Living under the long shadow of Covid-19: Origin and Adaptive Evolution

[Musings on socio-legal changes in the times of Covid-19 cleverly disguised as a book review of Dan Brown’s bestseller ‘Origin’.]

With a nationwide lockdown firmly in place and some extra time at hand, I recently concluded reading Dan Brown’s latest mystery thriller novella ‘Origin’ and as impressive a piece of literary fiction as it is, where it really shines through is in its thought invoking discourse on human origin, evolution and futurology. Infact, the book sets aside several chapters to give ample consideration to two of life’s most profound questions i.e. Where do we come from? and … Where are we going?

While I don’t intend to spoil the book for those of you who are yet to read it and leave the interpretation of the book’s meaning for you to discover for yourselves, it did get me thinking about fictional futurist Edmond Kirsch’s seminal work in the book’s narrative as well as the parallels that we can draw from his conclusion to these questions for today as well as tomorrow’s post-Covid-19 world. Just as indicated in the book where these touchy topics are said to deeply affect the more religiously inclined, I am aware that it may be an equally touchy topic, if not more, for those of us unfortunate to be directly or indirectly affected by the disease in any form in their personal lives. Regrettable as it may be, that doesn’t take away from the fact that moving forward we will have to learn to live with it, something that most of the world is already coming to terms with. But before we start wondering about the uncertain future, let’s take a moment and have a closer look at the present first, for as is often said, the present is the stepping stone to that unseen future.

Is Covid-19 really all bad? This question may seem to have an obvious answer at first look but is it really the complete answer? Well, I mean there is no denying the fact that the disease has caused widespread physical suffering and thousands of deaths and it will cause more of these before we are through with it. It has also had a significant impact on the world economy and an even more acute effect on the economies of third world countries where most of the world’s poor live. But I do sincerely believe that as with all things, there may be a silver lining even to this dark cloud. Let’s take a timeout to think about it logically for a minute.

Firstly, as has been widely publicised, removal of most of human interference has had an obvious positive impact on the environment. Our rivers are the cleanest they have been in decades, wild animals are returning to their long lost habitats and we can see mountains from places where we could hardly see the next row of houses. Even the huge Arctic Ozone Hole that was thought to be irreversible during our lifetimes has all but recouped.

What’s more, we have found time for the little but rather important things in life that we never had in our otherwise busy personal lives, things like taking out time for loved ones, rediscovering the simple joys of long forgotten hobbies like reading a book or just taking a moment to ponder life’s deepest mysteries. From the news and the limited social interaction, I for one find that people are generally more empathetic, caring, cooperative and generally nicer to each other than ever before. We have learnt to give each other space when needed and yet learnt to cherish our inter-personal relations. In a country most notorious for littering, spitting and its generally poor sanitary conditions, everyone is finally beginning to understand the great necessity of the practice of both personal and community sanitation. 

However, what probably gives me the greatest of hope is the unprecedented possibility for achieving great systemic change in a relatively short period of time, given how slow and resistant our institutions have proved to it before. Take for example the judiciary. Judiciary had been struggling to move towards greater digitization for decades now and frankly, has even resisted it to some extent. While some courts might had achieved minimal success from their half-hearted attempts, I am looking at you Delhi High Court, it was still questionable whether those self-serving attempts were practical enough to really help anyone at all. However, in the past couple of months, it’s as if there is a new will for change largely on account of the general lack of choice. Many courts have achieved limited functioning with the pre-existing tools commonly available online and what remains is largely an issue of replication and scale rather than resources really. As an unintended by-product, such courts as are functioning, have been forced to simplify their cumbersome filing procedures and are now more reachable from the farthest corners of the country (I know lawyers who continue their practice in Delhi while actually sitting in rather distant cities). This has in turn reduced the time and resource wastage that our judiciary has become notorious for. Both lawyers and judges have been forced to achieve reasonable level of functionality from their homes, saving them time, energy and money. There is so much free learning and self-development happening through daily webinars right now that it has actually become rather tiresome to keep track of them all and I am actually having some major FOMO. Many courts have even taken a decision to dispense with the ridiculously obsolete dress code for the time being. Even our governance outlook and expectations from our political masters have shifted focus to the rather basic but often overlooked sectors like healthcare, sanitation, education and social security. Infact, all this sometimes makes me wonder as to why we couldn’t do it before?  

This then can be viewed as a big flashing billboard from Mother Nature and an opportunity of a lifetime. A sign to inculcate radical change in our habits that was hardly achievable in a more normal world and an opportunity for achieving just that. Ofcourse, all of this comes at a great economic cost, but then some of these possible changes are really so fundamental that they are infact priceless and any monetary loss is but a small price to pay for it. And in all fairness, economically as well, with the right policies and outlook, this is more of an opportunity that it first appears to be, for today the world hunts for new investment opportunities in other countries as it seeks to move their manufacturing capabilities that largely lie accumulated in a single country, China.

As weird as it may sound, a part of me does hope that some things never go back to as they were before, simply because they can be so much better. Just like Edmond Kirsch was optimistic of a better future despite presenting a seemingly sordid picture of it at first, I too am optimistic for a brighter future if we embrace this systemic and social change. For history is witness that it was always in those moments of great adversity that humanity has taken their next leap forward. After all, isn’t that the very basis of Darwin’s law of evolution?