Bits and Bytes of Humanity

Life is not normal right now. It doesn't feel all that different but it's definitely not normal. I'm fortunate enough to live in a place fairly remote compared to millions of people out there that are all crammed together in big cities. I'm grateful for that.

As you probably know, I live in Italy, and unless you just woke up from a coma or you're a Big Brother contestant, you're probably aware that a lot is going on here in the country. And around the world in general honestly.

People are told to stay inside, to limit human contact. Economies are tanking, workplaces are closing and step aside Bitcoin because we have a new, way more valuable, currency going around: toilet paper rolls.

Seriously people, what's wrong with you. Toilet paper? Seriously? I'm disappointed, especially if you live in a country that knows what a bidet is.

Also, don't be a dickhead and use other types of paper to wipe your ass. Those will just create an even bigger problem.

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about the currency of our new economy. I'm here to talk about what happens when the majority of your human interactions gets converted into bits and bytes, floating through cables across the globe (and satellites in LEO in the hopefully not too distant future).

You've probably seen the news about online service getting overwhelmed with traffic and from a sociological and technological stand point, this current chaos is a very interesting large scale experiment. Companies are adapting, people are adapting.

In the midst of this mostly uncontrolled chaos, people are doing what they can to stay connected. For the first time in my life I made a group video call for god sake. And not because I needed, just for fun.

People I never met in my life wrote me emails just to ask how everything was going and if I was doing ok and I wrote similar emails to people around the globe. Because, at the end of the day, we're going through this shit together whether we like it or not.

I couldn't be more grateful to have the internet right now. The majority of my friends live abroad, in different countries, continents and timezones. Without the internet, staying in contact with them would be a total nightmare.

I'm also grateful for all the people I can interact with daily. The small group of friends I can play videogames with, night after night and share countless laughs. The wonderful people in the Kirby Slack, scattered across Europe and the globe, always there, doing their best to keep the community and their lives going.

Numerous are the things we take for granted in this 2020 society. Hopefully, as a result of this crazy time, we'll all have a new appreciation for what we have and what we benefit from, day after day.