If we continue to practice isolation and social distancing for too long, will we and our children become less resilient to COVID-19, and other viruses?

“The War of the Worlds” is a fictional story by H.G. Wells written over a century ago. It tells of Martian invasion, in which highly evolved aliens invade earth in their tripod machines. The Martians are technologically advanced but physically weak. Our military technology is no match for theirs, and they massacre us.

When all hope is lost, the Martians all die from infection by earth’s microorganisms. The Martians had not coevolved with earth’s germs, and thus they were not fit for planet earth, and it destroyed them.

Isolation and Weak Immunity

In the history of the world, the most isolated people have been the most devastated by infectious diseases when finally exposed to the infectious diseases of the larger world. Prolonged isolation prevents evolving immunity and weakens immunity. It is estimated that infectious diseases such as small pox, measles and influenza introduced by European colonization killed over 80% of the relatively isolated native population in The New World.