I’ve seen you link to the Mao video multiple times. Whenever you’re linking to a long resource in a way that isn’t self-explanatory, it really helps to share a summary of what you mean.
Mao Zedong made (to be charitable) many errors, so that summary is much less informative than “cause local net manufacturers to go out of business”.
But since you’ve already seen the video, you could probably write a brief summary in much less time than it will take, say, five interested readers to watch enough of the video to see what you mean. And you’ll be able to use that summary in other threads where you want to raise the same question, so it pays dividends.
The Gates Foundation is financing a campaign to genetically engineer the mosquito population in order to control malaria. He compares it to Mao Zedong’s Four Pests Campaign, and how Mao’s attempts to wipe out the sparrow population resulted in the Great Chinese Famine. Taleb argues that there may be similar unintended consequences, and something similar could happen with genetically modifying mosquitoes. He also talks about processes that are too fast for nature, and he draws a graph comparing the speed at which the ecosystem changes and the corresponding risk of harm, and how harm scales non-linearly in proportion to speed.
Thanks for sharing a summary! It doesn’t seem like it applies to AMF’s work, but it does describe other malaria control efforts. My impression is that the scientists who work on these things all day often pay more attention to risks and safety than other people realize, but I hope that the initial tests being run on this technology include appropriate follow-up to understand any unintended consequences.
I’ve seen you link to the Mao video multiple times. Whenever you’re linking to a long resource in a way that isn’t self-explanatory, it really helps to share a summary of what you mean.
Mao Zedong made (to be charitable) many errors, so that summary is much less informative than “cause local net manufacturers to go out of business”.
But since you’ve already seen the video, you could probably write a brief summary in much less time than it will take, say, five interested readers to watch enough of the video to see what you mean. And you’ll be able to use that summary in other threads where you want to raise the same question, so it pays dividends.
The Gates Foundation is financing a campaign to genetically engineer the mosquito population in order to control malaria. He compares it to Mao Zedong’s Four Pests Campaign, and how Mao’s attempts to wipe out the sparrow population resulted in the Great Chinese Famine. Taleb argues that there may be similar unintended consequences, and something similar could happen with genetically modifying mosquitoes. He also talks about processes that are too fast for nature, and he draws a graph comparing the speed at which the ecosystem changes and the corresponding risk of harm, and how harm scales non-linearly in proportion to speed.
Thanks for sharing a summary! It doesn’t seem like it applies to AMF’s work, but it does describe other malaria control efforts. My impression is that the scientists who work on these things all day often pay more attention to risks and safety than other people realize, but I hope that the initial tests being run on this technology include appropriate follow-up to understand any unintended consequences.