Human Folly And Nature's Curse

The world is in the midst of its worst crisis since documented history. The sheer geographical ambit of the corona infection makes this pandemic probably the most difficult disease for humans to come to terms.

In the last couple of months, much has been said about COVID 19, however, it is important to understand why nature imposed this calamity on the human race? Is it something that has a random origin or its genesis has some hidden cues not yet fathomable to the human mind.

In the backdrop of all the scientific and technological advancements, humans as a race have developed a mindset that this earth belongs to the sapiens and that, we as humans, have the license to exploit the natural resources unabashedly.

Humans have also started thinking that, as a species, they are the most evolved of all the living creatures on earth. This fallacious belief is not only folly but perhaps a sin!

Life on earth started some 3.5 billion years back and has continued to the present times without any hiccups. Humans are a very recent evolutionary creature with a history of just around 2,00,000 years. When humans think that they are the most evolved creature this thought undermines the importance of all other living creatures that have evolved, in their own realms, probably more than humans.

The coronavirus gives us a glimpse of the evolution of this semi-living particle, after all, it is just a particle with a small RNA enclosed within a coat of protein and lipid. The particle has no independent existence but can only multiply inside a living cell. The transition of this animal virus to be able to infect humans is as great a technological milestone for the virus as was the landing of man on the moon!

Nature has devised checks and balances which ensures that all living creatures live in a symbiotic relationship. All animals and plants somehow contribute to the ecological homeostasis which is so essential to the survival of all living creatures including humans. The technological evolution of humans in the last 50 years has created an imbalance in the grand design of nature. We have encroached upon the ecosystem at a pace that is far greater than the rate at which nature can balance its equilibrium.

Through scientific and technological improvements in our everyday life, humans have created an environment which is conducive to a better lifestyle. The dependence on high purity drinking water, pasteurized and irradiated milk, an extra clean work environment with controlled temperature and humidity and a host of other luxuries has made life look comfortable but has indeed come with a price. Humans in first world countries have low immunity, have a greater incidence of degenerative diseases, and high dependence on electricity.

The events such as the corona outbreak highlight the perils of human society moving away from nature’s lap to man-made virtual cocoons which we have now started to classify as ‘first world lifestyle’. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics is yet another ‘time-bomb’ which has the potential to create a bigger epidemic. A mutated bacteria, resistant to all known antibiotics, maybe even more catastrophic. 

The corona pandemic will certainly recede with time, however, it will leave behind a message to the human race. Evolution has indeed made us humans but certainly not the masters of this earth. It is time we take some tips from other animals. No animal harms a human unless it is threatened, even carnivores do not kill their prey just for the sake of killing. Nature has bestowed us with a host of things that can be eaten. The human addiction to encroaching upon wildlife for its food is perhaps too harsh for even the ever benevolent nature’s design.