COVID-19 & a Modern World of Nonlinear reality
A facemask used to signal paranoia. Now, it signals solidarity.
This virus was in our blind spot. We had no idea this was going to effectively cripple the economy. It's amazing how fragile our economy and world is in reality. We had no idea on March 14 we were going to be unable to go to a restaurant on March 17 with our friends. This COVID-19 is a black swan event. It reveals our short-sightedness as a species.
We are naturally a linear thinking species, but in reality we live in a non-linear, modern world. The growth of the virus is exponential and the impact on the globalized, interdependent economy is also exponential. The social structure of our human race is an intimate, interwoven fabric. When a thread is pulled it can have unprecedented consequences and ripple throughout the world as we are seeing today.
Daniel Kahneman, internationally renowned psychologist, introduced the concept of our brains having two distinct systems for processing: System 1 & System 2.
System 1 = intuition, emotional, instincts (fast & frugal)
System 2 = cognitive, requires mindfulness and willpower (limited fuel tank)
We naturally live in System 1. We process our day to day in System 1 unless we decide to walk upstairs to the balcony and mindfully exhaust our limited resources in System 2. (I.e. cognitive thinking)
Intuition is not cutout for nonlinearity. We are so caught off guard by this black swan event because we are not wired for this. I’m opening my I-pad every morning gawking at the Axios dashboard and the John’s Hopkins COVID-19 map as the U.S. map increasing red dots as if it has the chicken pox.
We are living through a distinct Black Swan event. It really makes me appreciate the reality of living in a modern world of nonlinearity. As Nassim Taleb states: “The world has changed too fast for our genetic makeup. We are alienated from our environment.” (1) Being mindful of the human hardwiring and the tendency to view the world in a linear fashion, this is a great time to dive into the reality of a nonlinear world.
What are the ramifications of a nonlinear world?
What are the skills of a nonlinear thinker?
How do I lean into the System 2 thinking?
How does a business become more resilient in a nonlinear world?
So many questions. So much to learn. So little understood of Black Swan events.
This is a scary time for so many reasons.
We don’t know when we will hit the finish line of this virus. It only seems to be ramping up.
Perfectly good businesses are crippled and we don’t know when the oxygen will turn back on.
We are isolated. Indefinitely.
Money won’t solve this. Science will.
At our core, we are social animals wanting to be with each other especially when times are difficult. These are unprecedented times requiring us to dig deep. We must find ways to grow which are in our control:
Spirituality - meditation & prayer
books - readers are leaders
Learn a language - duolingo
Create art - play piano
Cheers to growth during a time of uncertainty so we will come out of this pandemic with more clarity, more gratitude, and more abundance for our fellow citizens.
(1) Black Swan - pg. 85