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So in that hypothetical example, what are the dire consequences of letting the asbestos-gnat go extinct? Bear in mind that if we ever suddenly need to do studie
by xamuel 7y ago
So in that hypothetical example, what are the dire consequences of letting the asbestos-gnat go extinct? Bear in mind that if we ever suddenly need to do studies on asbestos-gnats for some reason, we can just re-create the environment they evolved in and let them re-evolve.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y agoThat's entirely flawed though - we can't for certain replicate the exact conditions, and if it's proven to be valuable, we can't know that recreating it will have the effect we require it to have.
- xamuel 7y agoWell then we're guilty by omission for all the trillions of species that could have evolved if we had done something different in the past. For example, maybe if we had used higher amounts of chlorine in our swimming pools all along, then that would have caused some new bacteria to evolve. Are we guilty because we never gave that poor, innocent, helpless bacteria a chance at life? (Queue images of bacterias crying into their handkerchiefs with tiny little violins playing in the background)
- SketchySeaBeast 7y agoNo, we aren't. Like I just said - you can't anticipate what's to come, but you can look at your actions right now, and if it's causing species to become extinct because of our interference, we can knock that out.