To me, the statement “Let nature take its course” is kinda synonymous with “It’s in God’s hands”. Saying that seems to put some people at ease for not doing something personally to solve the problems of the world. Another is that they don’t trust anything that they don’t understand. Science is all about understanding the mysteries of nature. We simply can’t wait for the universe to take care of everything. If we did that, we would likely still be living in caves.

I am a techie nerd who loves scientific advances. I might not understand all of them, but that doesn’t keep me from taking advantage of the things they offer. I marvel every day at the continuous advances in medical technology. They allow us to live longer and more fruitful lives than our grandparents ever imagined.

But then there are people, especially today, that yearn for the “good old days”. They are primarily the ones who spout the quotes above. I realize that fear of change is probably the primary motive for their stubbornness. Now that more and more people are getting a place at the table of life, they are afraid that their control over most things will diminish. Fear is a very primary instinct in human evolution.

The COVID pandemic is the latest one, but there have been many others before that. The “Black Plague” occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of up to 200 million people! Those devastating losses are very likely what we would have also faced for this pandemic if not for scientific discovery.

Letting nature take its course is a very BAD idea, but so is fear of change. Let’s not let fear or scientific knowledge take us back to the dark ages. Let’s all realize that inquisitive wisdom is perhaps the greatest asset of mankind.