Instinct to Panic About All Problems
Posted 03-07-2020 at 04:23 PM by jbgusa
The recent hysteria over "climate change" and now corona-virus led me to reflect on the frequency of immature and counterproductive reactions to problems. Every hurricane, tornado, blizzard, flood, drought or fire creates pressure to "do something" when it is unclear what can be done, or whether we are simply battling Mother Nature, like King Canute v. the tides.
Back in 1979 a friend of mine told me of a situation where is father, a well-regarded New York City attorney was on vacation, I think, in Mexico with his wife. He got a message that his law office had suffered a significant fire. My friend told me that it made a major impression on him that he kept to his vacation plans, and did not fly home to NYC.
On corona-virus I wish that people had that mature perspective. Influenza has the potential to be serious, no doubt about it. For the compromised it can mean serious illness or death. And those numbers are scary. Our synagogue, on Friday at 5:00 p.m., one hour 15 minutes before the the start of Shabbat services sent out the following note (only relevant parts copied):
We get the same immature reactions to terrorism, and to "climate change." On terror, out of a felt need to seem to be "doing something" we have turned our airports and office building lobbies into snarled fiascos. On climate change, we are taking advice from a 16 year old girl from Sweden who was taught, by her teachers and parents, to panic. In my opinion we should almost never panic in response to problems.
Back in 1979 a friend of mine told me of a situation where is father, a well-regarded New York City attorney was on vacation, I think, in Mexico with his wife. He got a message that his law office had suffered a significant fire. My friend told me that it made a major impression on him that he kept to his vacation plans, and did not fly home to NYC.
On corona-virus I wish that people had that mature perspective. Influenza has the potential to be serious, no doubt about it. For the compromised it can mean serious illness or death. And those numbers are scary. Our synagogue, on Friday at 5:00 p.m., one hour 15 minutes before the the start of Shabbat services sent out the following note (only relevant parts copied):
The connection between our synagogue and a possible carrier is laughably attenuated. I wish, among leadership ranging from politicians to clergy, we could have the degree of maturity demonstrated by that wise lawyer. Instead, we get illustrations of the "Chicken Little" nursery school tale, "the sky is falling."Quote:Originally Posted by Friday email from TempleDear Synagogue Community of Worshipers,
In an abundance of caution, and mindful that health and safety are among the highest Jewish values, the Temple (name of facility deleted) will be closed as of 5:00 pm today (Friday, March 6) and throughout the upcoming weekend, while we conduct a thorough, deep cleaning of the Temple campus as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread in our area.
This difficult decision was made after we learned that last weekend, one of our part-time B’nei Mitzvah tutors attended a neighborhood synagogue (not our Temple) function that also was attended by people who have since tested positive for Coronavirus. Fortunately, our tutor is asymptomatic and feeling well. The tutor has chosen to self-quarantine voluntarily. All parents of students whom that tutor taught this week have been contacted. If your family has not been contacted by us directly, then it is not your tutor who has chosen to self-quarantine.
We get the same immature reactions to terrorism, and to "climate change." On terror, out of a felt need to seem to be "doing something" we have turned our airports and office building lobbies into snarled fiascos. On climate change, we are taking advice from a 16 year old girl from Sweden who was taught, by her teachers and parents, to panic. In my opinion we should almost never panic in response to problems.
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