In Pieter Bruegel’s painting “Landscape With the Fall of Icarus,” the canvas is dominated by workers going about their daily routines. A person looking at the painting must strain to find the legs of Icarus as he plunges into the sea—having flown too close to the sun—resulting in the melting of his wings, made of wax and feathers. The message is clear: Those who succumb to hubris will ultimately become a minor detail in the grand fabric of social reality. About three years ago, we first learned about the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China. The accumulated information and...