5 ms·
I havent heard this claim before. When we build bridges, I dont hear it. Nor roads, or cities; nor houses, nor farms. Actually, I've only ever heard it said ab
by mjburgess 5y ago
I havent heard this claim before. When we build bridges, I dont hear it. Nor roads, or cities; nor houses, nor farms.
Actually, I've only ever heard it said about eliminating the single largest source of death in human history. Perhaps I dont get out much.
- andrewclunn 5y ago> I've only ever heard it said about eliminating the single largest source of death in human history. Is this true? I'm not sure if you're being hyperbolic here, but if that is a defensible claim I want to hear how you arrived at that conclusion.
- abathur 5y agoAIUI mosquito-borne illness is estimated to have killed more than 4% of all of the humans that have ever lived https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2019/10/03/has_malaria_really_killed_half_of_everyone_who_ever_lived.html https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2019/10/03/has_malaria...
- BurningFrog 5y ago"Malaria may have killed half of all the people that ever lived" https://www.nature.com/articles/news021001-6#:~:text=Malaria%20may%20have%20killed%20half,children%20in%20sub%2DSaharan%20Africa https://www.nature.com/articles/news021001-6#:~:text=Malaria....
- whimsicalism 5y agoI think people forget quite how long the population tail in Africa is and people also forget that malaria used to be endemic to Europe.
- saalweachter 5y agoAnd that previous attempts to curb the reign of mosquitoes include things like "draining all swamps everywhere". Take a look at the coastline of Long Island on satellite maps, and all the scars left by that time they tried to eliminate all of the salt marshes to get rid of mosquitoes near NYC.
- afarrell 5y agoIsn’t it implicitly the claim made whenever a construction project is stalled for environmental review?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mr_spothawk 5y ago> the single largest source of death in human history. Government?
- tssva 5y agoReligion
- 2143 5y ago> I've only ever heard it said about eliminating the single largest source of death in human history. Let's take a step back. What makes you think human lives are worthier than mosquito lives?
- r0s 5y agoI wonder if the person you're replying to is secretly a human.
- tacocataco 5y agoWait, y'all aren't dogs using the internet while humans are away?
- dekhn 5y agohuman lives are worthier because we are humans. We have agency, and care for our children.
- imtringued 5y agoThat's just your opinion man. The mosquito probably thinks the same thing.
- dekhn 5y agoIt is unlikely that mosquitos have true agency, and we know they don't care for their children. Moreso, they are unable to develop technology to eliminate us, while we can develop technology to eliminate them. It's actually "that's just, like, your opinion, man".
- 2143 5y ago> Moreso, they are unable to develop technology to eliminate us, while we can develop technology to eliminate them. Wow. Just, wow. I hope you realize that that's a dangerous line of thinking. But then again it's not very surprising. Historically humans don't have a good track record of preserving the lives of other humans (in other lands). Let alone other creatures. Also your statement isn't even really true. The reason those mosquitoes are targeted is because nature inadvertently came up with diseases that eliminate humans. Yet I'm not entirely sure that's a justification for eradicating a sub-species of mosquitoes. Just something to think about.
- fallingknife 5y agoTo be fair, eliminating human deaths is absolutely terrible for the environment.