Different population norms help withstand pandemics better in rice-growing global regions

The news article on this subject just appeared in Scientific American magazine:

www.scientificamerican.com...

There is a fundamental need for social cooperation in rice-growing communities worldwide, since rice growing is much more labor-intensive than other grains such as wheat. Those same traits appear to also help those peoples cope much better with the current pandemic, and perhaps with future pandemics as well.

a reply to: Uphill

Just like what we are witnessing in China today?

a reply to: The2Billies --- what's happening in China today may be very close to a worst-case pandemic scenario.

A rice-growing culture is one thing, but a state-controlled political reality is a horse of a very different color.

a reply to: Uphill --- in addition to the rice-growing communities throughout the continent of Asia, there's also large rice-growing regions in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and in the United States, sections of California, South Carolina, plus other Southern states. Those are very politically different countries, but the cultural elements held in common across rice-growing communities are worth keeping in mind, as this Op-Ed writer notes.