On Human Nature during Pandemics : Developing Humane Corona-Crisis Competencies
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives fundamentally and potentially lastingly. What unites the world in the COVID-19 pandemic is that it appears to not halt from any nation or territory of the world. From the largest economies to small nation island states, over 220 countries or territories of the world have reported some COVID incidents or are affected by the pandemic fallout in any possible way. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 fallout, much writing concerns the economic recovery and resilience of society. This paper addresses the nature of human beings and what psychological notions may be fortified by the Coronavirus pandemic – with attention to positive traits that can be harnessed during crises. In the end, the widespread impact and global shock of COVID-19 also offer unique opportunities for a universal change or a New Renaissance cultural revolution. Speculations about prehistoric human development, when cave-man and cave-women survived and advanced in seclusion serve as an analogy for today’s lockdowns in order to derive inference about a potential future of humankind after the pandemic. Seclusion in caves in ancient times was often followed by societal development, which may also apply today in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. An example of human advancement after pandemics is the Renaissance after the Great Plague of the 14th century. In today’s world, the fields of psychology and behavioral economics offer insights to navigate through a complex world and may thus also inform about positive humanistic outcomes of the crisis. This article features three core COVID competencies springing out of the pandemic that may enhance human nature and will thus hopefully be cultivated in our future to come: (1) Flexibility and adaptation: As an external shock and given the fast-paced changes in societal health conditions, the COVID crisis drove our resilience and common flexibility to adapt to changes quickly and efficiently. While the individual is pushed to accept a fast-paced changing environment and individual uncertainty about the personal health status on a constant basis in the eye of a highly contagious disease, in groups the Coronavirus crisis may hone compassion and care for each other’s health and well-being during troublesome times. (2) Cooperation: The COVID crisis raised mortality salience around the world. When people psychologically face human mortality cues, individuals with high self-esteem tend to become more excessive and actively risk seeking, whereas those with low self-confidence tend towards depression and emotional lethargy or agony. Individuals in face of life-threatening crises and changing external conditions during upheaval also tend to rely on natural behavioral laws and therefore be more attentive to moral and ethical notions. In the finance sector versus the real economy, there is currently a psychological divide noticeable in the pandemic fallout between those who feel in control of exchanging declining market segments in portfolios and those who are dependent on wages from troubled industries. Taking all these complex socio-psychological streams together, this article will speculate that COVID may first lead to a heightened disparity and inequality within society and over the globe due to emotional states but also historically-driven already existing disparities that are exacerbated by COVID. But in the resuscitation, individuals may find each other again more drawn into widespread cooperation, such as the after-World War II establishment of social welfare programs and uniting peace projects, such as the European Union. (3) Exploratory imagination: In the long-term fallout of crises, innovations account for the longest advancements coming out of crises. Seclusion in caves shows inspiring imagination in cave art and stone age drawings already at the beginning of humankind. Seclusion already led in historical examples to a drive for innovation – when considering the Renaissance push for mechanization after about one third of the known world’s population had ceased during the Great Plague of the 14th century. Labor shortage after the Black Death Plague led to a quest for innovations in mechanization that would replace missing human capital. Unfavorable environments also drove people to endure unpleasant conditions on constraint ships to explore the oceans in the hope for a better life beyond the existing world. It was the hunt for discovery after the Great Plague of the 14th century that led to the discovery of new worlds – such as Africa, the Americas and Asia – in explorations across oceans. Today’s advancements entail medical revolutions, digitalization disruptions and financial market tech solutions – such as algorithmic trading and cryptocurrencies – but also space exploration as positive externalities of the socio-economic mindset of Coronavirus crisis competencies