Althouse: Getting closer.

May 20, 2020

Getting closer.

Photograph taken at 5:38 this morning.

28 comments:

Jake said...: Call the cops!; 5/20/20, 6:21 AM
Howard said...: Covid-19 Johnny Appleseed's; 5/20/20, 6:27 AM
rehajm said...: Our group has been slowly growing larger. Immediate household, then added the extended family. A little crisis and the family next door is on our porch every evening. Neighbors we've been distancing from are doing the same thing. Soon these groups will be merging, and so on, and so on, and so on. It will go viral....; 5/20/20, 6:30 AM
Temujin said...: Nice shot. Had these people been in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, or Michigan, they'd all be arrested now. Gretchen Whitmer wants to be your next Prez,; 5/20/20, 6:32 AM
Nichevo said...: Howard said...
Covid-19 Johnny Appleseed's

You (you people?) are really some kind of big tiddy baby, aren't you. Why don't you do your Marine thing and kill them.; 5/20/20, 6:37 AM
iowan2 said...: You have a "good" eye. Color, contrast, framing, yes this one would garner a frame, and spot on a wall.; 5/20/20, 6:43 AM
stevew said...: Metaphoric. Here comes the sun, erasing the dark.

Same here rehajm. Also noticed that the wearing of masks when out walking has nearly been abandoned. Note that I'm not in a city. Boston's mayor is shaping up to be the lone remaining Karen of mayors. Charlie, the governor, is letting him.; 5/20/20, 6:44 AM
Howard said...: I find that the moderation delay caused ADHD induced stress and strain. I'm smelling an ADA class action.; 5/20/20, 6:45 AM
William50 said...: What a strange coincidence that you would post this the same morning I received this email. It is rather long so I understand if you choose to delete my comment.

COVID Catastrophes
by Skip Moen, D. Phil.

“We’ll just connect on Skype.”

“We can do a ZOOM conference.”

“All the classes are on-line now.”

Oh, did you think that the issues fostered by the COVID-19 virus were limited to medical and economic? Did you believe that human isolation as a preventative measure was really a good thing? That it “saved” innumerable lives? (I often wonder if those statistics are like the message on your sales receipt that says, “You saved 30%” after you spent $90.) Perhaps it was necessary to avoid large public gatherings despite studies of herd immunization. Perhaps the economy of most of the world’s population can somehow survive long enough to experience government mandated restrictions in the name of health safety. Perhaps. But one thing is absolutely certain. Human connection is in serious trouble.

It might not be true that most human communication is non-verbal, but if any part of the way we interact with each other can be attributed to face to face presence, then it is certainly true that reactions to COVID have had a detrimental effect on who we are as human beings. As Brené Brown has noted: “Technology . . . has become a kind of imposter for connection, . .”[1] We don’t really connect via technology. We only connect in all the ways that matter when we are present to each other—that is, fully present, in body, mind and spirit. What COVID has done to humanity can’t be assessed in terms of physical and economic consequences alone. The reaction to COVID has engendered a mental disorder. Human beings are hard wired for connection, and for the first time in the modern world, we are being forced to sever those connections, to become less than human.

Of course, no one is talking about COVID as a mental disorder. In fact, COVID responses are actually supported by an underlying cultural myth—the myth of self-sufficiency.

“One of the greatest barriers to connection is the cultural importance we place on ‘going it alone.’ Somehow we’ve come to equate success with not needing anyone. Many of us are willing to extend a helping hand, but we’re very reluctant to reach out for help when we need it ourselves.”[2]

If Brown’s assessment was true when she wrote it a decade ago, it is logarithmically expanded in a world where you are told to be afraid of being with other people. Self-sufficiency has become more than an objective. It is now a necessity. COVID fear is the accepted rational for a helping hand at “social distancing” lengths. Please don’t come to visit me in person. That’s much to close. We might die!

Brown’s work on connection is critically important if we are going to understand the true danger of COVID responses.

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”[3]

The problem isn’t the need for connection. That’s a given. The problem is that connection requires a degree of intimacy, an experience of presence; something COVID prohibits.

I’m not a prognosticator. In fact, as you know, I believe that prediction is something you recognize as true after it has occurred. But I am inclined to say this: the critical fallout from COVID restrictions will not be seen in physical and economic changes. It will be seen in the deterioration of relationships, of connection, and of general mental health. If humanity is forced to adopt a new “normal” where physical presence is no longer acceptable, humanity will suffer an identity crisis that may not be recoverable.

