4 ms·
> But we know nothing comes for free, no good human deed goes unpunished. We know nothing of the sort. Perhaps this is something you know.
by krageon 8y ago
> But we know nothing comes for free, no good human deed goes unpunished.
We know nothing of the sort. Perhaps this is something you know.
- nkozyra 8y agoLet's just say it's been pretty reliably proved over time.
- LeifCarrotson 8y agoWiping out smallpox seems to have no negative side effects. In any case, side effects that might exist are hugely less problematic than millions of human deaths!
- TheHypnotist 8y agoThe discussion isn't about wiping out a disease, it's about wiping out a species to wipe out a disease. Smallpox was eliminated in large part due to vaccination, not wiping an animal or insect from the face of the planet. Now, if you can eliminate the malaria within the mosquito, that's something else entirely.
- sampo 8y agoSmallpox was a species, too. If we allow viruses to be species.
- TheHypnotist 8y agoFair - and you are probably right. But I'd rather not get into semantics. You know what I meant.
- krageon 8y agoIf everyone knew what you meant we wouldn't be having the discussion that we are definitely having.
- TheHypnotist 8y agoDid you not read the OP? It makes the discussion pretty clear.
- rincebrain 8y agoOne could argue that the rise of people arguing against vaccination of children is directly related to those people not having direct experience with the horrific realities of the diseases in question. That aside, millions of human deaths (annually or in total) is a horrific tragedy, but if we, say, managed to render a large area of land uninhabitable through ecological collapse for a generation or more, it might be far worse, both in some imaginary absolute scale, and for the people directly displaced.
- fiblye 8y agoThere's a difference between wiping out a virus that pretty much only affects humans, and wiping out an animal that's been present for millions of years and is firmly established as a food source for countless other animals. One has the sole effect of making humans healthier. The other is linked to far too many things to predict the outcome of. Considering dragonfly nymphs have mosquito larvae as a stable food source, it's safe to say that knocking them out will probably affect them. Then follow that food chain up (and down) and things start to get complicated.
- fsloth 8y ago"Let's just say it's been pretty reliably proved over time." Perhaps this is observational bias from your part? Human brain detects negatives far easier than positives. The world is a complex place, and any action that has externalities likely creates both negative and positive ones - and for some people even same effects can be negative for some and positive for others. Yes, bad things can happen for anyone. Generally, though, I would say deeds of compassion breed compassion.
- vinniejames 8y agoIt's one of the tenets of physics, every action has an equal reaction. This isn't really in dispute
- jessaustin 8y agoThis is sloppy thinking. Physics has nothing to do with punishment for human deeds.
- nkozyra 8y agoBut Earth's biology is a naturally-balanced system.
- vinniejames 8y agoThis isn't in regards to punishing humans, it's the effect of wiping something out of existence that plays an un/known role on Earth's ecosystem
- ivanhoe 8y agoPretty much all projects of large-scale human ecological interventions ended up with some unexpected side-effect. It's extremely hard to take into account all the variables and often you fix one issue, but create 10 new ones. Just think of using myxomatosis to control rabbit population, or introduction of cane toads in Australia in attempt to control sugarcane pests.
- andrepd 8y agoErradication of smallpox?
- ivanhoe 8y agoWell, it's a bit different with viruses as they're not directly part of the food chain for complex organisms - unlike mosquitos that are important food source to many insects, fish and birds. For instance for some fish and their fry the mosquito larvae are the primary food source, so if you destroy the complete population of mosquitos you might also severely affect some fish species. Some spiders and birds will also be left hungry. That can then affect other ecological niches up the food chain, perhaps even cause a collapse of the whole biotop system.
- krageon 8y agoOkay, I'll bite: Vaccination (and near or total eradication) of Polio.
- nkozyra 8y agoI'll say this - a less than 100 year timeline is probably not long enough to evaluate this. That said, I think it's possible, but I'm very skeptical that eliminating a species will be free of indirect effects.