Some scientists claim that influenza is the smartest virus in history, because it is so good at fighting off everything that physicians throw at it.  Others make the same claim about the HIV virus, because it so cleverly hides from the body’s defense mechanisms, and about the Ebola virus, because it has so many ways to attach itself to cells.

These claims are obsolete.  The smartest virus in history is Covid-19.

Think of it:  A virus so sophisticated that it can tell the difference between a crowd having a street festival and a mob occupying the downtown sector of a major city.  One with such good taste that it can tell the difference between fishermen in motorboats and outdoorsmen in kayaks.  One so discerning that it can tell the difference between an assembly for worship and a gathering to tear down public monuments.

Quietly, unerringly, with constant consideration for the scruples of our statesmen, in each of the former cases it virulently spreads itself, but in each of the latter in courteously holds back.

Although this fact is not widely known among the public, the most sagacious public officials are fully aware of it, and take it into account in drafting their social distancing policies.

Think of it.  Already the virus seems smarter than we are.  In this humble and unassuming packet of nucleic acid, we may be catching a glimpse of the next stage of life on earth.