Entering Humanity 2.0

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, humans are learning how to live accordingly because it's not backing down.

Asia went from "bat soup, wildlife cuisines, bio-weapon" to limiting/banning export of masks and criticism to government countermeasures. For the first time (exaggeration), we're ahead of the curve. What the CPC fails to contain, those governments which don't dare to stand up against it have fallen with it and paid a avoidable price. Thailand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and then fell Italy; Europe soon followed. The world plummeted into chaos and began a "record setting campaign". The CPC got first blood; SK won the fastest case-growing in Asia(excluding the CPC) no thanks to false-god believers there; Italy reached the most death toll(excluding the CPC) and the U.S. has the most confirmed cases(excluding the CPC).

We must say for the record and the time being, it is certainly great to be in Taiwan now since it's one of the very few countries in this pandemic whose schools are still open, whose people remain free to travel domestically. Though many experts, officials, and commoners have raised a red flag for the four-day holidays urging people not to take trips, Taipei appeared to be much less crowded. We may have reached the critical point the professionals were warning us about last month. The worst may be coming.

While many of us are still learning the importance of personal hygiene, washing hands with soap for more than 20 seconds and keeping social distances, the way of education have entered a new phase. Online learning isn't anything new since platforms such as Tu**r A*C, E*g** and others have been established for quite some time. However, there has never been any policy or regulation to make online learning or working at home compulsory. From here, it got us thinking. Would this be the beginning of a new era into a futuristic society where most, if not all, people are connected to their devices and stay stationed in certain areas to avoid travel costs, time, exposure to diseases, accidents...etc. The Internet is ready for a major upgrade to 5G, delivery services are set, and it seems like this pandemic is going to be the wanted push we needed to start a new age.

What have the movies been telling us? Wire becomes wireless; from earphones, computer mouses to charging batteries. VR has the potential to replace experience in reality; first you learn online, and then you work online. The only reason that we still do things the way we do is because we haven't changed it. The technology is far from perfect but surely ready to engage us. Remember the days when our elders complained about how the younger ones are always looking down to their phones and the term "phubber"?

[someone who repeatedly looks at their phone in a social setting while ignoring the people they are actually with.]

Guess what? No one is using that anymore because you don't create a name for the norm. It's likely that a term for those who don't use their phones too much. How does anti-phubber sound? Too long?

The point being, economy-wise we are about to face a major transformation in the labor force and whoever that aren't catching up won't be able to do so. Time waits for none and nor does innovation. Do you recall the laid-off workers for highway tollgate? Are you familiar with the self-help counters in supermarkets and gas stations? Did you hear about the truckers in the U.S. getting potentially replaced by automated driving? The future is on our doorsteps. As terrifying as that may be, get ready, embrace it and it'll shine on us. Or else, you may have to consult with a group session.

What about education? Could it be overwhelmed by E-learning? As much as we, Free The Language, enjoy having an authentic experience with each learner and believe that only when we learn face-to-face can we capture the non-verbal nuances people send out subconsciously, it's no doubt that a big part of education will be filled with "screen time". Yes, the world still needs teachers but as circumstances go, everything will be digitized. Learning should not be limited and should be boarder-less. If things go the way we desire, we also would like to keep an online record of every single one of our real-time sessions here. We love it but we would love it more if we were able to save those memories for ourselves and for more in the future even after we finish. For that sole purpose and it only, we humans will certainly enter the next phase of humanity, a true virtual reality.

#selfreflect