MetaJess

Coronavirus thread. Content warning: 50/50 chance this will help vs harm. If you are comforted by sideways philosophical arguments read on. If not, I refer you the next tweet on my timeline.

So, folks are “panicking”/responding strongly to coronavirus because on some level they WANT to panic about it. Not that they enjoy panicking, or that they can choose to, rather they want it in the sense that responding strongly to c-virus is serving some need in them in some way

Hi Jess, long time no speaky I agree on an emotional level I need to be emotional about this but does that demonstrate a craving for meaning? Beyond the wish to experience meaning on all levels, including emotional. This is a genuine request for clarity btw not a gotcha attempt

Um sorry if that’s a typo but I believe one *doesnt* have to be emotional about C-virus. The fact that most people are being emotional to a degree that I think is beyond what I’d expect from this event is evidence that people are leaning into it/crave meaning.

No typo, I used 'I' not 'one', because I mean me. I see the emotions I've felt so far as useful signals about the implications of the virus on the things I care about. They're also needs because if I suppress them it's bad for me - eg producing circular/anxious thoughts

If you see them that way then that’s great. I’m seeing other people in constant fear, disproportionate to the problem. The collective psychology of panic also seems to be causing more problems than it’s solving.

I'm still open to a thesis of 'crisis of meaning' btw, I just don't really understand that thesis currently. The closest thing I can match it with is the idea that we tend to delude ourselves on what's important in life, and our emotions at a time like this reveal that to us