Maybe the lab isn't leaking?

Contrarian conspiritualists never pass up a good conspiracy theory

Last year, the majority of Americans said they believed that Covid-19 was leaked from a laboratory. According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 64% of respondents said that was likely the case over the idea that it was a natural occurrence. An Economist/YouGov poll showed even stronger support: 66-16.

It’s easier to understand why: the notion of a nefarious agent escaping from a secretive laboratory arouses our inner suspicions. Add to this the fact that the Chinese government is not exactly the most honest of authoritarian regimes and you have a perfect storm for a conspiracy theory that might not be an actual conspiracy.

It’s not like it hasn’t been studied. And to be clear up front, I’ve always maintained that if evidence were to emerge pointing in that direction, my opinion would change. The issue here is that it hasn’t, as a new commentary, written by 41 biologists, immunologists, and virologists and published in the Journal of Virology makes clear.

Before looking into that commentary, I want to note the “spiritual” reason why, at least in the conspirituality space, the notion that a zoonotic leap of SARS-CoV-2 is often rejected: a virus jumping from a “lesser” animal doesn’t make theological sense.

Humans have long fashioned themselves as the apex predator, though in reality we’ve only enjoyed that status for a relatively brief stretch of time. Still, we’re good at forgetting—forgetting that for most of history we sat in the middle of the food chain. All sorts of reasons for our ascent have been offered: bipedalism, complex communication networks, opposable thumbs, advanced cognition, the discovery of an ability to harness fire. The likely answer is: all of these, and more.

Yet due to our penchant for spiritual musings—along with technological advancements that have catapulted us up the food chain, with all its comforts and discontents—many believe we’ve transcended silly little earth viruses.

That’s not the only rejection of a jump. In the conspirituality contrarian space, viruses are nothing but a chance for another tyrannical government lockdown. Here’s Bret Weinstein on the recent mpox outbreak, boosting known anti-vaxxer Robert Malone.

Meanwhile, Plandemic propaganda filmmaker Mikki Willis couldn’t resist jumping in; I’m going to guess an anti-mpox vaccine film is already in the works.

These men lean more toward the "everything is a psyop” camp than being outright religious, though both often frame their struggles in theological terms. Willis’s latest newsletter posits “waking up” to mpox as an important step on a Campbellian Hero’s Journey.

Forget Occam, these dudes have FUD to spread.

Regardless, the notion that some pesky bat or pangolin could possibly cause a global pandemic in our species is impossible in both the spiritual framework and the psyop camp. It must have been planned. Never mind the extensive list of viruses that have jumped from other species, including:

• Ebola

• Nipah

• H1N1 Influenza

• H5N1 Avian Influenza

• Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever

• Australian Bat Lyssavirus

• Hendra

We’re still animals. Just as we greatly impact every other species, they impact us as well, and will continue to do so at increasing frequency as climate change accelerates.

Now, onto the recent commentary.