People are claiming that this novel predicted the COVID-19 virus. Did it really?
BY SUKHBIR CHEEMA17 HOURS, 36 MINUTES
If you've been following the developments surrounding the
COVID-19 virus, chances are you might have come across someone mentioning Dean Koontz's book.
The Eyes of Darkness is being mentioned on people's social media feeds because apparently it predicted the novel virus originating from Wuhan.
The thriller-fiction, published in 1981, had referred to the virus “Wuhan-400”.
Wuhan-400.
IMAGE: Google Books.
Key differences between the fictional virus and the actual one, however, are huge.
For one, the Wuhan-400 was apparently developed as a bioweapon outside the city of Wuhan to, well, wipe out humans. Which is why the Wuhan-400 has a 100 percent fatality rate. If you get infected, better book a coffin.
The COVID-19, however, has a fatality rate of 0.2 percent.
While the Wuhan-400 only has an extremely short four-hour incubation period, the COVID-19 requires an incubation period between 2 to 14 days.
Eerily though, there is an actual laboratory called the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It's situated a few kilometres away from Wuhan city.
But did it really predict COVID-19?
IMAGE:
Rajah Murugaiah / Facebook.
Not really. According to
Taiwan News, earlier iterations of the book had a different name for the virus.
Instead of Wuhan-400 which is developed by the Chinese government, the Gorki-400 was a bioweapon created by Russian scientists.
It was only in future publications when the names were changed. We're not sure when the change happened though. It's highly likely it could have happened in the 1990s.
Why you shouldn't be surprised.
IMAGE: Rajah Murugaiah / Facebook.
While it's pretty cool to see films, series, and books make "predictions" to actual events, this crime author from Hong Kong sees it as no big deal.
In fact, Chan Ho-kei when interviewed by the
South China Morning Post said such "prophecies" can be spotted.
Even popular comic
Asterix & Obelix comic had a character by the name of Coronavirus. IMAGE:
Read Comics Online.
“If you look really hard, I bet you can spot prophecies for almost all events. It makes me think about the ‘infinite monkey’ theorem,” he says.
The 'infinite monkey' is a theory where if a monkey hits the keys on a typewriter randomly, it will result in a text. Chan says the probability is low but it's possible.
https://sea.mashable.com/culture/91...el-predicted-the-covid-19-virus-did-it-really
