I wrote: "Yes - they* were spoilt for choice, NS - no wimpy antibiotics or bed blocking." [*People in Tudor times.]
I was indeed making a point, MM - but through irony.
I put it to you that pandemics are an imprecise way of "capping" population. The riskier your own existence, the more likely you will have more offspring - it's playing the odds and preparing for your old age. "Culling by disease" simply means that humans will be selected for their ability to show or develop immunity. If the infecting agent loses virulence, that too will make it less effective. The crutch of antibiotics and antivirals may help survival short term, but longer term carries its own risks.
Re bed blocking - I am sure that most of us would want our older or infirm family members to have a decent, agreeable old age, but more importantly, when the time eventually comes for them to go that needs, if possible, to be decent and compassionate too. I'd wish that for everyone, and for myself.
Key questions are:
How many children is it reasonable to have?
[I have none. My parents had 2, grandparents 4, great grandparents 8 - there's your pattern.]
What is your view on "end of life" options for the infirm, elderly, or yourself in particular?
I've already written my own "Advance Decision". Have you? No time like the present.
Roger
Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons