Epidemics and Civilization
In explaining the rise of epidemics in civilization, it may pay to work backwards and explore what is known. What is known is what accounts for a decrease in epidemics. The Black Plague is for example something that is well known as a European epidemic centuries ago but it did come to an end at some point in time. During the seventeenth century, population stagnated but it rose during the eighteenth century and many attribute that to a lack of disease (Hays 59). An important explanation related to the plague of course would be in its appearance as opposed to its disappearance. That is, what in civilization caused the disease in the first place? The disease is an enigma. Certainly, one knows about contagion today, but that was something not discussed then (Hays 43). Rather, people would attribute the plague to God's will (Hays 43). Still, in discussing the plague and even the flu epidemic of the First World War, there were theories related to contagion and others to bad air (Hays 44). Actually, down the road it seems that some epidemics demonstrate that disease travels through the air, but in other ones, it is transmitted through bodily fluids or even the touch of hands. The diseases aligned with epidemics are usually something that is contagious. Sometimes, the term "epidemic" is not correctly used. Some may say that teen pregnancy is an epidemic or something along those lines, but of course, pregnancy is not contagious and while there may be something occurring in large numbers it is not t