Trust and Faith

The fundamental implementation of social distancing is wrong. It is intentioned well at-heart, but put into practice in a way that is alienating, not just isolating.

The very perpetuation and survival of human race, of (almost) any life form, depends upon meeting potential partners, mating, and creating a new human being. In the case of humans, even if the objective is not to procreate, finding a mate is a long-term strategy for security, safety, companionship and happiness.

But the process of finding a partner has never been science. We haven’t gone around asking a possible new friend if he or she were disease free (well, at least not during the first few contacts). It has always been based on an unsaid trust, an element of faith in the humankind, and an associated element of risk. That is life, a series of random connections even if much of it seems planned.

Some of the element of faith is required even for COVID as well as is trust. We do ask those who think they may have it to self-quarantine. No one should need to force them. If they are good, responsible humans/citizens, they will isolate themselves.

My hope is that this social distancing is temporary, and when a vaccine is invented against this virus, we won’t have to worry about the disease. But, this is life. There will be another virus, another danger. That is how life perpetuates itself (the virus too is a life doing its best to survive). We will have to learn to modulate our lives with a combination of modified behavior as well as a reliance on the age-old faith-trust combo.