Did COVID-19 start in a lab or naturally progress from animals to humans?

While there’s no shortage of speculation on #COVID-19 – especially how it got started – the answer(s) have yet to become clear. It’s doubtful we will ever learn all the specifics that seem simple enough to determine and necessary to prevent the next iteration. COVID-19 and the next pandemic are subject to the butterfly effect and likely will remain a cloudy opinion. 

The butterfly effect is casually referred in pop culture but usually incorrectly. Edward Lorenz developed the concept while working meticulous calculations for predictions in the weather.  He observed that the smallest deviations in a system can lead to dramatically different results.  Hence a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil causes tornadoes in Texas. This sensitivity to original conditions is why we can’t well predict the weather beyond 2 weeks.

His work led to the founding of chaotic study – which is not randomness. Chaotic systems are ordered but they vary – within limits. The solution to predicting the next pandemic is like hurricane watching. We can learn the pertinent path with variance but only know its exact movements as it unfolds.