A short talk on diversity in the immune system that I gave at the Athenaeum Club.
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As was noted by the Club members, there is a striking parallel with the value of diversity in ideas: education and exposure to multiple different approaches to intellectualism inoculate us from destructive ideologies such as fascism. To what degree is this pure coincidence? Could it be because the same asymmetry that exists in evolutionary speeds between humans and pathogens is also found in the evolutionary speeds of humans and ideas? Could the protective effect of diversity in shielding against pathogens and ideology both be the mathematical consequences of the laws of evolution?