Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

It took 3,000 years from the appearance of smallpox in the world to the development of a vaccine. It took 13 years for AIDS, 5 years for Ebola, and just 4 months for COVID-19. Seven days after the COVID-19 outbreak was reported to the WHO, all of the viral DNA sequences were identified. The rapid development of an mRNA vaccine in such a short timeframe has never been achieved in human history. This demonstrates how remarkable progress in biology and biotechnology has become. Similarly, the pace of wealth creation and economic growth has also sped up. It is a recent phenomenon in the long history of human life that we now measure time in seconds. We need to understand what kind of world we are living in right now. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Since 2008, the US CDC has published annual flu reports aimed at preventing the spread of influenza nationwide. Researchers took two weeks to compile data on each flu outbreak by calculating the number of cases and generating a report. Meanwhile, the flu had already spread across the country. Google addressed this issue by analyzing search query statistics. However, an error emerged in 2013 when the flu vaccine became scarce, prompting the media to publish numerous flu-related articles that further distorted the situation by conflating the search terms for flu patients. In other words, accurate data analysis depends on the ability to interpret quality, untainted data and its context. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Vaccines have allowed people to travel worldwide. Migration and population density are benefits of vaccines. When vaccines failed to curb the epidemic, the “space” ultimately addressed the epidemic. This history is why maintaining “social distance” is essential. Hunting requires one million square meters to secure a person’s livelihood, but urbanization restricts many individuals from accessing such vast spaces. On the other hand, if agriculture can address livelihood needs with just 500 square meters, and its efficiency can increase by 2,000 times, then the perspective on the epidemic reveals insights about civilization. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Architecture has developed in response to the epidemic. The city was designed to mitigate the risk of outbreaks. However, its high population density renders it susceptible to epidemics. A potential solution to this issue involves the construction of a water supply and sewage system, which safeguards individuals from waterborne infectious diseases (e.g., cholera) by effectively separating and burying water and sewage underground. Nonetheless, the advent of vaccines has facilitated the existence of megacities with populations exceeding 10 million people. Indeed, microorganisms predominantly populate the Earth. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”