Einstein said that there were two infinite entities, the universe and human stupidity, although he wasn’t sure that the universe actually was infinite. As a recent demonstration of how right Einstein was, it is enough to point out the endless catalogue of nonsense that the dramatic situation in which COVID-19 has placed humanity has generated and will continue to generate. Fortunately, most of these stupidities will not have major consequences, although not all of them have been or will be harmless.
In the first weeks of February, and in various circles, someone as influential, powerful, and able to advise himself properly as President Donald Trump of the United States repeated the following:
Many people believe that the coronavirus will disappear in April, with the warm weather. Yes, miraculously it will go away in April as the heat arrives. We are, however, well prepared.
Surely President Trump counted S&P Global Ratings among his advisers in this case. Yes, the prestigious US ratings company Standard & Poor’s, which gave the highest credit ratings to subprime mortgages and other financial scams just before the economic meltdown of 2008. S&P Global Ratings also reported in early February this year that the coronavirus crisis would likely have stabilised by April: “We expect the new coronavirus crisis to stabilise in April, and we expect virtually no transmission in May. We expect that, in a worst-case scenario, the spread of the virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, will stop in May, although in an optimistic projection we think that the end could come in March”.
Let us reassure ourselves that perhaps Einstein was wrong, and maybe the universe will also end up being infinite.
No especificaron en abril de qué año… aún están a tiempo de acertar!