George Williams

Why We Get Sick

1. IDEA 1

   Evolution helps explain illness

   Nesse and Williams argue that understanding evolution can help explain why we are vulnerable to disease. They call this approach Darwinian medicine, asking why the body evolved the way it did.

2. IDEA 2

   Some symptoms are defences

   The authors explain that symptoms like fever, coughing and nausea may be the body's ways of fighting threats. Seeing them as defences rather than defects changes how we think about them.

3. IDEA 3

   Pathogens evolve too

   The authors describe an arms race between humans and microbes, which evolve quickly to overcome our defences. This helps explain why diseases change and resist treatments. Treating germs therefore requires constant new strategies.

All 8 ideas from Why We Get Sick →