Science Memes

11021 readers

3562 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Rules

Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
Keep it rooted (on topic).
No spam.
Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.

Research Committee

[email protected]

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

767

Horrors We've Unleashed (mander.xyz)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

221 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (8 children)

It's a nice idea. But I wonder what the long term ramifications might be. What ripple effects might happen that we can't see today that end up being problems in the future.

Human history is littered with such problems.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (7 children)

There have been extensive studies done on the topic already, the planet does not need mosquitos.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-mosquitoes-went-extinct.htm

https://www.nicd.ac.za/what-would-happen-if-all-the-mosquitoes-in-the-world-disappeared/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Yes I know. And maybe those studies are fully correct. I certainly have no way to cross check them. So you and I must take them at face value.

But even science will tell you that you should have at least some skepticism of such studies. Because it always seems like we miss some tiny important detail that only reveals it's self later as we refine our knowledge on a subject.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I am all for eradicating the mosquito pest but there is no way a study is going to cover all possible impacts of removing them from existence. Anyone claiming to do so is just drunk on hubris.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

The amount of ecologically horrifying acts that our species has already done, I'd be willing to add "got rid of mosquitos" to the pile.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

If you're fine with the risk of a possible ecological disaster, then kill them all off. But remember, killing all the wolves was also thought to be a great idea at one time. Fortunately, we weren't able to achieve that goal before discovering we were wrong. Such decisions are final and can't be undone if they go wrong.

The hubris is in the idea, that with such a long human track record of being wrong about such things, is executing a such total and final idea is the right thing to do. But go ahead and do it. I'll be safely dead when the error might be discovered.

load more comments (3 replies)