COVID-19 will make us stronger

 

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is the author of The Black Swan, a thoughtful man. I’ve read his books and made many notes.

I think his articles are valuable to us. I’d like to use Taleb’s theory to read some interesting phenomena.

Hormesis

Most people think that eating vegetables is good for human health because they can supply us with vitamins and cellulose, which is the key to nutrition.

The main reason why vegetables are beneficial to human health is that they are poisonous. During the evolution of vegetables, to prevent them from being eaten by humans, certain toxins have evolved. After eating vegetables, humans will have stomachaches or be in a trance, which will lead us to run away when we see it next time.

Unexpectedly, all living things are evolving. Instead of scaring people, the toxins in vegetables stimulate the potential of human bodies that eat poisonous vegetables. We may have been poisoned once, but after adapting to this toxin, we become more resistant.

From the biological point of view, low-dose toxins are beneficial to health.

Almost all living organisms have the mechanism of overcompensation. When exercising, the muscles are pulled, and after a few days’ cultivations, the newly grown muscles will become thicker. This process is often repeated in sports fields or gyms, and the exercisers grow a whole body of muscles.

Recently, it has been found that when people suddenly don’t eat one day, hunger will activate the emergency mechanism of sleeping for many years. After 24 hours of fasting, the autophagy reaction of cells will increase by 200%. This reaction can make cells clear metabolic waste, thus playing a role in repairing cells and delaying aging.

This is the mechanism of Intermittent Fasting which is popular all over the world.

The essence of a vaccine is an immune preparation for preventing infectious diseases made by pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, rickettsia, virus) and their metabolites through artificial attenuation, inactivation, or other methods. When the vaccine enters the human body, the body thinks that it has been invaded, quickly organizes resistance, and registers the invading microorganisms, so that it can fight back quickly the next time it is invaded. This is why some people will have cold symptoms after vaccination.

Enterprises and countries have a similar evolutionary mechanism. Enterprises grow up in crisis after crisis, and countries rise in tribulations. Just like human babies, they stand up from falling again and again. These things have the characteristics of living beings. The deeper the oppression, the faster they grow and the stronger they evolve.

In the words of Nassim Taleb, it is anti-fragile.

Why are the old people who don’t survive when COVID-19 comes?

Because the most obvious feature of aging is the loss of anti-fragile. Faced with the repeated attacks of COVID-19, the immune system of the elderly is most likely to collapse, resulting in various organs striking one after another and eventually losing their lives.

The immune system of healthy young people is similar to the national defense system of a modern country. Facing the invasion of COVID-19, the system quickly issued a mobilization order, and all resources were transferred to the immune system to resist the attack of the virus again and again. After a few days, the virus was suppressed and people were cured.

The root cause of innovation

The value of innovation is seriously overestimated. There is a saying, that Necessity is the mother of invention, and all inventions are designed to solve specific problems.

Innovation is often produced by people to solve a specific problem or a series of related problems.

Why did Europe catch up with and take the lead in the East in modern times?

Because the Age of Exploration made them have all kinds of demands.

They learned shipbuilding technology from the Arabs and upgraded it, and the Arabs’ technology was learned from China.

To handle frequent maritime trades, they needed astronomical technology, otherwise, they don’t know the specific location of maritime navigation.

To deal with pirates, they developed artillery technology.

Because of the long-term conflict of interests and the shortage of population in Europe, they invented the firearm to “pit one against ten”,

At that time, China didn’t need any new technology, and China began its century-long reform and rise after Britain bullied it in 1840.

Therefore, Nassim Taleb believes that your lack of innovation is because you don’t have much trouble.

Why are entrepreneurs powerful? Because they make a living by mobilizing resources to solve complex problems, they have more and more skills in allocating resources and solving problems over time. Solving a specific problem with a new method is an innovation.

It was because of the plague in London in 1665, that Britain first introduced the garbage disposal mechanism and began to use tap water to separate sewage from drinking water.

To counter the uncertainty of marine trade, insurance and futures are introduced to hedge risks.

Just to prevent the outbreak of the revolution, Germany first introduced the social welfare system, buying insurance for the people and giving them pensions, which is why Bismarck was a Marxist.

COVID-19 will make us stronger

The right amount of toxins will make life healthier, while the right amount of trouble will make people, enterprises, and countries stronger and more creative.

After a round of depression or war, mankind will rebound in economy and population. This is not only because the hard times make us work harder, but more importantly, we have learned lessons, summed up experiences, and improved our ability to cope with risks.

There has never been a city or country that declined due to natural disasters in human history. In times of hardship, someone always went against the trend. I believe COVID-19 will make us stronger.