MARK GEVISSER: Covid 19 crisis puts our egos in check
No matter how much humanity progresses, nature will always find a way to strike back
In the early days of this pandemic, you might have seen an arresting passage by the children’s author and Christian philosopher CS Lewis, from his 1948 essay, “On Living in the Atomic Age”.
When it popped up on my screen in early March, I found it inspiring. Lewis imagines someone asking him how we are going to live after Hiroshima, and responds: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year.” He then goes on to list all the ways our mortality might manifest in the 20th century, given that we are “already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents”...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.