I just listened to this illuminating podcast by two very learned people with a string of letters after their names, and even a couple of letters BEFORE their names. They discuss, at length, the dreaded virus and its effect on the human race and other species and biomes.
Warning: It is and hour and a half long, so l have condensed the jist of it down to five minutes, then l have thrown in my two bob’s worth for good measure.
Here is the podcast in full:
…and here is my response.
I have had an auto-immune disease for half my life now, so l have been following this subject quite closely, but there were still some new insights that l had not been aware of.
Here is my understanding of Zach and Charlie’s discussion:
They both seemed to agree enthusiastically that the virus was no bad thing for the world in general, and especially beneficial for the human race, who could certainly do with a booster shot. (if you’ll pardon the expression. That’s for the anti-vaxers)
It seems that viruses are everywhere, trillions of them, and they have played an important part in helping us adapt to an ever changing world. As the environment becomes more toxic, a virus can eliminate those who are not coping with the new environment, leaving behind a new, fresh, invigorated species of humans, full of zest and vigour, that are far more able to cope with the new world order. This is called evolution. It has been doing its job since time immemorial. It is as brutal as it is efficient.
But l think it is a grave mistake to over-romanticize nature and for that matter evolution. It works very well for the planet as a whole, but on an individual basis, it can be cruel and arbitrary. At this point l feel l should divulge my bias. l am an individual, not a species. What is good for the species is not necessarily good for me. The species has no will, but l do. The virus may create a better strain of human, but if l am not around to enjoy it, l am not interested, and nor is anyone else, for that matter. I know it sounds selfish, but that’s just the way we feel, all of us, so there!
Fortunately for people like me, those of us who have been dealt a shitty hand by evolution. Fortunately for us, our lives are no longer ruled by fate alone. There are people around, let’s call them Anti-evolutionaries, who are hell-bent on stopping evolution in it’s tracks. These visionaries see their calling in life as saving the less fortunate from the fate that evolution has dealt them. And how do they perform this miracle? With drugs, of course. Lots and lots of drugs! There is a vast industry out there dedicated to creating human beings that can live on a diet of pure toxins. They have created a new form of human being that thrives on shit: Fat, sugar, salt: you name it, we eat it! Maybe it’s not very natural, it does make us a certain percentage pharmaceutical, but we are alive, we are human, we live, we breathe, we fornicate, we procreate. We certainly don’t want some virus to come along and make us a better fucking species, thank you very much. That’s called Eugenics, and it’s creepy!
We are actually quite content being less than perfect, all our faults repeated generation after generation. If we falter, there is always a new drug to give us a pick-me-up.
You perfect specimens of humanity (physically speaking) laugh at us and our dependency, laugh at our vulnerability to any virus that comes our way, but fortunately the world is not full of such magnificent specimens as your selves, heaven forbid! Thankfully, it is populated by humble souls, who cannot help feeling just a little bit of empathy with those dealt a shitty hand by evolution, and the longer we thwart evolution the more of us there are. One day we may be in the majority. So look out! We might just decide to exterminate you perfect specimens because you are freaks.
Ben Laycock 2020
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