In times of disconnection, BE the Internet
By Vanessa Oliveira On 03/25/2020
“How many of us are going to get mentally ill with this isolation and loneliness?”
This is what I have frequently heard and read these last few days in various media, on this COVID-19 journey through Brazil. And I find myself thinking about how fast our mind is to create stories and terrible futures in seconds: as fast as light, the Internet and sound.
We must understand that we are our own machine and technology about to short-circuit if we don't learn one basic thing about our system: to connect ourselves.
I usually say that we have the Internet, but we still need to learn to BE the Internet. After all, it is useless to have a wonderful resource to talk to the whole world if we remain attached to the habits of the past, surrounded by our own borders. And this resource does require a new education on communication, contact and human relationship. It is not just an item that you have purchased and now use as a new outfit, or a gift that you have won or borrowed.
The Internet requires, first of all, that you change the way you exist and the way you see life. And what does this mean in practice?
First, from my perspective, it comes to tell us that we are global citizens. And that concept should be internalized, from the president who commands the country, the big owners of companies, institutions... to you.
It’s been a long time since a disease, for example, would appear and die on a single continent, because we could only cross the oceans through boats. Along with the advancement of means of transport and economic changes, a person can be today in Italy, tomorrow in the United States and later in Brazil. It means that we became fast in the physical and in the virtual. Therefore, any decision made on the other side of the world has an impact here - it is only a matter of time. And maybe if we had realized this before, we would have taken preventive measures as soon as the virus broke out in China instead of keep thinking that it was not part of our reality.
It is not only an item of multinational companies that already have this “integration” at their core. We are multinationals: from the purchase made through Amazon or Ali Baba, to the Spanish film seen on Netflix, or the Uber we take, the Airbnb we live in, the Whatsapp we use to talk to the family, the Arab friend, the Japanese neighbor, the food we consume, the clothes we wear...
The world is part of our routine, what about the politicians’? So what can we learn from other countries? What has been tried and tested? How could governments honestly share information between nations without the fear of losing the global power conquered so far? Will we be able to let our guard down to assume that we don't know everything and articulate internationally with a single objective? Challenge launched.
A video of Bill Gates has circulated among my friends these days. He was in a TED Talk, 4 years ago, talking about the investment made in wars (much bigger than the investment made in science), and that our greatest danger would be in the micro. And Corona is just an indication of that alert. Others will come, with ability to spread out as quickly as a 5G connection. It is a beautiful reflection that requires awareness and responsibility to seek, with the best professionals in the world, collective ways to be prepared.
It is not about "this is mine" or "this is yours". Today we close the doors of the territories as a way of containment and even as a consequence of despair, after the high impact of COVID-19 on society. I wonder if an approach, through joint and articulated work, could - why not? - avoid new isolations. When there is a war between countries, there is a polarized situation: who wins and who loses, I want this and you want that. As much as a virus could be used as a war strategy, how ambitious or stupid does it become to think that it is possible to manage alone all the global consequences in such a borderless world? Utopia?
Which brings us to the second point of being Internet: trust. How enoughly disarmed are we to trust the other, without seeing him, without touching him, without being in person by their side? And that goes for all aspects of our life. I have noticed, for example, people bothered about home office, sometimes forcing themselves to go to the company just for the sake of appearance. And I am not talking about the routine of working from home managing children or sectors where the physical is essential. But I can see the mind searching for an old pattern of connection with the contractor: “Look, I'm working, and not on vacation”. What's worse is that many contractors also feel more comfortable when seeing the person in the office.
The fact is that those who do not want to work do not work even when they are physically in the company. They pretend they are working, create subterfuges. Anyone who wants to betray your trust will betray it, even if they live their whole life stuck to you. Presence is not a guarantee of anything. And what it does is just to create an illusion of control of what your eyes can see. Trust is not measurable, it is not tangible, it is felt. It is a reality as abstract as the broadband that you don't see, but it decreases your download time. And any argument or expectation that your brain tries to create to predict the future can only bring you unnecessary anxiety and insecurity.
The Internet is open in most parts of the world and you can’t control it with your eyes. It is virtually impossible to know everything that is happening through it. But let's be honest, you never really knew everything that was going on. And the internet is present - you are connected with everyone in the now. A post, a message, a video, an article from anywhere on the planet can change tomorrow. So how to use the present, especially in a moment of illness, to impact society in a healthy way?
From there we go to the third point of being Internet: responsibility. The flexibility and the freedom we have, being able to connect with any place and person, are real.
Sharing fake news about the disease without checking if they are reliable sources can cause damage, such as contamination or death. And the problem is not the platform.
In particular, I consider it a disservice to society when I hear phrases like: “people are hysterical with Corona because of social networks”. Because of social networks? People are hysterical because of people. So how can we use technology to our advantage? It is useless to think about what you are missing out on with your changed routine or to regret not being able to leave your house.
Considering nowadays context and the current needs of people, what can you do with your resources? And I'm not just talking about Corona information. We are complex, a machine with zillions of internal interactions between our organs, and through the details we can calm our minds and hearts.
We are creative, inventive and we can only maintain our sanity, focus and calmness if we create solutions based on now and not the past. And it is incredible to see the movement that has emerged, little by little, through people and companies in search of this “feeling” of humanity. And I can mention some of them: press conferences made through apps, media companies in Brazil like Globo, SBT and cable TV operators opening their content for free, digital shows going on, whether intimate shows with Chris Martin, Coldplay or Neil Young, or more structured ones like #festivalmusicaemcasa, with more than 20 artists playing exclusively from their homes on Instagram.
Museums, parks and various institutions open online visits, teachers teach knowledge, dance, and anything from a distance. Perestroika, Casa do Saber, FGV offer their courses for free. Rita Lobo makes a quick recipe for home office, priests give blessings in lives, Luis Lobianco asks people to send poems for him to read, influencers make a special agenda for children and mothers in their networks... There is so much being done that it reminds us that we are alive.
What brings me to the last item of this article about being the Internet: human connection. Yes, the Internet is pure connection, just like us. And technology must be seen as a great ally in this mission of connecting, not as a villain that haunts us with digital scams. Remember: people already stole, killed, and were prejudiced before it existed.
We are talking about people, who need to gain awareness as a connected society on many levels. You need to look at the right place if you want to change anything, rather than keep looking for the excuses of a victim, or a scapegoat for your situation. You have to look inside. So, do you know that friend of yours who has difficulty being alone? How about calling him? Your grandmother, your parents who are isolated, how about teaching them to click on the app camera for you guys to see each other?
There are several free services, through which you can talk to friends, family or people at work, such as Skype, Zoom, Teams, Whereby, BlueJeans, Whatsapp, Hangouts, Facetime among others. If you've never used them, this is an excellent moment to experiment and to be close to those who you care about. Google it, ask for help and learn. We are able to learn new habits and concepts if we are willing and open to it. Make peace with technology, let go of resistance and start to really care. Empathy is also abstract, but effective when we deal with it as an exercise or daily prayer. So, how can we collaborate with each other?
Perhaps technology will teach us that the connection goes beyond physical presence, that we feel inexplicable things to our brain, and that there are abstract, non-tangible forms that comfort us and make us human. Perhaps even making a moment of illness, an opportunity for healing. If people say that it is during critical situations that we really realize who we are, the question I ask is how much are we still cloistered in our own head? So look for alternatives to fear and stay well. Be attentive to the world, confident, free, active, responsible and connected - with your all your being.