Best Posts in Thread: It is now NOT your fathers Covid... Mask up !!

But, unlike most seniors, many young folk brought it upon themselves.

 

Just to correct something, if you don't mind - about 99% of all species that existed are now extinct. So the croc and cockroach are just two of a VERY FEW examples. If EVERYTHING was now extinct we would not be writing this!

Also, during the major part of the existence of planet Earth and the evolution of species, there was no air travel (except for air-dispersed species) - many species were isolated and a disease or other natural disaster probably did wipe them out or create an immunity (if the disaster was a pathogen), but only that localised group. That is why successful species disperse.

So the millions of species who may have been wiped out by a virus in the last millions of years are those we know nothing about.

 

Thanks for posting and clarifying. IMO, humans have done some good things - mostly for the benefit of humans. They have done some bad things - often against the planet itself or to other species (but also to other humans). I do not have a positive view of the outcome of man's possession of this planet but that does not mean that whilst we occupy it there will not be a natural progression of finding ways to mitigate the natural and man-made harms which exist.

Specifically related to Covid-19: The emergence of the virus is probably due to man's folly in one way or another BUT man still has to then examine ways to control it (the alternative being to sit idly by and do nothing) - various countries have done many different things (indicating few have any real ideas of the best way) and some have been unnecessary and destructive. IMO that is due to political incompetence - few countries have many scientists as leaders and when they listen to scientists they 'cherry pick' the bits they think are best (without the knowledge or skills to make such decisions). The UK for example did so many crazy things that even this mere human here (me) puzzled at - they simply did not make sense. But what can we do - societies have evolved to choose leaders and they choose them for all sorts of reasons (mostly self-interest and/or false promises and/or no alternatives). These leaders, if democratic, rule for a short period and leave their mistakes behind them (often going on afterwards to a lucrative career).

But, as for Covid-19, they HAD to do SOMETHING. We can only rage at some of the things they did but future analysis will tell us what WOULD have been best - they should learn from that for the next similar crisis. But will they???

 

Well my Friend, the Philippines have done that for years and look where it has Got them

 

well first thanks for such a civilized response to my post. its a good example of how grown men should behave. my post reflects on johnny b's post that bascially nature will have its way and i believe that is true. for me, its a legitimate question how humankind should use its power to temporarily alter the course of our development. to consider this you have to step back and contemplate the natural world however you understand it over millions of years and modern humankinds participation in it over the past thousands of years.

if you look at what humankind has done over the past two hundred years then you can point to many "successes" such as vaccinations and smallpox. how about agricultural progress, metallurgy, political control of "civilization". have you read "tragedy of the commons"? easy to find a pre'cis on the net. basically it predicts that multiple uncontrolled users of limited resources will use them to the extinction of the resource. "tragedy" uses as an example of herdsmen using common pasture resources. it does not take much imagination to look at the world as a whole, with all its resources that "nature" has provided, and how countries are destroying our world in its entirety.

i was born in 1942 and grew up in what i believe has been the greatist civilization ever produced by mankind as far as human comfort, individual freedoms and use of resources for their contemporary benefit that has ever existed. but to what end? in my opinion we are proving to be no more capable of protecting the future than the herdsmen of "tragedy" we are spending huge fortures in the quest to "conquer" space and send men to the mood while our cities are littered with our failures as a civilization.

is there really anyone who can sit down and take the time to contemplate the course human civilization is taking and predict a good outcome? can anyone really believe in that? the problem for us, like for the herdsmen, is that for our own time our efforts produce results that are pleasing to us. is our intellect so limited that we can only make decisions based on our own satisfaction and not of the future of our progeny?

the response to covid is the best and most absurd example i have ever personally witnessed in the misappropriation of human energy and effort. in my opinion we as a species are going off the rails while our hands are reaching for the stars.

sir "notmyrealnameplease", i understand if you do not agree with me. and i apologize for quoting johnnyb if my case and position is more than he wants to endorse. but i do believe men need forums to share their thinking and this is mine and is offered for your consideration.

 

Exactly. The reason it’s rising in US is those d*mn rioters and looter who are spreading this Chinese virus.

 

I can't even imagine what a 93 day stay in a US hospital (much of it in an ICU) would cost. I sure hope he has insurance. At $5000/day it's almost half a million.

 

Based on this forum alone, I don't think we would all come to the same conclusion. LOL

 

Wow! Here is a 32 year old who was in the hospital for 93 days as a result of COVID-19.

The problem with this disease is it uses up a lot of hospital resources because of the long time patients take to recover.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/m...ited-with-family/ar-BB16yZ3P?ocid=hplocalnews

 

I think there is a high degree of science illiteracy. I have read supposedly important articles in national newspapers written by 'scientists' of leptospirosis as a virus (it is a bacterium), of viruses being the same as snake venom and of viruses being a type of bacteria. A carrot and an elephant are more similar than are a virus and a bacterium.