[1] Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection, p. 20.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection, p. 19; 5/20/20, 7:43 AM
iowan2 said...: Just so you know, I stole this pic. Private use only.; 5/20/20, 7:43 AM
Danno said...: Blogger Howard said..."I find that the moderation delay caused ADHD induced stress and strain. I'm smelling an ADA class action."

What group of "people" would be in your class? You are all by yourself in this thought. Even Inga disassociates from you saying you are not her sock puppet or ally.; 5/20/20, 7:53 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'm trying the embedded comments format again... I like the way this looks when writing a comment, but I know when I had it before, there was some kind of problem. I don't remember what it was. But... until I discover what the problem was again, I'll leave it this way. Enjoy.; 5/20/20, 7:55 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I see a way to frame it now that I missed. I don't like the way the highest-level head is "trapped" under the shoreline. Should move the camera slightly to have some overlap.

I'm testing the "reply" function to see if this "embedded" format causes nesting.; 5/20/20, 7:57 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Ooh! It does!; 5/20/20, 7:57 AM
MadisonMan said...: I've been waiting for a sunny day, although it's always nice not to have to water the garden when it's damp. Maybe some day I'll get up early and walk.; 5/20/20, 8:02 AM
NCMoss said...: Althouse, I love that picture! Did you get their permission - haha.; 5/20/20, 8:11 AM
tcrosse said...: Somehow I imagine this gang singing Michael Row the Boat Ashore.; 5/20/20, 8:11 AM
Howard said...: That hurt to the Bone, danno deep into the bone my God I don't think I'll survive. I must thank you and narisco for helping to get my bowels moving this morning. I would recommend shorting EXLax; 5/20/20, 8:11 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Just wonderful. Thank you for sharing that.; 5/20/20, 8:30 AM
Alison said...: My Killfile extension has quit working here at Althouse. Anyone else experiencing this? TIA.; 5/20/20, 8:50 AM
rhhardin said...: The rain stopped and a bit of sunshine flew by so I took the chance to saw up and backyard-fence a 25' tall smooth sumac that had just fallen down, having died a few years ago. They break off below ground level so there's no stump left, which is nice.; 5/20/20, 9:07 AM
Big Mike said...: I think the picture would have instead been improved more by moving the camera so that all the heads are below the shoreline, rather than having the highest level head intersect the shoreline. Your take?; 5/20/20, 9:24 AM
wildswan said...: What people have done is cut back their social world into to being close to their family and, more recently, to a few trusted family friends. They mask "in public" meaning around people they don't "know," i.e., they don't know whether they are "clean." There's more family time - the kids are being home-schooled and there's nowhere to go anyhow. So I don't see the danger as lack of presence to each other in general. It's rather all the millions who are away from family or who never had one or who no longer have one. They can't break into the hidden circles because each individual in those circles has to not only be "clean" personally but also be seen as trustworthy, as social distancing everyone not in the circle. So the government rules are being broken but there's another set of rules, more stringent which is not. To open again restaurants and bars have to allow for those rules. One main thing - don't shove small groups into each other, cramming people together. Where cramming is needed for the rent, I think those places are going to close. Airlines have the same problem. They were getting quite ruthless about jamming and cramming and stale air and holding passengers for eight hours on the tarmac. They have to end that perception of the airline experience. No one is eager to go back to being jammed and disregarded whether it's school, restaurants or the airlines especially when their family experience has improved.; 5/20/20, 9:39 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Not enough Karens in that group.; 5/20/20, 10:53 AM
Yancey Ward said...: "My Killfile extension has quit working here at Althouse. Anyone else experiencing this? TIA.

I don't use the extension, but Google had done something to the Blogger software since yesterday- I can no longer click through to the comment posting window without first having to go through the full page blog post.; 5/20/20, 10:55 AM
rhhardin said...: Mark Steyn interiviewed the Flynn lawyer in the 2nd half hour (first hour) of Rush and was pretty good.; 5/20/20, 11:52 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I changed a setting for comments but then I changed it back.

I liked the look, but it was eating “reply” comments that I tried to publish.

Looks like there were other problems.

Too bad!; 5/20/20, 2:07 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: especially when their family experience has improved

Assuming this is the case for everyone is a mistake.

Look at the increases in hospital admits for child abuse and calls to domestic violence hotlines and divorce lawyers.; 5/20/20, 4:41 PM