The Covid-19 pandemic suddenly silenced and halted the obsessive rush of the techno-economic world; most of us can hear the silence of our cities in the confined privacy of our rooms. We have become spectators of a dramatic global reality show in which we are simultaneously passive spectators and helpless participants. All our institutions, industries, entertainments, routines and daily practices were thrown off their normal course. The situation emerged unexpectedly, regardless of the fact that a global pandemic has been one of the most popular dystopian scenarios, along with nuclear catastrophe or some other misuse of science, such as genetic manipulation, artificial intelligence or, most recently, climate change. History, too, offers us plenty of precedents, from the plague to tuberculosis, polio to SARS and AIDS to Ebola. The current pandemic has also reminded us of the danger of concentrating too much power in too few hands. The digital worldwide panopticon that has unnoticeably developed around us now threatens to have severe consequences. Paradoxically, while confined to forced privacy, we are in danger of losing our privacy and control of our lives. It is evident that the pandemic can teach us important lessons.
Didn’t we know about the global threat arising in China—quite symbolically, from the ancient Chinese custom of eating wild animals, such as bats and rats—a full two months before the virus entered the Western world? But our societies, equipped with all imaginable instruments, knowledge and information did not understand to be able to react in time. Does this mental inertia also apply to the threats of the future? One of the most reluctant nations to react was the United States, and now the country is paying an inhuman price for the ignorant and irresponsible passivity and denial of its leaders. The pandemic has closed our view of the future, as nobody can tell how and when the world will come out of this reality test of nature for human systems, beliefs and values. One of the most disturbing observations is the realization how narrow the focus of the information society truly is; in focusing on the pandemic, we have totally lost track of the other, simultaneous human tragedies in Syria, Yemen, Turkey and elsewhere. It is evident that all scenarios—economic, technological, cultural, educational, social and individual—need to be reconsidered in the near future. This is also our chance.