6 ms·

What on earth were the kids' parents thinking? You would think they'd be somewhat wary about buying a wild animal known for spreading disease to be a pet for th

• aikah 12y ago
  "but it's so cute..." /s Reminds me of a Futurama episode... But pretty much everytime men introduce new species in an ecosystem,it seems to have dire consequences. Which shows that ecosystems relies on a delicate balance.We often think we're in control of all this,but not really.
  • Dylan16807 12y ago
    Depends on if you classify nearly any possible change ever as 'dire'.
    • thaumasiotes 12y ago
      As far as I can tell, the dominant philosophy is something like this: - Humans clearly involved in change to the ecosystem: dire. - Human involvement in change to the ecosystem not immediately apparent: possibly not dire, pending further investigation into the role of human involvement. Fishermen introducing fish into a lagoon is an environmental disaster; hurricanes doing the same thing is just more of the majesty of nature.
      • m_mueller 12y ago
        At the end the genepool of species is a natural resource- a mechanism that allows the ecosystem to adapt faster to new (possibly man made) conditions. This is important to us, especially considering that the atmosphere is about to change quite drastically. Obviously there's natural fluctuations in the gene pool, but we should simply regard it as a resource that shouldn't be spent lightheartedly. You wouldn't introduce a fish to a small lake if it means you destroy a billion dollar rare earth material would you?
        • Dylan16807 12y ago
          It's not like things are perfectly adapted. Many changes will put species closer to their ideal and give them a larger safety zone.
          • m_mueller 12y ago
            I didn't say that there shouldn't be any change though, all I'm saying is that we should be careful, i.e. study the environment as much as we can before committing irreversible changes.
            • Dylan16807 12y ago
              But when you talk about the genepool as a resource that is spent in response to change, you imply that all changes are bad and deplete the flexibility of the species. Changes that relieve stresses can give you more flexibility.
  • InclinedPlane 12y ago
    Well, of course an ecosystem as it exists in a given moment in time relies on a "delicate balance". But the fact is that all ecosystems change. Migration, and population change are the norm, stasis is the exception. It requires contextualization to define a particular change as "harmful" or "beneficial". In reality ecosystems will adapt, as they've done for millions upon millions of years. Perhaps we humans will find that the new, adapted ecosystem is less to our liking in some way but it will still generally be viable.
• Houshalter 12y ago
  They don't spread disease any more than dogs or cats.
• twic 12y ago
  It's a particularly odd response to a story whose moral is that raccoons don't make good pets.