food will taste like) or the options are similarly acceptable or unacceptable (I don’t like getting soaked, but I also don’t like carrying an umbrella when I don’t need it).
Whether to send her son to camp during a pandemic was not trivial. It had all three elements of a dilemma: choice (send or not), uncertainty (risk of infection) and valued outcomes (everyone’s mental and physical health).
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Our world appears calm most of the time, allowing us to safely make daily decisions without worrying about the complex web of forces that operate beneath the surface. We can be oblivious because the world generally responds to our actions like a marshmallow – at most it dents a bit and fluffs back.