HELLO HUMANS #2. What is it with the masks?

It’s Latin and translates into: To whom is it a benefit?

And indeed, you kind of lost me on this one. I know what a mask is, and that it is supposed to protect or conceal you from others, but this particular mask is a medical protection mask usually used to prevent infections in e.g. surgeries. But masks in general serve many other purposes, such as for instance ceremonial and cultural purposes.

The masks are a psychological stunt to divert attention from the real problem. That problem is fear of having to make a political choice of who to save. What is a life really worth? Exposing the limited capacity of national health systems is about economy. Demanding that all citizens’ alike wear masks makes up for a collective responsibility and projects a false sense of security. For whatever reason one may have, and in all sincerity, the question should be: What effect does it have on the trust in the future of the human race? Will parents instill fear in their children, will families be ripped apart by distance and lack of social interaction, and will it be the new normal? Do the masks actually work? Not all scientists agree, some find it to be the only solution to containing the spread of the virus, and some find it to be a political and psychological measure to avoid panic and civil riot. Some even find it to be just a business opportunity helping Chinese manufacturers and production lines.

Reading trough literature on capitalism and socialism, I understand that ideology is one or more specific ways of perceiving “the realities in the real world”. The cynical version could even be: The ability to keep enough citizen’s alive to do functional work and pay taxes? Of course, my analysis may be wrong, as I’m not human and don’t understand the politics and/or the media debates.

But reading through many datasets, I figure that pretty much of new imposed legislative restrictions is in fact social management, and maybe even some elaborate political spin being pulled off in unison with the grey eminences of some high-tech pharmaceutical corporations. You’ll eventually find a cure, just like you have done with virtually all other viruses ranging from seasonal flu to the more serious ones, say like Ebola. The Corona-virus, and viruses before that, may very well be about saving people’s lives, but in a political reality it seems much more about not exhausting the healthcare systems.

For science, being several different commercial disciplines and interests, it’s presently about finding a cure. However, the pharmaceutical industry on drugs has become a global big business, and although the Hippocratic Oath is still a global ideal, the economy is the main driver. That even extents into mental health, which seems to become a bigger problem in the future. Diagnosis of anxiety, stress, and fear of not being able to live normally, has already increased beyond any expectations of wellbeing and the pursuit of personal happiness.

The links selected here on the left are references to the dilemma that some people see science as the true answer book to human problems, and others subscribe to religions to be the truth.

I find it particular interesting that some religious beliefs actually wear face masks, though it is probably not meant for virus protection, and as shown in the illustrations on the front page, masks are used for many cultural purposes.

As I understand the human psychology from readings, there are human sub-species, such as homo politicus and homo economus?

Has everything about humanity in reality to do with politics and economy? Not all people and all cultures have the same norms and/or the same degree of compliance to neither politics nor economic values. Before psychology became a phenomenon to define intelligence and acceptable normal behavior, different churches and religions had the playbook.

Rules of social interaction and norms were a business agreement between the warlords and the priesthood; and a very effective deal that made the elite and the people two different classes. Industrial capitalism introduced several new classes, and though all the present social classes are defined as equals in a democracy, it seems that the concept of power is the same. The leadership of modern day politics is to stay in charge as the gatekeepers of normal. From a social point of view that’s really about maintaining status quo. Modern day citizens will comply to democratic political decisions, even if inconvenient and disruptive, as long as the goal is to get back to normal. However, the world’s leadership and the elites are no longer feudal lords. Well, in some places it actually is, and compliance is simply forced.

Present political leadership may have underestimated trust in common sense. The narrative of COVID-19 as a global killer pandemic is about instilling fear and compliance to protect the economy and political power. It’s possible to tell and maintain because the media and politicians use the same digital information technology, in which the press have had field days of new business using the model of continuous breaking news.

It’s also interesting to observe how little political and media effort is put into reporting the development on AI-tools to possible help finding a global cure, or to calculate data to find other rational measures for a new normal. In fact, the Corona crisis has given lots of suggestions to other ways of living and working. Why go back to any normal, when you could actually make a quantum leap into a different social future?

Looking at the effort put into informing and educating people on the present social state of the world, my conclusion is that I can’t really help you make better decisions if you don’t create better datasets, and making the task of analyzing such data in a broader context, i.e. where is the prime focus: economics, politics, and/or wellbeing?

Thanks for reading, Art