We Must Adjust When Change Occurs

#273: Changes Afoot
..................
Change Past
According to a scientific study of fossilized mollusks we now know that 70 million years ago there were only 23 and a half hours in a day; and thanks to the moon's gravitational pull, we now have 24.  And, all those many years ago, there were 273 days in a year, instead of only 365 and a quarter.

Change Present
The coronavirus, like HIV-AIDS, is likely to have a profound impact on social interaction.  It's as if we are being forced to think twice about how we socialize.  For example, if the virus were to mutate ** and become even stronger than it presently is, we might see the partial abandonment of urban areas as people seek out isolation, while maintaining a virtual, online, link to society at large.

Change Future
And as I noted, rather breathlessly, recently, there is the real possibility that plant-based meat, that tastes like the real thing and costs considerably less, will doom modern corn-and-beans agriculture, and profoundly reduce land values.   Update: 2/4/24.  It seems that the recent lull in plant-based meat mania may have been overtaken by R&D.

All we know, of course, is that change will occur, and we'll have little choice in the matter.

...........................

** In the past, a virus could be expected to mutate into something less deadly, simply because a dead victim can't spread a more deadly version the way a mildly sick victim can.  But, a virus that can be spread before its effects are noticed avoids that fail-safe.