[scottie_m]

For most of history, and increasingly today the simple aggressive behavior of bacteria, viruses and fungi was uncontested. For all of our intelligence, they still win a lot, and our best efforts are becoming less effective as they adapt. They don’t even have nervous systems, but numbers and a fast reproductive cycle are a bitch. See also: a colony of army ants killing everything in front of them.

[xiphias2]

I don't see it happening. In the past they were able to kill more than 50% of humanity. I don't believe something similar will adapt by itself again. We have internet, full body suits, a lot of technology to defend against them.

[scottie_m]

Sure, and yet mosquitoes alone infect over 700m people a year with various diseases, and rack up more than a million deaths each year. I find the Internet is surprisingly ineffective against malaria or dengue too. It’s also true that few people can or would wear a full body suit all day, every day. For god’s sake, we can’t even get everyone to wear a condom, never mind biohazard suits.

Still I respect your optimism, however unfounded it seems to me. I think the next really nasty flu will probably disabuse you of it, but I hope I’m wrong.

[erik_landerholm]

He said 50% of humanity, while a million people is a large number to us it’s nowhere near 50% of humanity.