Our immune systems need interactions with good bacteria to work, which partly lies on physically meeting people and touching them.&nbsp;Our current obsessions with avoiding physicial encounters with germs are not only slaying off "bad" bacteria, they're also massively killing the ones that are good for us.In the long run, we may even make some really important microbes go extinct.It's still a hypothesis, though. As long as doubt remains, we should all keep on washing our hands, putting on these pesky masks, and, yeah, also eating a healthy diet and doing exercise!

A controversial hypothesis : is social distancing killing us ?

<img width="1050" height="1575" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/04/23/opinion/23heid3/merlin_186776004_7e55a0db-f2ff-4a0b-adb2-05a262a87efb-master1050.jpg"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1gdRYpI1LU" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">The video</a> is intended to comfort and reassure, but it feels undeniably dystopian.A person clad in goggles, a mask and a reflective vest dusts a plane’s cabin with a fine mist of disinfectant. The chemical spray is charged with “breakthrough” electrostatic technology that helps it coat every surface and lay waste to any microscopic threats that may be lurking, specifically the coronavirus.United Airlines produced and uploaded this particular video last April, but the sanitization regimen is not unique. Mass transportation authorities and countless businesses have gone to similar lengths in an effort to abide by guidelines and to mollify a rightly fearful public. And for the most part, the efforts have been welcome. One of the top comments posted to the United video reads, “Even after this pandemic you guys should keep this up.”Advertisement

The health of our bodies and microbiomes may depend on society’s return to lifestyles that expose us to bacteria, despite the risks.

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<a dir="ltr" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1gdRYpI1LU" rel="noopener noreferrer" title="">The video </a>is intended to comfort and reassure, but it feels undeniably dystopian.

A person clad in goggles, a mask and a reflective vest dusts a plane’s cabin with a fine mist of disinfectant. The chemical spray is charged with “breakthrough” electrostatic technology that helps it coat every surface and lay waste to any microscopic threats that may be lurking, specifically the coronavirus.

United Airlines produced and uploaded this particular video last April, but the sanitization regimen is not unique. Mass transportation authorities and countless businesses have gone to similar lengths in an effort to abide by guidelines and to mollify a rightly fearful public. And for the most part, the efforts have been welcome. One of the top comments posted to the United video reads, “Even after this pandemic you guys should keep this up.”

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A controversial hypothesis : is social distancing killing us ?

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