> Smallpox has been around for millenia and has caused epidemics with significant mortality
No argument there. But "significant mortality" is not a percentage. Accurate records were not made or kept in a way that would provide a percentage. In the case of the American population, there are no records. Just WAGs (Wild-Ass Guesses).
> The idea that something about the genetic diversity or lifestyles of the indigenous populations of the Americas is frankly ridiculous.
Really? It's true for every other population. Do you not know that city dwellers are far more susceptible to epidemics than rural or nomadic tribes? Did you know that Covid infection rates vary from state to state, country to country, in ways that defy easy explanation?
> Especially given the numerous and consistent first hand reports that Smallpox and other diseases ravaged the native population.
What first hand reports in North America? In South America, do you really believe the Spanish Conquistadors kept accurate epidemiological records?
> Do you?
Yes. To compute a percentage you need a numerator and a denominator. The denominator in this case would be the population of two continents, which nobody has any idea of.
If Covid has taught us anything, it is that childishly simplistic extrapolations of statistics across orders of magnitude are fraught with error, gross error, and catastrophic error.
No argument there. But "significant mortality" is not a percentage. Accurate records were not made or kept in a way that would provide a percentage. In the case of the American population, there are no records. Just WAGs (Wild-Ass Guesses).
> The idea that something about the genetic diversity or lifestyles of the indigenous populations of the Americas is frankly ridiculous.
Really? It's true for every other population. Do you not know that city dwellers are far more susceptible to epidemics than rural or nomadic tribes? Did you know that Covid infection rates vary from state to state, country to country, in ways that defy easy explanation?
> Especially given the numerous and consistent first hand reports that Smallpox and other diseases ravaged the native population.
What first hand reports in North America? In South America, do you really believe the Spanish Conquistadors kept accurate epidemiological records?
> Do you?
Yes. To compute a percentage you need a numerator and a denominator. The denominator in this case would be the population of two continents, which nobody has any idea of.
If Covid has taught us anything, it is that childishly simplistic extrapolations of statistics across orders of magnitude are fraught with error, gross error, and catastrophic error.