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We know what happens: evolution. The idea that the whole thing will totally collapse because you made one change is ridiculous and frankly utterly unsupported b
by revelation 9y ago
We know what happens: evolution. The idea that the whole thing will totally collapse because you made one change is ridiculous and frankly utterly unsupported by the evidence, not least our understanding of this poor optimization algorithm driven by random chance.
I frankly always find these comments unpleasant because they seem to come exclusively from people sitting in some air-conditioned building miles away from a full 5 m^2 trees that they got to riding a 2 ton behemoth on tarmaced streets that casually reaches speeds no animal ever could powered by the remains of dinosaurs. Yeah I wonder how that affected "the web of life". It's a fashionable form of NIMBY except these people are not arguing from a position of naked self-interest but ignorance.
- chillwaves 9y agoBut won't you please think of the mosquitoes!
- PhasmaFelis 9y agoIt's just as silly to assume that everything will be fine if we lose one species as it is to assume that everything will collapse. These questions need to be asked and studied, not just dismissed with a sneer either way.
- blackoil 9y agoEvolution works for natural slow changes over thousands of years and not against sudden disruptions. There had been multiple ELEs.
- Radim 9y agoSure, the nature will adapt, but will humans? For us, it's not a zero sum game of universe-wide optimization. We have skin in the game, so to speak. Mandatory George Carlin link: "The planet is fine; humans are fucked" https://youtu.be/YawTvnyoqbU?t=77 https://youtu.be/YawTvnyoqbU?t=77
- WheelsAtLarge 9y agoWell said. I've heard this before,"Destruction by many cuts will eventually kill us." I think you can apply this to the way we treat our environment.
- sliverstorm 9y agoIt can take a long time to balance back out. Something will develop to fill the empty niche. Things will be fine in the end for nature. But it might take 10,000 years for things to stabilize again, and I don't want to wait that long :)
- jackfoxy 9y agoPetroleum does not come from the remains of dinosaurs, but rather algae and zooplankton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum
- Girlang 9y agoHuh? Build up a strawman just to tear him down! Right now: - I'm not air conditioned. - I generate all the power for my vehicle myself - I walk to work every day - There are hundreds of trees in my yard