History has shown that when man’s very existence is threatened by a scourge the wise man finds the wherewithal to fight it and rebuild society. This rebuilding process is arduous, requiring radical thinking. The past experiences of similar crises show that ingenuity has always triumphed, every danger was overcome and old order was either restored or a new order created whenever such pandemic, as COVID-19 causing intruder came our way, sometimes even converting it into a powerful friend.
We know that science and technology have evolved in their own ways to address many banes caused by fallouts of natural disasters, pandemics and other scourges which we now do not attribute to acts of God. Science is certainly needed to keep our civilization alive. Science is wonderfully self-cleansing as theories are peer reviewed and bad theories make way to the waste bin. A good theory reinforces another to produce better theories and this cycle is continued, creating more knowledge and deeper understanding of nature.
For the benefit of mankind, scientists have domesticated micro-organisms to prepare wine, yoghurt and cheese. John Postgate, in his book Microbes and Man, argued for the importance of micro-organisms. They make the soil fertile, clean up the environment and protect us from less desirable microbes. “For most of this century most microbiologists have thought that the majority of bacteria in mud, soil, sediments and sludge, be they dead or moribund, were out of the picture for all practical purposes,” he wrote. “This could be far from the truth.
It is a sobering thought that they could be dozing, waiting for the call to leap into activity when a few lookouts sense appropriate change.” Thus we will have to remain contended by living with these tiny creatures and their whims eternally. He studied the genetics of nitrogen fixation showing that it was possible to transfer the DNA encoding the nitrogen-fixing ability to another bacterium, E coli, that had never had that ability. Thereafter vast numbers of viable genetic combinations have been tried out through countless generations of micro-organisms for enhancing life.
In the 17th and early part of 18th century, small pox was a repulsive and lethal disease. This disease had been continuously known in ancient China, India and Africa and may have reached Greece and Rome in classical times. In the early 1100s it became endemic in Europe by spreading through the religious crusades. It spread easily in the crowded conditions of European towns.
It is estimated that by 18th century it accounted for every one in ten deaths in England, and about 6 crore deaths in Europe. Edward Jenner was then enjoying the pleasures of village doctoring in Gloucestershire in England, where he regularly came across smallpox patients. Here, milkmaids usually caught a bovine version of the smallpox, called cowpox. This middle-aged doctor did a famous experiment on 14th May 1796, when he took some matter from the sores of a milkmaid named Sarah, who had contracted cowpox. He then infected a young boy called James, by making a cut in his arm. Once he recovered from a mild fever on 1st July, he was cut and infected again. The outcome was in line with the expectation of this experienced doctor. James did not catch the disease. This treatment became news in Britain and soon after, travelled across the world. As he became a rage and a sensation Princess Louisa of Prussia asked him for a vaccine (root word Latin for cow) matter.
In 1801 US President Thomas Jefferson himself inoculated thirty persons. Russian empress named the first child vaccinated there as “Vaccinof”. In 1804 Napoleon awarded a medal to honour Jenner and got his army inoculated. The vaccination system would make smallpox the first great scourge to be eradicated and in 1980 United Nations declared complete victory over it. Jenner is now often called the pioneer of immunization. From this historical example, it is easy to guess that man’s tenacity and scientific progress will not only win over this fairly new COVID-19 causing corona virus, but eventually will be able to completely eradicate it too.
As science take this virus to task, it is important that we want to learn to laugh in the face of distress. We want to be whole, to coordinate our energies by harmonizing our desires and building up our wisdom. Amidst the devastation when one only sees the seemingly daunting task of rebuilding life, feeling hopeful is more important than anything else. Hope instilled because of support, tireless, efficient and dedicated efforts create a feeling that the devastated society will emerge out of this calamity with stoicism and dignity. Life is an eternal renewal and even in the face of this crisis, man can and ultimately will move forward.
Will Durant in his book The Story of Philosophy writes that “Science tells us how to heal and how to kill; it reduces the death rate in retail and then kills us wholesale in war (or pandemic); but only wisdom - desire coordinated in the light of all experience – can tell us when to heal and when to kill.” “Science without philosophy, facts without perspective and valuation cannot save us from havoc and despair. Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom.”
The will power is a striving persistent vital force, a spontaneous activity, a will of imperious desire. The intellect may seem at times to lead the will, but only as a guide that leads his master; the will power as Arthur Schopenhauer stated “is the strong blind man who carries on his shoulders the lame man who can see.” Though it is not clearly understood at that moment but in posterity we know that when some societies erred to make the most of an opportunity, others could utilize it to lead an important change, and create historical landmark. In this context it is important to note that for centuries the giant ships that powered the Venetian republic were built in the Arsenale, in Italy. In the 16 th century with an organized workforce of about sixteen thousand, Arsenale could produce one fully equipped fighting or merchant ship a day, which in contrast took months elsewhere in Europe.
At the same time Italy was also witnessing a renaissance in learning. Surprisingly however it did not lead to a breakthrough in technology or an industrial revolution there, which finally erupted in Britain, in the 1700s. Why is it so? Analysis shows that rapid Industrialization was more about politics than about geographical chance. The British will power to create a conducive political system for exploiting the benefits of industrial processes helped it to snatch the industrialization early mover advantages from Italy. Industrial revolution sprung up in Britain due to capitalism and a market system, under which the world still lives today.
The fight against this virus and a two-month global lockdown has brought to us new challenges. It is now time that we as a nation reflect and choose the right path that takes us to a good life after the virus.
(The author is an engineering professional working in an oil and gas major in Kuwait. The views expressed in the article are his own. Email: jeetbora@gmail.com)
