Which new normal will you choose
when was last time you had the
opportunity
to dramatically change something in your
life
think back was it receiving a dream job
offer
the death of a loved one meeting someone
new
all of these examples are catalysts for
change
each creates the opportunity for a new
paradigm within one’s own life
whether positive or negative the
catalyst
opens the door for change and choice
paradigm shifts are equal parts crisis
and opportunity
i’m an anthropologist entrepreneur and
author
i use ethnography which is a fancy word
for storytelling
to document the paradigm shifts that
will echo through history
so those that come after us won’t have
to ask
why we made these choices or what it was
like
in 2015 i documented the paradigm shift
of the high-tech revolution by
interviewing those that lived its
entirety
people born before 1945. the resulting
book
shows an understanding of technology
rooted in our history
fast forward to march 2020
i’m living alone in a new city and
there’s a pandemic upon us
like everyone i’m scared but i did
what any social scientist would do
i studied it i have since interviewed
over 100 people in more than 30
countries
and continue interviewing people every
week
throughout these interviews i am
documenting a paradigm shift happening
in real time
one taking place over the course of
months
instead of decades
at the beginning of the pandemic people
banded together
in support of one another there are
messages of hope
encouragement and acceptance for what
must be done
but after a time the months of isolation
and fear
wore on people and they began to yearn
for what they knew
as normal saswa is a businessman
who lives in malaysia normally but was
stuck in india
during quarantine he said during his
interview
people were in panic mode it was a very
confusing situation where people don’t
know how to react
there was no clear indication as to what
to do and it was a huge
state of confusion
sure many of you can relate to the
uncertainty
and upheaval that saswa conveyed
after a time regulations relaxed
but the world was no longer the same
though it may soothe to believe we can
go back to normal
living through such a pivotal event
makes that impossible
as every individual sector
and system has been affected
every generation lives through at least
one seminal event
and each such event requires from us the
same payment
to support those most affected by the
experience
and to learn the lessons of the event
for the sake
of future generations
ours is the task to galvanize the
lessons that we learned
while we collectively pause so to save
lives
and stop the spread of our invisible
enemy
covid19 and in doing so
a new paradigm emerges
but what exactly is a paradigm shift
anyway
in essence everything changes at once
to put it visually the normal
that we thought was set in stone now
dissolves to sand
which is subject to the winds and tides
everything is affected in the upheaval
whether it be personal
or global during normal
or stable circumstances our minds
navigate the infinite
beautiful world we live in marvelously
by using filters like the reticular
formation
these filters help us to build habits so
we can navigate
our world without overwhelm for example
how many of you have ever arrived at
work without remembering the drive-in
driver’s ed teachers like to cite this
phenomenon as a precursor to
accidents but what is really happening
is these filters in our brains
have filtered out what is simply a
mindless habit
red means stop green means go yellow
means go low faster
and so every day we arrive safely at
work without recording to memory the
detail of the drive
our minds help us navigate this world
without overwhelm
until covet 19 when overnight
everything changed
it’s no wonder that the people in my
interviews are conveying a sense of
overwhelm
for not only has everything changed
everything
keeps changing day by day and we are
unable to form habits
it’s like living on sand
but the beauty of sand is that one can
take
what used to be solid rock now dissolve
to tiny grains
and build a sand castle
paradigm shifts are equal parts crisis
and opportunity
throughout my research i’ve seen a trend
despite the fear and anxiety of the
experience there is a call to hope
to learn the lessons of the event
natalia is a chinese consultant and she
said in her interview
no matter what is happening outside you
can find peace inside
these crises are scary but there is
always opportunity
our opportunity lies within such lessons
for example let’s take the lesson of
relationships
and how critical they are to the
well-being of the human psyche
technology can only provide a paper doll
of the real thing
as lori of the sault ste marie tribes of
chippewa indians
said during her interview she said i’m
sorry if i get a little emotional
but the isolation really hit me hard
today
my mortality is an issue but the
isolation
is devastating
is an event planner who is in
greece she too has seen her own
relationships change due to the pandemic
she said if so-called friends are not
close to you in this difficult moment
i realize that i don’t need these people
in my life
new people came into my life because of
online seminars
we started our friendship only online
and then
when regulations relaxed we met each
other
