LOVE AND PLAGUE
In addition to virus, love seems to be in the air. In recent times I am seeing the word "love" appearing in communications with greater frequency than in the era B.C. (Before Corona). It is showing up in closing salutations or in unexpected and uncharacteristic intimations of affection in conversations or emails.
Could it be that the plague is somehow making us look on other humans with something approaching the state of mental disequilibrium and delusion known as "love? I myself, a paragon of detachment, have felt twinges of this disruptive and dangerous emotion and may have used the word "love" unthinkingly in recent times. If so, I take this opportunity to correct the record.
In this ramble I am not addressing familial love, whatever that may be. I limit myself to the use of "love" in discourse between unrelated people.
To begin with, I renounce and withdraw all expressions of, and use of, the word "love" which I may have communicated since the beginning of the plague. I hereby replace them with traditional words indicative of respect, sincerity and cordiality. Why do I do this? Because love, as I see it, is, in essence, a state of delusion which temporarily suspends the natural, selfish, predatory tendencies of Homo sapiens to allow reproduction of the species. It is inimical to clear thinking in times that most require clear thinking.
When loving emotions are generated in crisis conditions, they are doubly suspect, first, because those times are generally inappropriate for reproduction and second, because those emotions are most likely generated by an instinctive drive for survival, the crudest form of response to possible death. This is a time for giving primacy to intellectual attitudes and attachments. This is a time for fostering social distancing. Preexisting loving relationships may continue but must be held in abeyance until normal conditions of blissful ignorance and undisturbed placidity return (if ever.)
In searching for an appropriate quotation, I "degendered" a very good one from H.L. Mencken, which started as "Love is the delusion that one woman differs from another." Properly balanced, it becomes, "Love is the delusion that one person differs from another." I interpret this to mean that the deluded state of love causes one to exaggerate the importance of the attributes of the love object. One could rephrase the thought as "Love is the deluded favorable perception of another." In any event, I conclude that under present conditions, unprecedented expressions of love are to be avoided.
Instead, we can call on other terms with which to express our feelings of esteem or affection. I mean more rational phrases such as "I hear you." "I understand." "I sympathize with you." "I agree with you." "You have a good point." or even "I'm with you." And salutations such as "Sincerely," "Yours Truly," "Respectfully," " Cordially," and possibly, "Affectionately" or "Fondly." But, under no circumstances should a communication contain or conclude with "Love." This is taboo.
I end this tirade by saluting you all, by conveying my deepest admiration, respect and fondness and by saying, in the classic manner of Dr. Samuel Johnson, that I remain
Your Obedient Servant,
Daniel Young
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