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In retrospect it's maybe fun to notice that the idea of the pandemic was the best model we had for the spread of powerfully compelling ideas.
We are facing two distinct viralities right now, two parallel plagues; a virus of the body, and a virus of the noosphere
We are facing two distinct viralities right now, two parallel plagues; a virus of the body, and a virus of the noosphere
For most of us, this is the most disruptive event we have ever faced, much more dangerous, much more personal than 9/11, which for all its spectacle was still mostly something that happened to someone else.
Our lives are so idyllic that we only know how to react to simulated crises. https://twitter.com/0x49fa98/status/1134884390935252992
On top of that, we have a circumstance that is unique in history, because we have lightspeed communication instantly to anywhere on earth. It used to be that plagues and news of plagues spread at almost the same speed.
We are still only beginning to grasp the implications of this. We have learned many things about human nature and about information, but as a science, the study of memetics, egregores, and "viral" ideas is still in its infancy.
The bio virus spreads much slower than the meme virus. You likely haven't caught the bio virus yet, but you've been infected with corona-chan for weeks or months. You know what else can make your throat close up? Anxiety and fear.
Which isn't to say that the virus is just fine and dandy. It's a real crisis, and many people will get sick and die. But for every voice that says "this, too shall pass", the mind virus shouts back with its bottomless pessimism
All the "conspiracy" theories are so tempting, so comforting; this is a bioweapon, Israel has the cure; this is a meme; this is an op; Everyone has already had it. "Oh yeah I had a bad flu last month. The pandemic has come and gone". We would like one of these things to be true
And the take that "this is a meme" is correct, it's just that these things are not mutually exclusive.
I don't know how bad the pandemic is going to be. No one really knows, though we have models and data and projections, many of them grim. We hope for the best, but our ability to understand is wrapped up in corona the meme.
We've known for a while that anything you say into the void can become amplified five, ten, a hundred-fold, and now we are seeing what happens when we all catch the same meme and signal boost the same fears
Usually the emotions we feel online have this elastic, gossamer sort of quality, as each new spectacular incident turns out to be nothing, a passing hallucination. We become desensitized to alarms. What we are seeing now is how different it is when the spectacle is real
For now I can't tear myself away from the news, can you? I can't stop watching the outbreak maps, tracking the numbers, reading the hot takes, seeking sensationalism, thinking about the end of the world. But this won't be the end, the end
What's the R0 of poasting Corona memes? Never mind, here's a more interesting question: when this passes, will we retain the memory of it, or will it fade away just like every other stupid meme?
Maybe the most chilling and striking realization is how decadent our society has become. We could have been preparing for this. You personally could have been preparing. You could have stockpiled emergency supplies BEFORE there was a crisis, but most of us didn't
The culture war is the height of decadence; it's literally a gay drama; a thing we do because our lives are pointless and unchallenged. The major existential struggle of young mens' lives is how much they play with their own cock https://twitter.com/0x49fa98/status/1064256626167697409
But it's not wholly on you; you should take responsibility for your family, but this is also one more exhibit of our civic senescence.
Collectively, we botched this horribly because we were too busy counting the number of black people on television to decide how "racist" we are
Collectively, we botched this horribly because we were too busy counting the number of black people on television to decide how "racist" we are
It's never one sin that sinks you. In the long run, it will be fine(ish) and our civilization will continue to limp along until it doesn't. https://twitter.com/0x49fa98/status/1229945967631187970
The corona meme is unlikely to kill you but it sure as hell takes its toll. It has an incubation period of days to weeks. Its symptoms include end-of-the-world grade anxiety and buying all the toilet paper https://twitter.com/0x49fa98/status/1235250342700281856
40% of SARS patients experienced PTSD. We can expect many people to be traumatized by the bio virus, but we should also consider the trauma of the meme virus https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1203389/ten-years-mental-and-physical-scars-sars
Next time the internet tells you there is a pandemic, you'll panic sooner. Maybe the exposure will make it worse in the future. Given the novelty of internet communication, immunity to meme viruses seems like a novel threat relative to our evolutionary environment
That's why I hope that the trauma sticks to you, that you take this as a sign of how foolish we all have become, that these will be the "hard times" that make strong men.
You become a reactionary when you realize how fragile the world is, when you take it seriously instead of as a punchline, but will you?
For all the damage and chaos it will cause, the bio virus could have been so much worse. Regarding the meme virus, the best case is that this becomes a kind of vaccination to the body politic, giving us all the autism we will need to face the epidemics yet to come
