Will we ever trust crowds again?

People aren’t cringing around strangers and crowds because of pre-existing senses of fear or loathing. Instead, many people in these times of COVID-19 are simultaneously learning a new emotional experience, neuroscientists and psychologists say. It’s normal—and we might work through it once we get through the pandemic, writes Philip Kiefer. “Feeling nauseous at the thought of a dish that once brought on a bout of food poisoning is essentially the same thing as the squickiness you may now experience when someone gets too close in a crowd.”

IN A FEW WORDS

 

As we pass through this portal into another kind of world, we will have to ask ourselves what we want to take with us and what we will leave behind. We may not always have a choice—but not thinking about it will not be an option.

Arundhati Roy

Indian writer, novelist; from What Lies Ahead?

Happy birthday to mommy