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Aedes Aegypti isn't even a species that's native to the US. It's been brought there by humans. Even if you're convinced by arguments of naturalness (which I'm

by hannob 5y ago

Aedes Aegypti isn't even a species that's native to the US. It's been brought there by humans. Even if you're convinced by arguments of naturalness (which I'm not), in this case it makes no sense, because you're not messing with nature, you're trying to return nature to a previous state before humans interfered.

new_stranger 5y ago
That's the best-case scenario, the worse-case is that in trying to fix a problem we caused, we fail and end up with more problems. I mean, this isn't news to those of us that write code.
- gotaquestion 5y ago
  And you can fix code by recompiling; there's a tabula rasa built into the programming domain that isn't built into real life.
- wongarsu 5y ago
  Even if we succeed we can end up with more problems. Nature isn't math, if you add something, then remove it, you don't end up where you started. The ecosystem adapts to both changes separately and it's often hard to predict what will happen. Not that I would worry in this case.
- BurningFrog 5y ago
  This is a universal argument for never doing anything. It "proves too much" in argument jargon.
  - alwaysdoit 5y ago
    Why do some people believe that deliberately and carefully trying to fix a problem and inadvertently introducing an unforeseen side-effect is worse than deliberately choosing not to do nothing about a disease that leads to sickness and death?
    - chasil 5y ago
      The introduction of an invasive species can have an overall beneficial effect if carefully evaluated, and there is a lot that can go wrong. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species#Favorable_effects https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species#Favorable_e... It appears that a "gene drive" was introduced into the Florida Keys in this case, and that is much more targeted and specific to a species that it is intended to destroy. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzcwTyr6cE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzcwTyr6cE
fourstar 5y ago
Humans "interfering" is nature. Lol.
- christophilus 5y ago
  By that definition, everything is “nature”, so the word is meaningless.
  - whimsicalism 5y ago
    Precisely
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - CyanBird 5y ago
    Yeah.... I don't find this disagreeable Ever read on the idea that most megafauna was hunted down by men? Yeah... that seems pretty erhm, "unnatural", therefore the entire rest of the world is "unnatural" Supposedly the tsetse fly was local to a very small area of Africa, yet during the 1700 and 1800 during colonialism it spread onto the rest of the continent, before that the continent was quite settled with larger farm fields in respective areas, but the tzetze fly disrupted all that Anyhow just wanted to say that "nature" and "natural" once one starts digging more are not really "useful" descriptions, because the world is complex and not an idealized scenario
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - camgunz 5y ago
    The era in which we live is called "Anthropocene", which is defined so because humans are powerful enough to define the environment. Wild days were in haha.
letitbeirie 5y ago
> you're trying to return nature to a previous state before humans interfered "Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts."
- willis936 5y ago
  Is it that everyone in Portal 2 is a moron or is it everyone in real life? https://youtu.be/531Wsv5Igtk https://youtu.be/531Wsv5Igtk
  - salawat 5y ago
    The problem I have, is it is getting increasingly difficult for me to not answer "Yes" to that question as I get older.
  - IntrepidWorm 5y ago
    Portal 2 is filled to brimming with satire. However, I am inclined to agree with the above commenter: it does seem that things get more and more absurd as I get older.
- hateful 5y ago
  This is great because I just replayed this game this past week so the quote was fresh.

by hannob 5y ago

new_stranger 5y ago

That's the best-case scenario, the worse-case is that in trying to fix a problem we caused, we fail and end up with more problems. I mean, this isn't news to those of us that write code.

gotaquestion 5y ago
And you can fix code by recompiling; there's a tabula rasa built into the programming domain that isn't built into real life.
wongarsu 5y ago
Even if we succeed we can end up with more problems. Nature isn't math, if you add something, then remove it, you don't end up where you started. The ecosystem adapts to both changes separately and it's often hard to predict what will happen. Not that I would worry in this case.
BurningFrog 5y ago
This is a universal argument for never doing anything. It "proves too much" in argument jargon.
- alwaysdoit 5y ago
  Why do some people believe that deliberately and carefully trying to fix a problem and inadvertently introducing an unforeseen side-effect is worse than deliberately choosing not to do nothing about a disease that leads to sickness and death?
  - chasil 5y ago
    The introduction of an invasive species can have an overall beneficial effect if carefully evaluated, and there is a lot that can go wrong. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species#Favorable_effects https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species#Favorable_e... It appears that a "gene drive" was introduced into the Florida Keys in this case, and that is much more targeted and specific to a species that it is intended to destroy. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzcwTyr6cE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzcwTyr6cE

fourstar 5y ago

Humans "interfering" is nature. Lol.

christophilus 5y ago
By that definition, everything is “nature”, so the word is meaningless.
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  Precisely
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- CyanBird 5y ago
  Yeah.... I don't find this disagreeable Ever read on the idea that most megafauna was hunted down by men? Yeah... that seems pretty erhm, "unnatural", therefore the entire rest of the world is "unnatural" Supposedly the tsetse fly was local to a very small area of Africa, yet during the 1700 and 1800 during colonialism it spread onto the rest of the continent, before that the continent was quite settled with larger farm fields in respective areas, but the tzetze fly disrupted all that Anyhow just wanted to say that "nature" and "natural" once one starts digging more are not really "useful" descriptions, because the world is complex and not an idealized scenario
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- camgunz 5y ago
  The era in which we live is called "Anthropocene", which is defined so because humans are powerful enough to define the environment. Wild days were in haha.

letitbeirie 5y ago

> you're trying to return nature to a previous state before humans interfered "Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts."

willis936 5y ago
Is it that everyone in Portal 2 is a moron or is it everyone in real life? https://youtu.be/531Wsv5Igtk https://youtu.be/531Wsv5Igtk
- salawat 5y ago
  The problem I have, is it is getting increasingly difficult for me to not answer "Yes" to that question as I get older.
- IntrepidWorm 5y ago
  Portal 2 is filled to brimming with satire. However, I am inclined to agree with the above commenter: it does seem that things get more and more absurd as I get older.
hateful 5y ago
This is great because I just replayed this game this past week so the quote was fresh.