What I Learned About People During Melbourne’s 300 Days of Lockdown

38 unfortunate and concerning things I learned about the nature of humanity during the pandemic

As we ever so slowly make our way out of lockdown here in Melbourne Australia, I took some time to reflect on some unfortunate and concerning things I learned about the nature of people over the past two years.

• When people’s lives lack meaning or a sense of purpose, they will attach their identity to a belief system or cause
• Most people are fundamentally irrational and are guided by emotion
• Community is missing from many people’s lives, so they seek out weak alternatives in online communities, and by taking political sides
• Mainstream media is not about truth-seeking — it is about engagement, ratings, and revenue seeking. And so it will use emotions such as fear, anger, and outrage to optimize these metrics
• Most people see the world in black & white and have a difficult time appreciating that most things are actually gray and nuanced
• Most people don’t appreciate the nature of science
• Most people see only the immediate consequences of a decision and not the tangential and subsequent consequences