We're seeing that friction today, between so-called "forces" and "anti-forces." The push and pull of people and places adapting this way or that way. But it's nigh impossible to predict how much of that change, and its effect on daily life, will remain, and how much — or what — will change back.

"We will see a 'new normal' following this crisis," says Bothwell. "It won't be on the massive scale that some predict," she says, explaining that when we're past week three of quarantine and have adjusted to the change, our regular behavior will start to reemerge. "But people should prepare for differences."

A "doomster" on the future

British astronomer, Sir Martin Rees, is a self-professed "doomster" on pandemics.

"The grounds for pessimism are that such events may be recurrent, that 'bad actors' will engineer and release more virulent and transmissible variants," says Rees. "That can be done with Influenza and smallpox. Fortunately, this new virus is more complex, but it's probably only a matter of time before it can be hacked as well."

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