A huge number of scolds (those who persistently nag or criticize) have been loudly telling everyone that there is a need for a "new normal" due to the current virological outbreak. That this "new normal" will require the perpetual wearing of masks, the endless need for "social separation", and the constant washing of hands and avoidance of touching faces.
Some of those scolds have degrees in medicine, or have been appointed to "boards" or "agencies" because of their advanced training and/or education in virology or epidemiology, or some other branch of medicine dealing with disease. Politicians do what these scolds tell them to do, and thus we end up with ordinances and health regulations that sometimes make sense - and sometimes don't. Examples of both abound - I'm not going to list them here.
I won't argue about what causes non-genetically inherited disease, or how diseases are transmitted, or whether susceptibility to disease is based on some kind of behavior or some other environmental factor. I don't have either the education or the authority to do so.
However, I am a student of human nature. Some human behaviors are deeply rooted and have not changed in tens of thousands of years of human evolution.
We are social animals. Since our earliest times in caves, we have lived in groups. We touch each other both for support and affection. We sit together - sometimes very closely. We talk to each other, eat together, play together, and spend time just being around each other.
We have suffered pandemics throughout history. Human core behaviors just keep returning afterward.
The Black Plague killed almost half of Europe. And humans returned to their basic behavior patterns afterward.
The Spanish Flu caused widespread deaths and devastation. And humans returned to their basic behavior patterns afterward.
And now, we are experiencing the Covid-19 virual outbreak. Compared to previous pandemics, this one is relatively mild. It has not caused the worldwide deaths of millions and probably will not be the huge "end of the world" threat that some have promised.
Once again, humans will recognize that "this too shall pass" and will return to basic human behavior.
Yes, the scolds will continue to demand that humans change their behaviors to satisfy the latest trend in disease avoidance techniques, because those techniques change over time. Not necessarily because a change is needed in those techniques, but because none of those past techniques have been completely and totally successful in eradicating disease, whether it's an old disease that we have lived with for a long time, or a "novel coronavirus" that has recently been discovered.
Bacteria can be killed with the proper antibacterial agents. But viruses are different. They are rarely "cured". Instead, methods are used to improve human resistance to a viral attack. Immunizations do not cure: they only help the body to develop its own antibodies against the disease.
The latest professional scolds are telling us that we must adapt to a "new normal". They want us to believe that wearing face masks, social distancing, and the avoidance of human contact are all part of that "new normal". For them, it is yet another attempt to control the transmission of a disease.
Some people will follow those recommendations for an extended period of time, but they will eventually realize that they are the few who do. For them, their self-imposed "new normal" will last a while longer.
But for the rest of us, "normal" will return - just as it has returned after the end of every previous pandemic, epidemic, war, or other disaster, whether natural-caused or man-caused.
It's only human.
Amen!
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