Correct. Spikes only present evidence that something may have occurred. So the deaths during world wars could have been due to a flu pandemic, we will never kn

Correct. Spikes only present evidence that something may have occurred. So the deaths during world wars could have been due to a flu pandemic, we will never know ⸮. The main point is that there are some processes which can grow at a faster pace than we're prepared to control. Just like cancer.