Negotiating Choice in the Post Covid Era: An Existential Reading

Abstract

This paper probes into three phenomena of day to day life that have been radically altered in the wake of the COVID 19 crisis. These are space, visibility, and interaction. While physical/social distancing has forced the human individual into solitary forced confinement, the absence of tangible society opens up scope for self-reflection. While the exposure to the material world is reduced, the widening reach of digital modes has led to the creation of an alter reality. The human situation has witnessed an unprecedented existential challenge with no prefixed maps of response. A fine balance between meditative inaction and prudent action can serve as a solution. Individual goodwill needs to feed into collective goodwill to open up the social space for positive interaction. Positive psychology based on existential underpinnings of the human psyche creates new ways of understanding the lasting purposes of human life. In this paper, I contend that a shift from the extrinsic to intrinsic self-improvement can play a key role in the evolution of a new society which would be inevitable in the post-corona age. The authentic choice in this regard is not to be understood as one of rebellion as was taken to be the soul purport in the past. This choice is to have a shared nature. Digital presence and togetherness need to be ensured both on the personal and the social level. This paper studies metropolitan life to point out the limits/restrictions on spaces that were accessible and the price of screen visibility. Is there an existential yearning beyond the screen? Does the screen as a medium demand a kind of inauthenticity? Can we learn to un-pose for the camera in the corona age?

Keywords

• existential
• digital
• covid19
• authenticity