Do you think the COVID pandemic cut through our standard cultural denial of death and forced many more people to look at death in a way that might help them value life?
Or do you think most people thought the dangers of the pandemic were exaggerated?
Do you think our society would be better off if people paid more attention to death and the threat of death?
I feel like people are desensitized to death because we hear about it so often in the news, we forget that those were real people with real lives. During the pandemic the one thing that bothered me most is that people would say they aren't worried about COVID because it won't kill them. They didn't seem to care that there are many immunocompromised people that they could spread it to that it will kill.
ReplyDelete-Byron
I agree with your explanation of how COVID affected our society's views on death. Many people in my town refused to take any precautions because they believed that nothing could happen to them even as the fatality rate in our town went up. It is so strange that people can be so desensitized to the concept of death that they disregard the deaths of people in their own community.
Delete-Denna Bussinger
In a sense, the Pandemic did not really make Americans (the only group that I feel capable of generalizing) more aware of death or alter the role of death in broader cultural awareness, but in some senses trivialized it. The reduction of human lives to statistics and, to a greater extent, the denial of the cause of these lives' demise, made the power and terror of death more remote. This, combined with the general isolation of members of society from one another, made the personal experience of death highly localized even while the awareness of a low-level presence of death would be greater among constituent members of society. If American society accepted the idea of finality of death more readily, the readiness exhibited by some of its members to inflict misery upon one another may be lessened. The embrasure of the notion of finality might convince some to devote more of their lives to leaving a positive impact on others or, potentially, attempt to experience life more broadly and in a more open-minded manner. This is, at best, a clumsy and relatively uninformed inference, but may have an element of truth in its assertions.
ReplyDelete-Eli Grasso
I do not think that the COVID pandemic made people value life more. Most of the people, especially in my age group, thought that the dangers were exaggerated. For the most part, COVID only has a serious effect on elderly people and people with health issues. I do not think the general population was scared of dying, at least after the first couple months of the pandemic. This is probably because most people are not shocked when an elderly person dies, but when someone just like them dies. COVID did not kill enough "normal" people for the general population to feel scared.I feel like society would be better if people were more threatened by death because the threat of death takes more focus off small and unimportant things. People would be able to appreciate life more, just like Nora did after she faced death. - Matt Pittman
ReplyDeleteThe way I see it, there was an incredibly skewed and selfish view of the pandemic in those who refused to take it seriously. They weren't worried about the threat of death in other people, they simply called it a day because they weren't harmed. Same thing goes with a lot of atrocities in America: there is always points of skepticism in groups unaffected by problems, i.e. denial of hate crimes, the rich and the poor, etc.
DeleteIt can be boiled down to concern for one's own death, and concern for other people's deaths.
I believe COVID opened the eyes of many to the reality of death and that death can occur at a young age. A large number of people (especially younger groups) visualize themselves as nearly invincible, especially during their teenage years. When COVID struck and younger individuals began dying as a result of the virus, this opened the eyes of many to the fact that they are in fact susceptible to death, no matter how young or healthy they seem to be. I believe that when COVID began, the realization that death could be around the corner at any point in time made many aware that they had been previously naive to death. I believe that if people were more cautious regarding death, there would be far fewer instances of death, which would result in more contributing citizens to society.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a fine line between being aware of death and letting it be all you pay attention to. I think if people paid too much attention to it then it could really cripple our society. If people are too concerned about dying, they might miss out on what life is really about. For example, in the pandemic, people were so concerned with getting the virus or passing it along they had to put their lives on hold. Not saying it was bad to be precautious, but living your life in fear all the time is no way to live. The pandemic was only a short time of putting normal routines on hold and being cautious of death, and we now see how much hurt that has caused our society. So, would it really be a good thing if people paid more attention to the threat of death, or would it just add more pressure and fear in people’s lives, crippling them?
ReplyDeleteI feel as though individuals were vastly in a bubble of denial concerning the threat of death from Covid as they are with any threat to life. There appears to be a distance set subconsciously when one hears about such things happening around them. They remain in denial it could ever happen to them until it does. Until they experience a loss too close for comfort. Let us not speak of those who remained so entrenched in denial that they refused to believe the cause of death was Covid. Covid had taken a great many lives from my family and family friends, my family for the most part was well aware of the danger. It is hard to say but I want to believe that it made some realize that life is precious and you never know what will come. I'm not saying everyone should live in paranoia of potential death, as people die every day. It is a part of life and completion of everyone's journey. Some finish it much too soon due to factors outside their own control. Above all what is important to realize is we have no control over our fate and therefore should acknowledge how precious each day is, and respect the presence of death without being consumed by fear of it.
ReplyDelete- Sam Ray