Noise

Mar 11, 2020 | apocalypse, Books, Dead Water

Kirstin commented a couple of times that I’m taking Covid-19 more seriously than she expected, because I’m usually more chilled/blasé about things, and that’s fair comment. It could be a function of keeping my eye on a couple of Twitter lists of people who have some idea of what they’re talking about, and constant repetition of alarming news generating its own fears.

But I don’t think so. Kirstin is correct: I am definitely taking it very seriously.

I understand why there is emphasis (and perhaps morbid fascination) with horror stories and horrific tales of how Italy has been overwhelmed, but I also know the likelihood is that most of us who get it will not end up in intensive care. I’m still looking for a good dispassionate information source. One of the features of the current situation is that there’s a lot of data but not so much information: it’s the old noise:signal thing. Graphs and charts and epidemiological data are all cool, but don’t convey things as simply as wash your hands and keep your distance from other people.

As my mind wandered while pondering some of this stuff, I thought of Susan Sontag’s AIDS And It’s Metaphors and her earlier Illness as Metaphor. I’ve mentioned the former of those before here. Her general thesis is that

the metaphors used when discussing something are revealing when looked at closely. In the case of AIDS (and, earlier, cancer), she considered how the metaphors stigmatised both disease and patient, often using language which implicitly offered moral criticism of the person with the condition. She also discussed the widespread use of military terminology and concepts when discussing the “fight” against disease.

There’s a lot of that going on right now: discussing Covid-19 using military metaphors. I understand why that is, and that the metaphors are so emedded in our thought and language that they’re difficult to dislodge, but I suspect other ways of thinking might be more appropriate when framing a response. I’m still thinking about this though.

Also, although I hope this fizzles out, I suspect it won’t and we’re in for quite severe restrictions on movement here. At some point we’ll look back at all the things that were stopping that decision being made and wish the decision had been made sooner.

Still, it’s handy that I’m at home most of the time so I can settle into social distancing to do my bit to flatten the curve (how quickly the jargon of the day creeps onto the tongue). On the plus side I have a huge to be read pile to keep me going, starting with the latest Hilary Mantel. On the down side, I dipped into daytime TV for the first time in months, if not years, and boy is it shite.