[nologic01]

The pre-pandemic work arrangements were in what is called a meta-stable state.

"If the ball is only slightly pushed, it will settle back into its hollow, but a stronger push may start the ball rolling down the slope" [1]

They only looked normal because there just aren't many mechanisms for society to explore (at scale) nearby states that might be more adapted but require a lot of energy to reach.

We have now tunneled by force into a more stable state. Everybody knows that massive amounts of knowledge work can be done remotely. There are tradeoffs of-course, a new equilibrium must be reached, but it has nothing to do with the old one.

That is a good thing. Somehow we should be able to get to better states without going through existential risks.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metastability

[nness]

Metastability is a nice abstraction for exactly this topic.