If reproduction of itself is why pathogens infect hosts, wouldn’t it be best for them to infect and keep the host alive rather than causing death? Do they just reproduce too much and kill the host without understanding that it would result in the host dying and themselves with it?
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>Do they just reproduce too much and kill the host without understanding
that it would result in the host dying and themselves with it?
They don’t understand anything, they’re not sentient.
They’re not trying to kill you, they’re just spreading. Turns out for a lot of microorganisms, the symptoms of them spreading will kill you.
And of course, in terms of evolution, it doesn’t matter if the pathogen kills you *after* you’ve already spread it.
But yes, there’s a reason the most deadly viruses don’t tend to spread as much as the less deadly ones. If a virus makes someone vomit blood and then die within a few days, people are going to stay away from them and it won’t spread very far.
If most people aren’t heavily affected by a virus, they’ll keep spreading it around. Even better if it’s mild enough that they carry on their day to day lives.
But they’re not intelligent. They can’t choose to do this.
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