Most of your comments damn themselves so I will only respond to the two for which evidence is needed to refute them.
Reread my post. I never claimed that Europeans were knowingly responsible for the viral decimation of the American population. The
lowest number I have read for the percent of Natives killed by the introduction of European diseases is 20%. Think about it, that's one in every five people you know. This is a much higher number than could possibly be killed in wars with Europeans. Most books written in the last ten years quote much higher numbers- I have read some as high as 95%. I recommend reading Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel as a very well-written explanation of the many reasons your ancestors were able to successfully conquer the world.
SaintLucifer wrote:Do you attempt to claim the 'natives' had no diseases of their own?
At least when it comes to fatal viruses this is pretty much what I'm claiming, yes. The historic origin of syphilis is still a mystery, but nearly every other virus that afflicts humans originated either in European and Asian domesticated animals or in animals in Africa's rain forests. The Americas had very few domesticated animals and even fewer diseases inherited from domesticated animals. I have read about a dozen books on this subject and wrote a paper on it in university. What research have you done?
The history of disease has all sorts of potential implications for science fiction writers. I expect we will see more stories based on this information written in the future. The manner of death of the Buggers in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and the xenocide conducted by the robots in the posthumus Foundation trilogy based on Asimov's books could both be seen as fictional representations of this.
