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It's Okay to Be Smart: How Evolution Made COVID-19 Our Perfect Enemy (And Why We’ll Beat It)

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      MALE HOST: There's a reason coronavirus doesn't infect polar bears.

      (Describer) One sits on ice.

      To this virus, a polar bear is a dead end. But humans aren't polar bears. We're not that big. We don't have fangs, claws, armor, or venom. It is our species who has dominated life on Earth,

      (Describer) ...like cavemen.

      because humanity is at its best when we band together. Our social nature is what made us, what made you. It's why we exist. It's why we're still here. These chains of connection are why we laugh and cry and teach and learn. They helped our ancestors find food, raise their children, make tools, build civilizations. But in this world full of sickness, the same chains that connect us also leave us vulnerable, because these infinitesimally small enemies only seek to take another step, and another, and another.

      (Describer) ...to spread.

      So to save ourselves, we untie these chains.

      (Describer) Crowds disappear from a sidewalk. A classroom is empty. A park has no people. A stadium is deserted.

      [DRAMATIC MUSIC]

      [CRICKETS]

      [CROW CALLS]

      And with each chain broken, with every bit of social distance, we can prevent infection exponentially, untold pain, fear, and death avoided. To our ancestors, loneliness meant almost certain death, and they passed this evolutionary lesson to us. Loneliness triggers alarms brain chemicals that push us to fight or flee. Hiding away can cause us actual pain.

      (Describer) People in masks work in a lab.

      But there's something we can do that the sickness can not do that makes our species so special. We can learn. We use our tools to study it. Where it hurts us, we heal each other. And what we learn, we teach. For our species has no greater advantage than the sharing of knowledge. And we have built other chains of connection where the sickness cannot set foot.

      (Describer) ...around the world.

      Our connection is not weakness. It's our strength. Because when the virus is lonely, it dies. We won't be sick forever, and one day, when we reconnect our chains, when the virus is gone, our humanity will ensure that we are still here.

      (Describer) People gather again.

      Stay curious.

      (Describer) Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.

      Transcript Options


      Now Playing As: English with English captions (change)

      COVID-19 is a nasty enemy. Invisible, mysterious, and deadly, it has spread around the world and caused much of humanity to hide away. One reason germs like these succeed and spread is because of the social nature of humans. While social distancing can be painful, the ability for humans to learn is another factor in defeating viruses. Part of the "It's Okay to Be Smart" series.

      Media Details

      Runtime: 2 minutes 13 seconds

      ASL
      Seven different butterflies, where four are placed at the corners facing the butterfly at the center and two at either side of the central butterfly.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 11
      11 minutes 12 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      Different math equations and graphs are drawn, with a butterfly as the backdrop.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 7
      9 minutes 17 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      An animal with the body of a lion, an extra goat head on its back, and a snake instead of a tail. Caption: Chimera.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 14
      9 minutes 43 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      A star filled night sky. Caption: P B S.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 16
      10 minutes 26 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      Sunlight is shining through in a forest with large number of trees.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 17
      5 minutes 27 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      Eggs of Screech owl, Turkey vulture, Audubon's Caracara, Kingfisher, Common Murree, Yellow Billed. Caption: Stoddard Et Al. Science 20 17.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 19
      7 minutes 23 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      A view of Moon in the dark sky. Caption: Maria, Latin for seas, and Sea of Tranquility, Mare Tranquillitatis.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 15
      10 minutes 31 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      Two different types of bacteria are seen all over a human outline. Caption: 37.2 trillion and 39 trillion.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 20
      11 minutes 24 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      Collage with black and white illustration of a twelfth century Chinese man holding out a scrap of paper.  A red lantern on a pole overhead. Red prohibited symbol covers image of 2 gold bars.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 21
      9 minutes 36 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
      ASL
      The sample particles enter the mass spectrometer, which is accelerated, and then separated according to their individual mass of the particles by a magnet.
      It's Okay to Be Smart
      Season 7 / Ep 22
      11 minutes 20 seconds
      Grade Level: 10 - 12
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