Commentary
The first evidence of lost knowledge in 2020 concerned natural immunity. How in the world did it come to be that people did not generally know that for respiratory viruses, infection and recovery is the best vaccine? This was the counterintuitive wisdom taught for generations in public school in the postwar period. The point was underscored by early exposure to chickenpox. But by the 21st century, it seemed like the knowledge had oddly vanished. Even those with natural immunity were forced to get the shot or lose their jobs.
I wrote at the time that the issue reminded me of the case of scurvy, the cure and prevention of which kept being lost and found throughout history. The standard protocol (lemons) was so effective that people forgot the problem. When the problem reappeared, they forgot the solution….