Medieval Thinking in the 21st Century: Crystal Balls, Black Swans, and Darwin's Finches in the Time of Corona

Authors

George ConesaFollow

Abstract

Twenty years into the 21st Century, a sizable swath of the world populace thinks, makes decisions, and defines itself in a conflicted and contradictory chimera. Millions of individuals make use of cutting-edge technologies while simultaneously throwing salt over their shoulders and consulting with the local ‘healer’ about any number of illnesses--to caricaturize, a sort of medieval-thinker-tech-savvy orientation. It is here affirmed that the practical consequences of this agentic amalgamation, modes of thinking, and “being in the world” are counterproductive at best and self-defeating at worst, resulting in much uncertainty and leading to, for example, mixed messages in public health approaches and responses with respect to Covid-19. If this was a case of a simple anachronism, a back-to-the-land movement without technology, it would not be disturbing at all. This agentic amalgamation may be important in formulating what it means to be ‘human’ in rapidly changing contemporary societies long after the Coronavirus pandemic slows or stops.

Recommended Citation

Conesa, George (2020) "Medieval Thinking in the 21st Century: Crystal Balls, Black Swans, and Darwin's Finches in the Time of Corona," The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE): Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ije/vol1/iss1/7