In case you have been living under a rock, the entire world is experiencing a pandemic. The Coronavirus has halted the global economy and united us with a common enemy. Given our current times, this big little virus inspired me to pick up this book, and I’m glad I did.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is a historical non-fiction look at human society. Diamond breaks down the influences that had an enormous impact on shaping our societies as we know them today, such as guns, germs, and steel; he attempts to explain the how and why.
When analyzing other historically deadly germs, Diamond shares a different perspective; his interpretation broadened my mind.
Consider this-
Evolutionarily speaking, all organisms on this planet have a common goal—to stay alive. To survive! This includes germs. Most have probably only thought about this pandemic from a human perspective. However, germs are also organisms with the will to survive and thrive!
All organisms naturally evolve to adapt better to their environments in ways that aide their survival. It is important to understand that the ultimate winner in survival lies in one’s ability to successfully reproduce. Those who leave behind more offspring naturally have a better chance of their genes living on. Diamond states, “Evolution selects for those individuals most effective at producing babies and at helping them spread to suitable places to live. For a microbe, spread may be defined mathematically as the number of new victims infected per each original patient.”
Now let’s think about this.. Just as in war, it pays to get inside the mind of the enemy. In attempt to win the battle against COVID-19, we can choose our actions best with a better understanding.
Speculate COVID-19’s Strengths
The coronavirus has a strong muscle in regard to contagion. It is so contagious that it can live inside a cough cloud for hours and successfully spread to another host—we know this. This cough symptom is merely a successful scheme for expanding it’s empire.
“Thus from our point of view, genital sores, diarrhea, and coughing are ‘syptoms of disease.’ From a germ’s point of view, they’re clever evolutionary strategies to broadcast the germ."
Another flex the coronavirus has is the deferment of it’s symptoms, up to 2 weeks. This gives the germ plenty of time to surreptitiously reproduce and spread to new hosts; an example of how highly evolved it is.
A third strength of the coronavirus is the fact that, for the general population, it’s symptoms are not palpably deadly. Hosts carrying the virus do not feel like they’re dying, so they go out in the world spreading it around. Germs that are more obviously deadly are quarantined much faster blocking it’s spread.
“when syphilis was first definitely recorded in Europe in 1495, it’s pustules softened covered the body from the head to the knees, caused flesh to fall off people’s faces, and led to death within a few months. By 1546, syphilis had evolved into the disease with the symptoms so well known to us today. Those syphilis spirochetes that evolved so as to keep their victims alive for longer were thereby able to transmit their spirochete offspring into more victims.”
In conclusion, evolutionarily speaking, the coronavirus is killing it right now. No pun intended.. These facts about the virus are not new. My point here is to open minds to think about it from another angle, from the germs perspective. In all seriousness, this virus is highly evolved, for a germ anyway..
Now Let’s Flex Back
Germs are savages. History, unfortunately, favors the better savage. Let’s show this coronavirus who are the more nimble ones! Let’s wear a face mask and socially distance <3
If you love history, I absolutely recommend this read.
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Written while snuggling new additions to the family. Meet Cecelia (left) and Charlie (right), 8 weeks old!
