‽istis reclaims less hope (weekending August 8th 2020)
‽istis rocks from the blast; perhaps a further
‘camel’s-back-breaking’ crisis for possibly most of the people of Lebanon –
economic, political, health and now an event that some may call an accident,
but others could call a ‘reasonably preventable’.
And ‽istis wonders if we can hope too
much…
It is perhaps not hope that requires HSE[i] posters in every office
(do they have to be placed by the photocopier?); it is possibly not hope
that has led to legislation, statutory guidance, policies and procedures (and dismissive
comments about ‘health and safety gone mad’); it is maybe not hope that has long
prevented many injuries, contamination, infection-spread in ordinary times - and
deaths…
‽ Perhaps some of us hope too much: that we will
get away with it, that we are somehow immune, that it is not as bad as the
experts or the data suggest, that we won’t be recognised, that the papers won’t
print it, that the person won’t tell, that the whistle will not be blown, that
both high and low probability events won’t happen (yet having bought a ticket I
would like to actually win the lottery, please!), that it will somehow
be alright in the end…
‽ Possibly some
of us forget too easily that ‘hope for the best…’ might be followed with a bit
more ‘…but plan for the worst’ (including heeding early international warnings;
attending national security briefing, planning and response meetings; working
collaboratively with partners within and without our own borders and across
political divides; consulting the experts especially when we don’t like what
they say…
‽ Maybe even
if:
·
there is optimum
competence (versus an unbound Promethean confidence[ii])
·
the checks and
balances are working
·
people in
power are being held to account and spoken truth to without fear or favour
·
the data
remains unspun and presented with balance
·
the
journalists are given access, are published and heard
·
there is an
absence of hubris, exceptionalism, a sense of personal immunity or belief that
the rules and guidance (‘stay home’, ‘stay alert’, ‘wash your hands’, ‘wear a
mask’, ‘don’t shake hands’…) are perhaps somehow for others (the masses,
the herd) to follow
·
there is an
absence of apparent corruption
…then we might also do
well to heed the HSE sometime-used quotation[iii] on the potential
pitfalls of just plain-old, age-old, human error:
‘We make errors when we’re:
tired, distracted, hungry, thirsty, inexperienced, overly experienced, too
young, too old, middle-aged, addle-brained, overweight, underweight,
resourceful, forgetful, hurried, impatient, good-humoured and ill, not wanting
to kill, lingering, feverish, recovering, well intentioned, expert, novice,
looking, seeing, calculating, cerebrating, estimating, guesstimating, under
pressure, in a rut, in a hurry, in the dark, not believing, not accepting,
flustered, cool, frightened, calm, hopeful, listening, and not hearing the
bell.’
‽stis thinks it might be a mighty relief if managing and
mitigating human error was perhaps all we had to worry about. And ‽stis wonders
whether possibly less hope may, strangely, make us not so hopeless…
© Pistis
NB: further reflections linked to this week’s theme
and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily
indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders
[i]
Health and Safety Executive (UK): https://www.hse.gov.uk/
[ii] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Prometheus-Greek-god
- proving that the classics may be for everyone?
[iii] …with
apologies, likely original source unknown
