The Cassandra effect

This powerful Vanity Fair pix indirectly links to Cassandra, able to predict the future but forever doomed to not be believed because of refusing Apollo's advances, rings true in 2020 without question.

Named for the mythical princess of ancient Troy who prophesied her city’s downfall but wasn’t believed, the “Cassandra Complex” is what philosophers call pervasive doubt about a true or obvious prediction. The phrase has been cited in modern times to describe prescient warnings about everything from climate change to stock market crashes that, once upon us, are met with incredulity.

In the age of pandemics, we’re now realizing who the Cassandras were that cautioned us about the coronavirus contagion—prognosticators like famed epidemiologist Larry Brilliant. In 2006, he took the stage at TED to alert the world about the disastrous effects of pathogens run amuck. “The key to preventing or mitigating [a pandemic],” said Brilliant in that talk, “is early detection and rapid response. We will not have a vaccine or adequate supplies of an antiviral…The world as we know it will stop.” He predicted that perhaps a billion people would become infected and over 100 million would die. He also imagined global depression, lost jobs, and a cost to the economy of up to $3 trillion. Sound familiar?

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Cassandra & the burning of the city of Troy