Historians from the year 2120 look back on the coronavirus origin's legacy
As the world marks the centennial memorial of the COVID-19 pandemic, historians & scholars take the opportunity to reflect on one of the most hotly debated & contentious issues of the pandemic era.
On this date one hundred years ago, the 11-million pop. metropolis of Wuhan, PRC went into lockdown, thus heralding the cultural start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we historians take the opportunity to reflect on the events of a century past by providing our insights contextualizing the lab leak origin hypothesis, which was one of the most hotly debated and contentious issues of the pandemic era. In so doing we shed light on the reasons why it was so difficult for 2020s society to come to terms with this theory, how it ultimately helped shape our holistic understanding of the pandemic, and its lasting impacts that shape our world to the present day.
SIR - In the early 21st century, the world was struck by a devastating pandemic known as COVID-19. At the time, there was much debate over the origin of the virus, with but few experts timidly suggesting it may have originated from a laboratory. This theory, known as the lab leak origin hypothesis, was initially met with skepticism and dismissed by many as a conspiracy theory.
Furthermore, the lab leak origin hypothesis presented an Outside Context Problem that was difficult for the average person of the time to comprehend, and not simply for the sparse biotechnical awareness of the time.* The idea that a lab accident could cause a pandemic on a global scale was something that few people had ever considered. As a result, there was a natural tendency to dismiss the theory as implausible, even in the face of mounting evidence.
With the clarity of hindsight, it’s clear to see why the lab leak origin hypothesis was so difficult for the man-in-the-street to come to terms with. Because insidiously, there was another outside context problem layered on top of the first. The hypothesis challenged the widely held belief that scientists and virologists always act in the best interest of society. The fact that some of the most citable virologists who burnished their credentials to journalists over the early response to the pandemic also had significant financial & research ties to either the laboratories in question, or to the risky work they practiced, only compounded the confusion. Underinformed & injudiciously applied censorship ran rife, acting by turns explicitly and implicitly in social platforms and the hallowed confines of the editor’s newsroom.
However, as the pandemic raged on and the evidence continued to mount (often leaked or prised from government & academic coffers by dint of intrepid Freedom-of-Information-Act litigation ), it became increasingly clear that the lab leak origin hypothesis could not be ignored. In the years that followed, revelations by autonomous open source intelligence groups, intelligence organizations, and at long last disinterested scientific teams, laid bare every possible investigative avenue into whether the pandemic originated from a laboratory in the then People’s Republic of China.
Ultimately, it was the tireless work of sleuths, concerned citizens, scientists, and researchers who wouldn’t be deterred, both inside and outside of China, that helped to uncover the truth about the origin of COVID-19. Through painstaking investigation and rigorous analysis, they were able to piece together the events that led to the emergence of the virus and confirm the lab leak origin hypothesis beyond reasonable doubt.
Looking back from the vantage point of the future, it is clear that the lab leak origin hypothesis was a difficult and complex problem for humanity to solve. However, it was through a commitment to scientific inquiry, forensic analysis, and a willingness to challenge established beliefs that the truth was ultimately uncovered. Today, we remember the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and work to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.
Signed,
The Members, Biosafety Historical Society
on this the
23rd January, 2120
* Today of course, even our contemporary high school students have the know-how and capability to print up novel viruses in their freshmen biology classes. That most pupils can routinely recite the infamous furin sequence P-R-R-A from memory doesn’t help things. Were it not for the automated safeguards mandated since the 2030 Biosafety Treaty, many would do exactly that just to impress their classmates.
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The article was generated, with extensive editing, by ChatGPT to the below prompt. Its illustrations were created with DALL-E-2
The lab leak origin hypothesis, if found to be true, presents an Outside Context Problem to non=technical humanity. We are used to trusting scientists & virologists, and when some of the most citable virologists are also the most interest-conflicted, society struggles to receive an unbiased view into what really may have happened. Solve the Outside Context Problem for non-technical laypeople by writing a narrative from the perspective of future historians looking back that contextualizes a since-verified lab leak origin hypothesis and why it was so difficult for humanity to come to terms with etiology of a lab accident that caused the deaths of millions of people.