people can make a relationship even if
the beginning
is from a distance paradigm shifts are
equal parts
crisis and opportunity
indeed the way we think of each other is
changing not only because we can’t see
each other in person
but because some of the limitations we
now experience are limitations that
many always experience whether or not in
a pandemic
poomla is an innovation specialist
living in south africa
she asked those who will read her words
in the future to remember the lesson of
compassion
she said in history time has shown
over and over that a problem won’t get
fixed until it is faced
by those who are privileged
she went on to underscore that while it
may seem like a good idea
to take education online in a pandemic
that not everyone has a necessary access
what happens to the education of the
children of the bush of africa
who don’t have reliable internet access
equally what happens to the education of
the children of rural america
who also don’t have reliable internet
access
like landon a student in rural texas
who said i used to laugh when my grandma
would say
back in the day we had a party line and
if you wanted to use
the phone everyone on the street would
have to get off
and i would think wow that’s so
antiquated
but i literally have to get off the
wi-fi for someone else to use it
michael is a large format printer
who lives in england he suffers from
cystic fibrosis
a condition that affects his mortality
as well as
his lungs what he said during his
interview made my breath catch my throat
he said when the person in authority
says there will be deaths
there will be losses it’s me
michael i am the expected casualty
i have a serious disorder that puts me
at risk of death
so the whole go back to normal die for
the dao
imagine hearing that at 32 years old it
dehumanizes you
perhaps the able-bodied population
experiencing these limitations for the
first time
will develop compassion for those who
experience them
under normal circumstances and as a
result
provide more support in the future
paradigm shifts are equal parts crisis
and opportunity
now let’s take a look at the lesson of
control or our utter lack
of it we all had such plans for this
year but we had to let them go
to keep ourselves others safe
gregory is a publisher and author who
lives on armenia
he illustrated this lesson of control
during his interview
he said people are having to transition
out of traditional roles
in person and in an office to doing
things online
i can imagine this is putting a lot of
people in a panic grow or die state of
mind
nothing is really guaranteed so the
things you normally take for granted
you now will take preparations to
account for
when i interviewed brynn of indiana
she was preparing for the death of her
great-grandmother
and was concerned about the limitations
and lack of control
due to the shelter in place order
my family is preparing for the death of
my great-grandmother
and it’s hard to navigate how to suggest
a funeral would be needlessly unsafe for
the entire family
without coming across as disrespecting
her life
three weeks later brynn followed up with
me to say her great-grandmother had
indeed
passed away she said we’re all on the
same page
that shall be buried without a funeral
and will do a celebration of life later
when it is safe
though it is awful to be out of control
of being able to honor a loved one’s
life
the extra time that brynn and her family
received
meant they were able to prepare
something even more meaningful
nikki is a lawyer who lives in greece
at the beginning of her interview she
was
reeling from the lack of control that
she had
suddenly within her household
she said suddenly we found ourselves in
this new situation
where you’re surrounded by everyone in
the family and have to find a way for
work
to look after your family’s education to
look after your family’s medical needs
be the carer the breadwinner and the
housekeeper and
everything that comes with it it was a
very
demanding environment
a few moments later nikki was reflecting
on this lesson of control and realized
that lack of control in one area of her
life
had given birth to more control in
another
she said i feel that during the pandemic
i got to stay mo
stay at home a lot and i got to see my
children a lot more
and in a way i got to feel a lot more in
control of my home
i’ve been wanting to order photo albums
online for years and i finally got the
chance to do
it i filled a whole diary of stories and
lines my children shared with us
throughout the day
and it’s stories i would have otherwise
missed
in a way it brought us all closer
together
paradigm shifts are equal parts crisis
and opportunity
as for myself
hearing from people around the world as
their normal set in stone suddenly
dissolved to sand
like my own made me feel a little less
alone during quarantine
i heard my own fears concerns
and revelations reflected by people
whose lives
are very different than my own
we are more together than separate
and this has engendered in me an
unshakable hope
we are living history and it is a time
to be remembered and honored
we cannot go back to normal nor do we
need to
it is up to each of us to choose how we
will reshape our lives
and in doing so create a new paradigm
both for ourselves and the world
what will you choose thank you
you