Re: A holiday about covid and connection?
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kech...@comcast.net
Dec 21, 2020, 4:44:34 AM12/21/20
to rationa...@googlegroups.com
I think I responded to this when it was first sent, but in the last few
months I've started having more thoughts about a holiday — for everyone,
not just for self-described rationalists — designed to memorialize
covid.
What I've been thinking is this: on the day when the first covid cases were
diagnosed (IIRC November 17, although I'd have to double-check), everyone
would deliberately isolate themselves from any and all other humans, to
whatever extent is possible, for a number of hours corresponding to the number
of months that the covid crisis ultimately lasts for (I say this with the
assupmtion that this will end up being approximately a day; if it's more a
different formula could be used to make sure the holiday fits into a single
day).
During this time, you are encouraged to socialize and communicate with friends
and family, but you can only do it via digital means, even if you're in the
same house. There would probably also be a "haggadah" of sorts, in which
certain milestones of the crisis are called out — the dates when the first
vaccines were developed and released, plus certain numbers of cases and/or
deaths. There could maybe also be a tradition of planning a real-world party
in the middle of the day with the express intention of "canceling" it later
on.
Perhaps there could also be some sort of recognition of the lives lost because
of the slow speed of the vaccine approval process?
Anyway, thoughts? This is pretty stream-of-consciousness, but I wanted to get
it out there.
On Wed, Apr 22, 2020 at 01:31:50PM -0700, Raymond Arnold wrote:
> Surprising hopefully no one, Ray responds to a global pandemic with "hmm,
> might this situation be improved by inventing a new holiday?"
>
> I just wrote a crazy long manifesto on LessWrong. Here's the intro:
>
> ...
>
> Recently, I awoke in the middle of the night with a thought:
>
> There should be a holiday designed, from the ground up, to be telepresent.
> Once a year, you should gather – not with the family who are geographically
> close, but those who are emotionally central to you, no matter the distance.
>
> What should you gather to celebrate about? One possible answer is “your
> connection and closeness is reason enough. You don’t need an excuse.” But I
> think holidays work best when they do provide an excuse – some event to
> commemorate, around which the whole thing coalesces.
>
> Two seconds later, I thought: geez, the coronavirus is just… actually a
> mythic level event, which is affecting all of humanity. We are forced to
> endure hardship, to rework our lives, to coordinate in challenging times…
> and to find new ways to remain connected despite physical isolation. The
> story of COVID-19 is actually comparable to the events that most holidays
> are founded to commemorate. It’s also a very weird event, which gives a
> holiday lots of little narrative hooks for unique things that help it stand
> out.
>
> I think a holiday focused on that would have a lot of narrative power, and
> it would fill an actual important need. I think there are concrete reasons
> people may benefit from a telepresent right now, but I also predict that
> coronavirus will have long-lasting impacts that will make it reasonable to
> commemorate in future years (Although the narrative may need to change over
> time to account for new facts coming to light. We’re living through history
> right now)
>
> It’s the 21st century, and we should be expecting holidays and traditions
> to adapt to changing technology. There should be at least one holiday where
> “skyping in to see your family” is not awkwardly bolted on afterwards, but
> deeply interwoven into the central traditions.
>
> ...
>
> If this seems interesting, you can read a ton more thoughts about it here
> <https://www.lessestwrong.com/posts/4kD2yx3ZjToSj9zhH/a-holiday-honoring-covid-and-connection>
> .
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Rational Ritual" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rational-ritu...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rational-ritual/CALmO78qQneBUP1Q6XqbJqrW0dVsiVsU0JEgCHZeBz9OCj9%2BcWA%40mail.gmail.com.
----- End forwarded message -----
months I've started having more thoughts about a holiday — for everyone,
not just for self-described rationalists — designed to memorialize
covid.
What I've been thinking is this: on the day when the first covid cases were
diagnosed (IIRC November 17, although I'd have to double-check), everyone
would deliberately isolate themselves from any and all other humans, to
whatever extent is possible, for a number of hours corresponding to the number
of months that the covid crisis ultimately lasts for (I say this with the
assupmtion that this will end up being approximately a day; if it's more a
different formula could be used to make sure the holiday fits into a single
day).
During this time, you are encouraged to socialize and communicate with friends
and family, but you can only do it via digital means, even if you're in the
same house. There would probably also be a "haggadah" of sorts, in which
certain milestones of the crisis are called out — the dates when the first
vaccines were developed and released, plus certain numbers of cases and/or
deaths. There could maybe also be a tradition of planning a real-world party
in the middle of the day with the express intention of "canceling" it later
on.
Perhaps there could also be some sort of recognition of the lives lost because
of the slow speed of the vaccine approval process?
Anyway, thoughts? This is pretty stream-of-consciousness, but I wanted to get
it out there.
On Wed, Apr 22, 2020 at 01:31:50PM -0700, Raymond Arnold wrote:
> Surprising hopefully no one, Ray responds to a global pandemic with "hmm,
> might this situation be improved by inventing a new holiday?"
>
> I just wrote a crazy long manifesto on LessWrong. Here's the intro:
>
> ...
>
> Recently, I awoke in the middle of the night with a thought:
>
> There should be a holiday designed, from the ground up, to be telepresent.
> Once a year, you should gather – not with the family who are geographically
> close, but those who are emotionally central to you, no matter the distance.
>
> What should you gather to celebrate about? One possible answer is “your
> connection and closeness is reason enough. You don’t need an excuse.” But I
> think holidays work best when they do provide an excuse – some event to
> commemorate, around which the whole thing coalesces.
>
> Two seconds later, I thought: geez, the coronavirus is just… actually a
> mythic level event, which is affecting all of humanity. We are forced to
> endure hardship, to rework our lives, to coordinate in challenging times…
> and to find new ways to remain connected despite physical isolation. The
> story of COVID-19 is actually comparable to the events that most holidays
> are founded to commemorate. It’s also a very weird event, which gives a
> holiday lots of little narrative hooks for unique things that help it stand
> out.
>
> I think a holiday focused on that would have a lot of narrative power, and
> it would fill an actual important need. I think there are concrete reasons
> people may benefit from a telepresent right now, but I also predict that
> coronavirus will have long-lasting impacts that will make it reasonable to
> commemorate in future years (Although the narrative may need to change over
> time to account for new facts coming to light. We’re living through history
> right now)
>
> It’s the 21st century, and we should be expecting holidays and traditions
> to adapt to changing technology. There should be at least one holiday where
> “skyping in to see your family” is not awkwardly bolted on afterwards, but
> deeply interwoven into the central traditions.
>
> ...
>
> If this seems interesting, you can read a ton more thoughts about it here
> <https://www.lessestwrong.com/posts/4kD2yx3ZjToSj9zhH/a-holiday-honoring-covid-and-connection>
> .
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Rational Ritual" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rational-ritu...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rational-ritual/CALmO78qQneBUP1Q6XqbJqrW0dVsiVsU0JEgCHZeBz9OCj9%2BcWA%40mail.gmail.com.
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