Pandemic Personalities

When the pandemic defines who you are, you can’t let it go.

Sound the alarm! A new Covid variant has emerged! Ok – just kidding. One of the things I remember very well from watching the Cosmos reboot when I was in high school is that humans were able to advance so much, in part, because of their ability to recognize patterns. From facial cues and language, to music and observing the stars – humanity’s superior pattern processing is fundamental to its intelligence. Now, people are noticing the Covid pattern and getting tired of it. I want to highlight an observation noticed by myself and many others during this strange time. A very interesting group of people has emerged over the pandemic. I’m not quite sure what to dub them but they have developed a “pandemic personality.”

So what is a pandemic personality? It’s a personality that defines its purpose as upholding pandemic measures at all costs and believing it is morally superior as a result. Someone with a pandemic personality always wears a mask, sanitizes, social distances, takes mask/vaccine selfies and stays away from family and friends. It is someone who enjoys posturing about the ‘good’ they are doing publicly. They hang vaccine ornaments on their Christmas trees and cut off family members that don’t posture with them. They don’t look at the information themselves but rather, outsource their thinking to mainstream commentators. They fail to notice inconsistencies in public narratives and refuse to change their mind lest they lose their moral high ground.

Pandemic personalities have convinced themselves (or been convinced) that they are heroes – that through their actions (which don’t actually require any heroism) they are saving the world. All the while they berate others who don’t play the game and call them selfish – when actually they themselves are the selfish ones. They call others selfish whilst simultaneously depriving others of their livelihoods, loved ones, milestones, mental health etc. all so they can ‘feel safer.’ They are unwilling to let the pandemic go because it is the purpose they have defined for themselves during this time.

But, I do have sympathy for many of them. It is hard to escape from the constant news cycle bombardment of fear. And fear has been maliciously weaponized over the last year and a half. As the variants continue and more and more people grow tired of the endless cycle, many people will cling to the mandates and their “good work” more dearly. Unfortunately, it will be hard for many to accept that they spent the last two years avoiding their family and friends, missing milestones and events only to realize it was for nothing in the end.

I think this phenomenon has also arisen due to the lack of meaning many people face in their lives. Many people don’t have purpose, nothing driving them and are living life on auto-pilot. Purpose is difficult to define and many people saw the pandemic as their opportunity to do good. The more it unravels and the more their purpose is pulled out from underneath them (or comes to an end), the more desperately they will cling to it.

(Image via https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok)