March 28, 2020<\/p>\n
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This article can be read on its own. For more background, kindly follow this trail:<\/p>\n
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MULTICAUSALITY<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Unicausal thinking = having unduly exclusive attention for one cause to any issue. Within multiple possible causes, unicausal thinking searches for the cause that explains the consequence. In the animal world, it is frequently a matter of life or death. If you are potential prey and a predator turns up, then you better focus your attention on this one predator, even if there is food available or an attractive mating partner. Innumerous times, unicausal thinking has saved one of your ancestors. You wouldn\u2019t be around without it. That explains its power in everyday circumstances. It doesn\u2019t make unicausal thinking a rational option in an endeavor to be optimally logical.<\/p>\n Unicausal thinking is embedded in Western medical practice \u2013 more than in its theory \u2013 as well as in Western conceptual thinking generally. This is the case to such a degree that it is even regarded as dangerous to propose a multicausal medical model, especially when involving the psyche. In practice, we still live in a mind-body divide. Therefore, in the case of Covid, medical colleagues may see it as dangerous (fake news, etc.) to even mention the possibility of substantial psychological involvement.<\/p>\n Especially in times of stress \u2013 the predator, the human enemy, the virus \u2013 the thinking naturally becomes more unicausal. The rational thing to do is to surpass it radically. Reality is never unicausal. In the human case, the psyche \u2013 due to many complex ways of realization \u2013 is always in many ways involved.<\/p>\n We should give attention to who we really are as mind-body creatures. Now is a good time to jumpstart that. It is the message in the virus<\/em>. This may seem like detracting attention from the fight against the virus. It may seem like now we need to give our full attention to the damned virus. And that is true. Only, \u2018our full attention\u2019 needs to come from who we really are. It should be \u2018our attention,\u2019 not part of it. This may immediately save lives \u2013 and the economy. If the \u2018Mind over Covid\u2019 hypothesis is correct, then it is perilous not to take it into account as soon as possible<\/strong>. Then it is not so much the \u2018co<\/strong>rona vi<\/strong>rus d<\/strong>isease\u2019 (Covid) as it is \u2018our disease.\u2019<\/p>\n In unicausal thinking, the search for the cure tends to be oriented to one cause. An efficient anti-specific-virus drug would cure Covid. Take the pill and get back to work (family, local bar, tourist destination). I see two main objections: 1) We don\u2019t have that pill, and 2) It would again go past the reality of ourselves. It would prolong \u2018our disease.\u2019<\/p>\n While forming decisions about necessary social measures, scientific experts are consulted. In times of Covid, the sought-after expertise is mainly virus-oriented, at the fringe somewhat psyche-oriented. It should be both without distraction from one by the other. Even more, within a proper synthesis, they will both<\/em> be more effective.<\/p>\n Of course, we should not lessen the search for the pill, nor the vaccine. Also, we should be prepared for an even worse \u2018common-cold Ebola\u2019 virus to appear sooner or later. Likewise, we should not lessen the search for our deeper self.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ATTENTION<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The section after this one is about what to do. The main thing in any of that is doing it with a kind of attention that you may feel coming from deep inside yourself.<\/p>\n Here, of course, lies a difficult distinction between superficial and deep attention. Western culture has become caught in a stream of superficial attention, with \u2018no time to waste\u2019 in production and consumption. Social media have become extremely speedy media. A marketeer should \u2018grab the prospect\u2019 from the first three-two-one seconds, or the prospect is gone. Sadly, handling the prospect this way also makes him this way, especially if many marketers perform the same trick over and over again. With the advent of A.I. in social media, the pace is only accelerating. Hmm. Is my opinion an exaggeration?<\/p>\n Now for the not-so-easy distinction, a primer:<\/p>\n Many people can use guidance on how to make the distinction. However, eventually, you can be your own best guide in giving it the best you can and put this into practice, again and again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n WONDERING HOW<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wondering how a \u2018global hysteria\u2019 might become so powerful at present \u2013 more than, say, ten years ago \u2013 I think of several elements that can drag people into a whirlpool at the societal and individual level, heightening anxiety and vulnerability. Might this whirlpool be more causal, the virus more instigational? In my view, most of the effect plays at non-conscious level. Going a bit deeper into them, one can see that each is related to the phenomenon of human attention. One may conclude that there is something deeply wrong with the state of attention.<\/p>\n This list is incomplete, subjective and exaggerated. One can write a book full of critique and then critique upon this and so on. So, spare me. This is to let you (and me) feel the probability. Also, this doesn\u2019t mean that we should avoid all this. We should think about what we are missing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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