I’m reposting a Mindf*ck Monthly newsletter from April 27, 2020 (i.e. when COVID-19 was beginning to fuck us up big time) because I believe it’s important. It’s an effort to cut through a lot of the confusion and bullshit out there with regards to the coronavirus pandemic. Things have gotten contentious around the world with a lot of blaming, arguing, and finger-pointing going on. So, I’d like to use this as an opportunity to dispel anyone’s sense of certainty about, well, anything.
Let’s dive right in.
1. No One Has Any Idea What the Fuck Is Happening or What We Should Do About It
Right now, we have two large, complex systems. The first is a virus sweeping through the global population and our combined efforts to mitigate it. The second is a declining global economy. Both systems are incredibly difficult to measure and understand, much less predict. Both are so large and unruly that we struggle to even comprehend them in their entirety. And so far, pretty much everything we’ve thought about either has been utterly wrong.
Let’s start with the first system: the spread of the virus. Despite months of research and testing, we still know very, very little. For example, we know that the virus is highly contagious, but we still have no clue how contagious. Studies pin…
