> 1) Understanding the origin doesn't change the consequences or response to the pandemic
I have the opposite opinion.
If there was a lab leak and a coverup, this meant that the Chinese government likely knew earlier and had more information about the nature of the virus and how it spread. That could have saved millions of lives.
We spent the first several months of the pandemic under the belief that it wasn't airborne. This ended up being false.
If this was a lab leak, it means that this kind of research is far more dangerous than we've been lead to believe and continuing without appropriate safeguards puts us at great risk.
I have the opposite opinion.
If there was a lab leak and a coverup, this meant that the Chinese government likely knew earlier and had more information about the nature of the virus and how it spread. That could have saved millions of lives.
We spent the first several months of the pandemic under the belief that it wasn't airborne. This ended up being false.
If this was a lab leak, it means that this kind of research is far more dangerous than we've been lead to believe and continuing without appropriate safeguards puts us at great risk.