Dan Among Den

I suspect that the question meant to invoke feelings of tragic loss, of sacrificing a noble few to save the greater whole. I think it was also framed in the world-view of the Great Tapestry, where all life is so carefully interwoven that pulling out a single thread can have disastrous consequences.

Well, bullshit. Not only do I disagree with the Great Tapestry view, but I find it ironic that many who promote it (i.e. liberal eco-protectors) are also against the notion of a supernatural G/god who created everything (i.e. Intelligent Design). The irony here is that the vision of the Great Tapestry, where everything is so delicately interwoven, seems to imply that it got that way through the vision of a designer and any damage is irreparable, spreading towards the destruction of the entire tapestry.

Rather than a Grand Tapestry, I see the biological world as a messy collection of knotted thread, and I see evolution as a blind, insane, insomniac weaver whose overriding drive is to just keep weaving. (Fans of “Finding Nemo” should think of her a bit like Dora: “Just keep weaving... just keep weaving...”) She has no grand design. She just weaves all around the fringes until some bits are too gnarled to continue, and then she picks up somewhere else. As for removing threads, not only does she not care overmuch, but she pulls them out herself all the time. “I need more blue... oh, there’s some blue over there. I’ll just yank it out.” I’m not saying that there are no consequences for pulling out a thread, just that it’s part of the natural order.

So, with no guilt at all, I proceed to my list, in some cases taking broad swaths across several related species:

1. Human-destructive viruses, bacteria, fungi, prions, etc.: I’ll start with Ebola, HIV/AIDS, syphilis, herpes, meningitis, polio, smallpox, flesh eating bacteria, influenza, and then work my way on down to the rhinovirus (common cold). While these may have played a wonderful part in the tapestry towards breeding a human with a better immune system, at this point, their main effect on the ecosystem is to breed a human with access to better health care.
2. Computer viruses: Hey, if we’re going to let the definition be really broad, I’d like to stuff this genie back in the bottle.
3. Annoying niche variants: Here I’m referring to that unique variant of moth, grasshopper, or moss that is found only in this little two hundred acre tract of land and is preventing the construction of the highway, mall, etc., due to EPA regulation. Look, it’s not that this species is so important or special that evolution set aside this specific patch of land for it. Rather, it’s that this species isn’t robust enough to survive and flourish anywhere else. When evolution goes looking for more blue yarn, these guys are where she goes first.
4. Snakes with venom that can kill humans: I’d say all snakes, but I’m not sure I want to see what evolution starts putting in to fill that role. However, I think we can do without the snakes capable of killing creatures fifty times their body mass. Can I toss in scorpions here as well?
5. The panda: Yes, I know they’re cute and adorable, and my favorite stuffed animal as a child was my older brother’s panda teddy bear, but... I figure I should inject a little pain into the list. Besides, any species that has this hard of a time breeding is just blue-yarn-fodder for the weaver anyway.

Other Friday Fivers can be found destroying the ecosystem here.