21: Clear skies, full parks, can’t lose
A casebook logging how our environment changed – or not – reviewing progress, or lack of it, against the original Slowdown Papers; Is the curve beyond the curve fading, or become clearer?
The first sets of Slowdown Papers ranged across numerous possibilities and pitfalls inherent in the moment, observing some emerging patterns, and speculating as to others. Some of those patterns have continued to unfold, and some may have stuck, while others faded as rapidly as they appeared.
The simple act of spotting patterns has become near-impossible. Every day brings torrents of information, which can variously bewilder or bewitch. Every day seems to produce 100 new interesting findings, stories, suggestions. Each of those generates 100 ideas. Almost all flavours of researcher are closely tracking the virus from their various perspectives, whilst journalists, friends, and colleagues are also unfurling anecdotes in real-time.
Attempting to track stories coherently is a mug’s game, even given a range of defined interests. This is not least because, as the duration of the pandemic stretches out, later research has already begun to counter and challenge initial findings or suppositions. In some respects, the story…
