Or if they're so mild you don't think you have a cold, you might go out and spread it more. This would be a genius evolutionary play by the virus -- have such mild symptoms that most healthy people don't even know they have it and spread it like crazy.

Ok wow downvoted. Well, if this actually happens, I will be sure to link back to this downvoted claim. Be careful, I have been right about "out of left field" events in the past that I've recorded on hn (such as failure of the Boeing starliner https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21839565) and in this situation I do have PhD training in biology, so this wasn't one point at least reasonably close to my wheelhouse

> Or if they're so mild you don't think you have a cold, you might go out and spread it more.

Yes, Jevon's paradox could exist in this instance.

> This would be a genius evolutionary play by the virus

It's not sentient. It's simply filling niches.

It would be a net benefit if, in US culture, we normalized health being a priority (including taking time to recover and not spread to others, whether a cold or flu or COVID-19).

> Ok wow downvoted.

From the guidelines:

>>> Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.

I've noticed here and, if I recall correctly, in other COVID-19 threads that sea-lioning comments tend to be downvoted. I expect this is because people are tired of science denialism, whether it is couched as "just speculating" or as "just asking questions."

What science denialism? I had a previous life as a working PhD in the life sciences. Honestly the crazy thing to me is just how much the mainstream discourse/policy on covid is itself science denial.