This chapter examines the ideas of C. P. Snow (The Two Cultures), Richard Dawkins (genetic determinism), Craig Venter (‘creating’ life) and Denis Noble (principle of biological relativity). The theory of biological relativity says there is no hierarchy in biological systems and no level in its organisation that has precedence over any other level. This denial of a hierarchy is the denial of determinism, including, in particular, genetic determinism. From the perspective of the modern plagues, the principle insists that there is no single solution available to ending those plagues.

Concurrent with the top-down change already described, the Health Society requires bottom-up change in every community. Such change is required because the modern plagues spread through social networks that operate predominantly at the community level. The authors propose that the starting point for this change is through reconfiguring the NHS Health Check. Reconfiguration includes the introduction of Health Society professionals and Health Society Champions. Evaluation of the development of the Health Society should include a target for improved healthspan. Because this is an exercise in experimental epidemiology (not merely in today’s convention of observational epidemiology), a pilot Health Society should be tested. Suitable locations for this pilot (including Greater Manchester) are identified.

This chapter charts Saffa Mir’s journey experiencing racism from her schooling until her employment within the legal sector. Through this period she becomes an activist fighting racism and prejudice, but questions at what point she realised that her call for freedom and liberty for all would be met with resistance from those who said they also wanted freedom and liberty for all, but which didn’t include those who looked like her. During her university education she would sit in her counter-terrorism lecture not daring to be outspoken for fear of being reported to Prevent. A fear which is a reality for many around the UK, a fear which led to her co-founding Preventing Prevent at Manchester, a campaign to resist its implementation. A fear which awakened her as an activist and to take a stand against this discriminatory piece of legislation. During her term as vice-president of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies she would lead on the nation-wide campaigning on Students Not Suspects and Islamophobia Awareness Month in the hope of ensuring young people of colour, especially Muslims, had the language, the tools and the capacity to build coalitions to campaign against the securitisation of the academy. Mir’s chapter presents how, despite being a subject of racist profiling policies, she was able to actively resist against the policies that profiled and racialised communities of colour.

Based on an interview between comedian Aamer Rahman and Asim Qureshi, Rahman thinks through what it means to be a comedian in an environment that has very fixed expectations on the narrative the industry is comfortable with. For him, his art has never been about making people laugh for the sake of being funny, but rather as a tool that sits at the heart of this political activism. Through the interview, Rahman reflects on the multitude of influences that have developed his thinking, from his religion to Black comedians like Dave Chapelle and his influences from within the world of music. The final contribution to the volume is a call against representation politics devoid of any ethical position, that the representation by and of people of colour should never be a mere performance but must use its platform to subvert society’s expectations. By being politically overt, Rahman has centred the needs of his own communities above any desire for public approval and adoration – demonstrating a lived praxis of resistance.

The case is made that the high prevalence of common long-term conditions justifies describing them as modern plagues. The symptoms of the principal conditions are described. These conditions are considered in the context of their impact on curtailing healthspan - the age at which people cometo the end of their fully healthy lives. While medical healthcare has extended lifespan, the curtailment of healthspan results in years or decades of disability. This gap between healthspan and lifespan diminishes as deprivation declines.

Shafiuddean Choudry presents his boarding pass at Heathrow for his flight to San Francisco. A red light flickers on the screen with the words ‘Enhanced checks’. It’s one thing being judged by a human, but a whole other being chewed through an algorithm, stripped of agency and categorised as a potential threat. From the intrusive Snooper’s Charter collecting data on an unprecedented scale to proprietary ‘black-box’ algorithms from Big Tech, our digital footprint when interacting with technology shapes how we are defined. Through each ‘Alexa, can you …’ or aimless scroll through Instagram, we’re algorithmic kindling. Algorithms aren’t interested in who we are as individuals. Nuance is stripped away; the fat is cut and we’re reduced to ones and zeroes. A machine-readable record; parsed and filed. A lifetime of studying and working in technology has taught Choudry that algorithms aggregate; they simplify and reduce. If you’re not an if or a then, then you’re an else. The edge case defined within a defined set of parameters. In a world where intelligence is artificial and machines learn, it’s of vital importance to understand what these parameters are and how their architects think. Moreover, is it possible to resist? How do we Ctrl+Alt+Del this Orwellian reality? This chapter is an exploration of how our personal data is exploited under the glare of algorithms and systems, and equips us with the knowledge of how to mitigate from becoming a search result from the future.