What happens to the human brain after being isolated from
the outside world for so long? A study reveals that being physically and
emotionally isolated tends to result in decreased brain function. The Max
Planck Institute for Human Development conducted tests on nine crew members of
the Antarctic research station Neumayer III. They detected changes in the dentate gyrus, the part of the brain
that plays a vital role in learning and remembering things. This part of brain
has shrunk 7% within 14 months the crew spent on duty in Antarctica. During
that time, they survive in minus 50 degrees Celsius, exposed to drastic changes
in natural light and without contact in a remote location in Planet Earth's
northern tip.
The elderly who are isolated tend to decline health
conditions faster than the elderly of the same age but are not reluctant to
socialize with others and their families. During the COVID-19 pandemic,
patients who fled from the hospital because they didn't feel isolated were no
longer breaking news. As for an inmate who is currently in prison, time is
running very slowly. Isolation results in feelings of deep loneliness,
hopelessness, and no hope for the future. Depression can affect anyone, young
and old, who feel deprived of their freedom and can no longer enjoy life
freely.
Meanwhile, our predecessors had lived differently. Famous
inventors, scientists, and artists have succeeded in creating the best work and
most remarkable achievements in their field after isolating themselves away
from the hustle and bustle of the world to contemplate, experiment, analyze,
connect patterns, and realize ideas. The Great Plague (1665-1666) was the
largest pandemic of the era due to the bubonic plague outbreak, which killed
20% of London's population. This epidemic forced many people to isolate
themselves, including Sir Isaac Newton. He and his fellow students left the
Cambridge University campus to isolate themselves not to catch the disease.
Newton called that period the most productive period in his
life, annus mirabilis (years of
wonders), which has created space for him to reflect on and develop his various
theories in optics, calculus, and prism experiments, which are very well known
to this day. Perhaps because he was tired of being isolated, young Newton made
a hole in his room wall so that a beam of sunlight streamed in and put the two
prisms in a parallel position in the direction of the sun rays. And he was
amazed when the two prisms managed to decompose the sunlight into seven
different colors. This idea of "capturing" the sun's rays later
played a significant role in the creation of your photographic equipment, video
cameras, televisions, computer screens, and cellphone screens as well.
Openness as a Form of
Insulation
Over time, isolation no longer means being confined in one
place. Confinement means limiting a person's physical movements and thinking
patterns, and creative powers. Newton was very Lucky that isolation did not
succeed in confining his imagination when observing the monotonous
surroundings. The limited facilities at that time (there was still no
electricity, let alone the internet) made ancient people explore their minds so
that they could momentarily forget about the discomfort of being confined for a
long time. It is amid contemplation that they find questions and seek answers
through experiments. And this is also experienced by a small number of people
during the COVID-19 lockdown. They help many people through technology to
overcome limitations without catching the coronavirus. Check out the discoveries
made during the pandemic here.
Some humans try to overcome limitations by imagining that
there are no boundaries. Restriction of mobility as an individual force a human
to spend a lot of time with himself and observe the conditions that occur in
his body and soul. First, the reaction is resistance because humans who already
feel comfort tend to take various ways to maintain that comfort. The
anti-lockdown protests that occurred in several places are a clear example of
this practice.
Does that mean openness and freedom from restraint is always
better than restriction? Democracy allows people to voice their aspirations and
express themselves freely. How could this freedom be invisible confinement? If
given the freedom to surf the internet, 80% of us would choose to look at
things that we love and do not exist in the real world. That's why students who
attend school from home would rather watch YouTube than go to Wikipedia, for
example. Freedom in cyberspace is also very fragile, as the desire to grab more
likes and views encourages netizens to expose activities that are currently
popular. What happens then is uniformity, both in terms of expressing and the
quality of the expression itself.
There are no limits to what we can explore from the
internet; we can learn anything from cooking and build a house to learn foreign
languages. However, if we think of the internet as a place where we can hide
from the real world's cruelty, we can be sure that we will not get anything
because we think that this place is just an escape and not a "home"
where we will virtually live. The internet is another world with unique endemic
realities, norms, and laws with or without any connection to the real world. Without
progressive digital literacy, netizens will stop growing by locking themselves
in the latest mainstream trends to avoid online or offline bullying. Instead of
becoming a momentum to interpret freedom by daring to be different but
responsible, digital openness has locked netizens in the mainstream in all
fields, be it information, trends, or lifestyle.
The real example is the pros and cons experienced by the
COVID-19 vaccine made by the Gamaleya Institute, Sputnik V. The initiative to
manufacture this vaccine arises due to concerns about the social and economic
impacts that the global community must accept due to the pandemic.
Globalization makes all countries free to trade with any party and makes the
trade sector dependent on one another. If a region locks itself down, all
parties that previously worked with this area will also be affected.
So, the only way to stop the spread of the virus is to make
the entire global community immune to the virus simultaneously. The Sputnik V
vaccine was developed quickly, much faster than other manufacturers to meet
this deadline, and at a much more affordable price. But competitors' dirty
political play is trying to find loopholes to tarnish the first COVID-19
vaccine's reputation recognized by the WHO. After accusing Sputnik V of
deliberately passing Phase III clinical trials and questioning its safety,
several media outlets highlighted the allergic
reactions experienced by several volunteers who received this vaccine.
Change With No Losing
Principle
To speak of freedom of expression implies two types of
action that are different in direction. The first is to express oneself,
according to the abilities, interests, and talents of each. Whereas the second
is to express an opinion about any event or phenomenon that occurs around us.
If the first party is the performer, the second is the audience. If the first
party is free to do whatever it wants, the second party is free to comment on
what the second party is doing. This kind of relationship is common in digital
interactions, especially on social networks.
Years before Mark Zuckerberg got enlightened to found
Facebook, the relationship between commentators and commented ones had already
occurred elsewhere, namely on a campus where I had studied art. Students at my
campus study fine arts, performing arts, and electronic media arts. At the end
of the semester, each student must present their artwork before the lecturers
and peers in the same class, where the presentation explains the work's title,
creation process, and the reasons for the artwork. At the end of each
presentation, anyone can ask questions about other student's artwork, and
he/she must defend the concept that has been prepared. Debates about results
are also common in campus corridors, coffee shops, and even boarding houses.
Arguments can be fierce, but fortunately, they are not taken to heart because
the aim is to give opinions about each other's progress.
By being a participant in this kind of interaction, anyone
will understand that we will reap what we plant. There are always consequences
of everything we believe in and we let them outside of us know about it.
Considering the reactions that will arise can be massive and violent, we create
our boundaries to straighten our freedom on the right path. We will think long
before we act if our conscience admits that we are not ready to reap the fruit.
It turns out that we can create a moral compass ourselves without orders from
other parties, wherein we can become masters of ourselves in the end. But of
course, it is a long way to go to reach this stage.
It does not matter if we feel we are not ready to pick up the fruit of expression and choose to refrain from issuing statements that provoke uproar. Choosing to follow the mainstream and live in peace is also a choice, so this is also a form of freedom in determining attitudes. Is choosing to be mainstream will save our life forever? Whatever awaits us at the end of the day, this is not the case. The problem is, is your heart strong enough to accept the shocks? (swast)
