copyright Ian MacDonald 2020. Permission required for any use.
Eventually science will bring Cov Sars 2 to heel.
Prior to germ theory, immunology, molecular and cellular biology, atomic physics and many other scientific disciplines of the 20th century, combined with power of logic and thought and experiment, humanity has cowed many of the viruses, parasites, and bacteria that have plagued humans since the beginning of time. Where we havent eliminated or reduced their power against us, we can at least understand how they work, where they live, how to avoid them and treat the symptons of their disease.....The greatest gift to humanity has been the power of scientific thought. No power on earth has delivered so much to the human condition than our abilities to identify, understand and deal with the pathogens all around us. Yet as Carl Sagan warned and most other scientists echo, Science and scientists are relegated to the world of nerdom, geekdom, the mad scientist, liberal academic, egg head, socially awkward wierdo, Mr. Spock or Cmdr Data, etc...at our own peril. Healing crystals, prayer, quackery, unshakable belief, "gut feeling"...while some of these are surely important for a person's meaningfulness, these have not returned any real improvement in the human condition over thousands, and presumanly hundreds of thousands of years of hominid history. Arguably science has delivered its share of problems such as nuclear weapons, but in balance humanity has benefitted exponentially because of it. The same nuclear physics that led to the bomb also produced the electron micrscope that confirmed the existence of viruses around 1926.
As a society there is a trend of distrusting science and scientists. This is stoked daily by ignorants without an iota of scientific training or even the smallest speck of understanding...despite most them benefitting highly from science's bounty. Those with money usually benefit the most from science, while also espousing a medieval society. In the current outbreak of Covid19 it is notable that our wealthiest, and often our most conservative politicians are at the front of the queue getting tested, recieving the best medical care, paid for generously at taxpayer expense. The rest of us are told to wash hands, wear scarves and die off for the good of the economy. This un-Christianly sentiment I would think would make the Christ, I read about in the Bible weep. The Christ I was taught about, was by the thoughtful, beautiful, smart and sadly departed soul, Rev Paul Pearson. A materials engineer, trained in mathematical physics, who loved Theology and was drawn to be like Christ, and became a much lower paid minister, to spread the word and minister to all in need, no matter what their status in life. The "devout" and religous christians of my childhood church relieved him of his ministry there, because he was wasting the church's money ministering to anyone who wanted it rather than just our church's members at the local hospital. I myself do not feel there is a god or afterlife, I do hope so and I'm sure Mr. Pearson is there. However history on earth, for many things, but especially with respect to infectious disease and suffering, leads me to think god isn't there or is extremely cruel and sadistic to let people suffer with infectious disease. Alas Mr. Pearson knew science and its power, and knew that his role was to comfort the sick, perhaps with HIV, and remind them that it wasnt some punishment, but was a virus. And he believed Science would deliver, just like the Space Shuttle he worked on, delivered the Hubble Telescope to let us see the cosmos. In the late 2020 HIV is no longer a death sentence because of HIV1 protease inhibitors. But it didn't come easily, only under pressure from many gay activists who were told initially it was their wages of sin.
Anyway the amount of suffering pathogens have heaped on humanity is incalculable. As I pick my brain for examples I come up with a, certainly incomplete, list that is a disgusting murderer's row...TB, typhoid, yellow fever, malaria, leprosy, black plague, bubonic plague, cholera, ebola, small pox, measles, mumps, meningitis, hepatitis, helicobacter, scabies, fleas, lice, yeast infections, fungal infections, flu, rubella, diptheria, polio, staph, tetanus, roundworms, flat worms, hookworms, tapeworms, guineaworms, ecoli, salmonella, botulism, sleeping sickness, listeria, rotovirus, norovirus, pseudomonas, zika, dengue fever, conjunctivitis, syphilis, gonorrhea, hpv, HIV, leishmania, rabies, pneumonia, rotavirus, hantavirus, anthrax, SARS, MERS, pertussis, brucellosis, cryptosporidium, encephalitis, haemophilis influenza, herpes, histoplasmosis, lyme disease, pneumonic plague, srep rocky mountain spotted fever, shigella, trichomoniasis, trichinosis....and more but I cant think of them. And all the praying, and wishing them away, and quackery, has done nothing. Only the power of science has turned the tide, sometimes by highlighting simple truths like sanitizing our drinking water. Anyway Science will succeed again with Covid19, not at this point before it has claimed too many lives. Im afraid this horse has left the barn, due to the unconscionable incompetence of our federal govrrnment. As the death toll grinds on and scientists struggle to put a boot on this virus' neck hopefully we will fund our CDC and agencies and scientists...its unrealistic...but like we do basketball players or movie stars. After all what have they really done for humanity? And scientists will go back to underfunded labs, and bashing from ignorants who'd turn time back to the days when religous order killed witches and commited self flagellation to appease god, but never even slowed a plague.