There’s a sort of game that I’ve found myself playing with friends and colleagues lately. The basic idea is that we extrapolate from the current situation to see what it means for the future.
Specifically: What things, we ask, will not go back to the way they used to be? Now that millions of people are getting used to being home with their families, will they all just go back to working in offices?
Or will people resist going back to the relatively soulless world of long commutes and office parks? Will some other set of social and economic structures emerge, one that is more humane and family friendly?
Of course, after this outbreak is over, some things will go back to being pretty much the way they were before all of this ever started. But other things won’t.
And what will those things be? It’s an interesting question.