The Origin of Plagues

The New World lacked plagues due to the absence of large, dense, unsanitized, and interconnected cities.
Cities alone don't cause plagues; germs are required.
Germs typically don't aim to kill their hosts; plague lethality is accidental.
Plagues originate from animals; diseases like whooping cough, flu, measles, tuberculosis, and smallpox jumped to humans from animals.
Germs jumping species is rare, but colonial-era cities increased the odds due to close proximity to animals.

Domestication means breeding animals, not just hunting them.
The New World lacked suitable animals for domestication; animals were either too dangerous or agile (e.g., buffalo).
The Old World had readily domesticable animals like cows, pigs, sheep, and goats.
Llamas were the primary New World domestication contestant but were not as useful as Old World animals.
Limited domestication in the New World restricted food production, population growth, and city development, hindering plague development.

Access to domesticated animals is crucial for bootstrapping complex societies and unintentionally brings biological weaponry.

DEI: Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.
Equity aims to ensure fair representation and opportunities, addressing historical inequalities.
Example of inequality in the video: During World War II, black military personnel were not trained in combat roles.

The new American administration has been using AI to identify and remove DEI material from government websites.
Examples of removed content include pages about Doris Miller and Harriet Tubman.
There are concerns that DEI is being used as an excuse to erase the accomplishments and contributions of diverse individuals and groups.
A secretary of defense ordered for the shift to the during prime month.