‘The Creation was the first act of sabotage.’ –Cioran
Viruses are particularly dangerous because they don’t seem to serve any useful purpose for us (unless you count “selecting the fittest humans” as a useful purpose). It is estimated that there are 10 to the 31st power viruses on this planet, compared with 10 to the 10th human beings. We are outnumbered big time. If you have trouble killing all the dozen flies that fly into your living room when you leave the patio door open, imagine trying to kill your quota of 10 to the 21st viruses. It is foolish to think that we can kill all viruses. There are only two winning strategies: 1. quarantine humans from the natural world (e.g. confining cities inside artificial domes), 2. engineer such a strong immune system that the human body will resist any virus attack of any kind.
Ironically, human society has been moving in the opposite direction. On one hand humans travel a lot more than ever, therefore getting in touch with many more viruses than ever. On the other hand, by keeping alive millions of children who would have died of all sorts of diseases and by “protecting” people with all sorts of vaccinations, we are creating a immune system that is now vulnerable to anything, from the dirt in your backyard to the water of mountain creeks.
In other words, we have both of the worst worlds: the human body is getting weaker, and it is getting easier to spread diseases.
Bacteria are far less dangerous than viruses. In fact, most bacteria are useful to us (the “commensal bacteria”). Our body contains many more bacteria cells than human cells, and we need them: they carry out vital functions for us helping us digest and even… fight viruses. Unfortunately, we tend to kill them by the millions when we use (and abuse of) antibiotics.
