Why do common viruses always make us feel worse?
Why isn't there a virus like the common cold virus but instead of making us feel bad, it makes us feel good?
Lets compare two viruses:
1) The real common cold virus
2) A hypothetical virus that is just like a common cold virus, except that it makes us feel better than normal instead of worse than normal
Wouldn't the second virus have an evolutionary advantage over the first virus? The second virus doesn't damage it's own host. Damaging the host would weaken it's hosts fitness (and thus it's own fitness). Nor does it prompt the host to try to get rid of it. The common cold virus only hurts it's own fitness by damaging the host and prompting the host to get rid of it.
How about this hypothetical virus makes us feel so good that we go out more and socialise more and spread the virus around more. That'd be even more of an evolutionary advantage compared to illness-inducing viruses.
So why haven't viruses evolved that are good for our health?
Why isn't there a virus like the common cold virus but instead of making us feel bad, it makes us feel good?
Lets compare two viruses:
1) The real common cold virus
2) A hypothetical virus that is just like a common cold virus, except that it makes us feel better than normal instead of worse than normal
Wouldn't the second virus have an evolutionary advantage over the first virus? The second virus doesn't damage it's own host. Damaging the host would weaken it's hosts fitness (and thus it's own fitness). Nor does it prompt the host to try to get rid of it. The common cold virus only hurts it's own fitness by damaging the host and prompting the host to get rid of it.
How about this hypothetical virus makes us feel so good that we go out more and socialise more and spread the virus around more. That'd be even more of an evolutionary advantage compared to illness-inducing viruses.
So why haven't viruses evolved that are good for our health?
