Evolution is a joker pt.2: Conquest of paradise...
Once upon a time the Earth was a big, green/blue, sunny paradise.
Actually, it was a “jungle” with very cruel laws of natural selection and dangerous place for its habitants.
Humans` ancestors spent hundreds of thousands of years almost helplessly living and surviving in those cruel conditions. But evolution took care that with development of living in society, language and work, our brains started developing in direction of taking control over environment instead of being just plain consumers. Evolutionary youngest part of the brain – cortex- became home for (self)consciousness and intelligence that is unique and qualitatively different from those of other species. Reason. Logic. Creations and inventions. Now environment is not just a threat but challenge, clay that needs to be reshaped and adjusted to humans. And that is how conquest of paradise begun. Evolution helped us to be more able for taking more and more form the nature. And that is how endless consumerism begun.
Century by century, decade by decade, humans were making new world: with reason, logic, science, knowledge, many creations, inventions and technological miracles that became part of our everyday life (there are rumors that the aliens helped but not proven;) ).
Beside of helping us with making our everyday life routine easier, those inventions made the world more safe, more comfortable, more human (well, except for thousands of those who die every day due to hunger, lack of health care, in wars... but that is another type of evolution in progress).
Humans alienated form the nature and evolution took a different course.
With our smart devices, we can do anything, we are invincible, right? Can you hear viruses and bacteria laughing?
While we were busy conquering the nature those smallest living beings (virus not even considered as alive while out of the host) had, and still have, their own evolution. We fought them ruthlessly with all our knowledge (medicines and vaccines) but somehow they are still one step ahead. Because their survival depended on very fast adaptation to environment and our did not.
So, we found ourselves shocked, lockdowned, confused, scared and traumatized for a long time due to changes in some DNA chain that is not even alive aka coronavirus.
Another part of the joke is that all those technology that makes our life easier (buses, trains, plains, air-conditioners, ATM machines...) make spreading the virus around the globe (all over the plate- for flat.earthers) easier and more efficient.
I am convinced that relatively soon some answers to all the questions we have now about ongoing pandemics and coronaviruses will be found, including vaccine.
The point here is not that the viruses are stronger than us as species (even if half of the world population dies still be enough of humans ;P ) but that the evolution has two sides of the coin and that we should not be that arrogant and take for granted “right” to destroy nature and drastically change ecosystems because nature will fight back. Even if we are surviving as species, some of us may not survive next pandemics or acute poisonous cloud of smoke over city, or hurricane, or bush fire...
Live your life healthy and do whatever you can to help the nature heal ;)