Earth's Pandemic

1. FADE IN.

3. Act 1

5. INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY

7. Peter is studying an image of an upside down pyramidic diagram on his phone screen.

9. PETER (V.O.) : This purports to represent the hierarchy of controls during the pandemic. It's new. I haven't seen it before.

11. Thinking.

13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It leads me to recall Maslow's hierachy of needs.

15. Pausing.

17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What is the relationship between the hierachy of controls and the hierarchy of needs?

19. Pausing.

21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Are they the inverse of each other?

23. Pausing.

25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me do the analysis.

27. Act 2

29. FLASHBACK

31. INT. LECTURE THEATRE - DAY (1980)

33. Around 30 STUDENTS (25+) including Peter (25). A LECTURER (20s) is lecturing.

35. LECTURER : On human motivation, their basic needs are physiological and safety. They've psychological needs like belongingness, love and esteem. They've self-fulfillment needs too...

37. The lecturer then draws a triangle on the board to elaborate.

39. PETER (V.O.): He's talking about Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

41. LECTURER (Cont'd): Maslow explains this in a triangle...

43. PETER: It isn't a triangle, it's a pyramidic diagram - about the hierarchy of needs!

45. LECTUER (Embarrassed): Yes, it's a pyramid diagram about the hierarchy of needs.

47. The lecturer then talks about something else.

49. PETER (V.O.): He might have prepared, but he isn't analytical for sure.

51. END FLASHBACK

53. PETER (V.O.): I was then studying philosophy by myself and read extensively, including whether philosophy is a discipline of all disciplines including psychology.

55. Recalling.

57. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In studying ethics and aesthetics, Maslow's pyramidal hierarchy provides a structural framework for me to develop arguments.

59. Pausing.

61. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Without satisfying humans' basic needs, there's no practical way that humans would think and act morally.

63. Pausing.

65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And without satisfying humans' psychological needs, humans won't be creative to actualize themselves.

67. Pausing.

69. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's how I came to know about Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

71. Peter returns to look at the inverse pyramidal diagram on the phone screen.

73. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Well, the diagram isn't that well structured after all. Let me restructure it so as to raise the level of explanation.

75. Pausing.

77. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): About the hierachy of controls during the pandemic, at the basic level, people need to have their personal protective equipment eg face masks.

79. Pausing.

81. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At the middle level are the administrative and medical controls eg social distancing measures, checking of symptoms and home working to break the spreading chain of the coronavirus.

83. Pausing.

85. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At the top level is the pharmaceutical control, using quality, safe and effacacious vaccinnes against the coronavirus.

87. Pausing.

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But there isn't any evidence-based vacinne against COVID-19. About 3-5 % of the infected ones die.

91. Thinking.

93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Some of them are doctors and health workers. In caring others, many may think and say that they have actualized themselves and lived fulfilling lives.

95. Reflecting.

97. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But to stay safe is their basic needs too. They can actualize themselves and live fulfilling lives without dying.

99. Pondering.

101. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is Nature amoral?

103. Act 3

105. INT. MINI - STUDY - NIGHT

107. PETER (V.O.): Drawing inspiration from Maslow's hierachy of needs and the suggested hierachy of controls over the pandemic, I've developed my own version of hierarchy of controls between Humankind and Nature.

109. Thinking.

111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Both Earth and Humankind are parts of Nature, and they've the same basic needs.

113. Pausing.

115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While Humankind wants to excel on Earth, there's every indictations that Humankind has done that without much regard to other living or non-living things ever since the first industrialisation.

117. Pondering.

119. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Humankind is just Earth's pandemic. Now, another Earth pandemic is striking back again.

121. INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT

123. Watching TV news, Peter also checks on his phone notifications.

125. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, the world has turned upside down. Many Quorans ask me when will the pandemic be over...

127. Peter sighs.

129. FADE OUT.

131. THE END