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| Unintended consequences | 5/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:13:20.047109+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Other === According to Lynn White, the invention of the horse stirrup enabled new patterns of warfare that eventually led to the development of feudalism (see Stirrup Thesis).
== Perverse consequences of environmental intervention == Almost all environmental problems, from chemical pollution to global warming, are the unexpected consequences of the application of modern technologies. Traffic congestion, deaths and injuries from car accidents, air pollution, and global warming are unintended consequences of the invention and large scale adoption of the automobile. Hospital infections are the unexpected side-effect of antibiotic resistance, and even human population growth leading to environmental degradation is the side effect of various technological (i.e., agricultural and industrial) revolutions. Because of the complexity of ecosystems, deliberate changes to an ecosystem or other environmental interventions will often have (usually negative) unintended consequences. Sometimes, these effects cause permanent irreversible changes. Examples include:
During the Four Pests campaign, Maoist China ordered the killing of sparrows, as well as rats, flies, and mosquitoes. The campaign was successful in reducing the sparrow population; however, in their absence, locust populations previously kept in check by sparrow predation grew out of control and came to infest crops. Rice yields were substantially decreased; the campaign was one of the causes of the Great Chinese Famine. During the Great Plague of London a killing of dogs and cats was ordered. If left untouched, they would have made a significant reduction in the rat population that carried the fleas which transmitted the disease. The installation of smokestacks to decrease pollution in local areas, resulting in spread of pollution at a higher altitude, and acid rain on an international scale. After about 1900, public demand led the US government to fight forest fires in the American West, and set aside land as national forests and parks to protect them from fires. This policy led to fewer fires, but also led to growth conditions such that, when fires did occur, they were much larger and more damaging. Modern research suggests that this policy was misguided, and that a certain level of wildfires is a natural and important part of forest ecology. Side effects of climate engineering to counter global warming could involve even further warming as a consequence of reflectivity-reducing afforestation or crop yield reductions and rebound effects after solar dimming measures with even more accelerated warming.
== See also ==
== References ==
== Bibliography == O'Driscoll Jr., Gerald (2004). "The Puzzle of Hayek". The Independent Review. 9 (2). Independent Institute: 271–281. JSTOR 24562706. Menger, Carl (2007) [20 July 1871]. "I. The General Theory of the Good". Principles of Economics (PDF). Translated by Dingwall, James; Hoselitz, Bert F. Auburn, Alabama: Mises Institute. ISBN 978-1-61016-202-9. OCLC 271580456. Retrieved May 14, 2023. Hayek, Friedrich (May 1, 1996) [1945]. "The Use of Knowledge in Society". Foundation for Economic Education. Retrieved May 14, 2023. Vernon, Richard (February 1979). "Unintended Consequences". Political Theory. 7 (1). Newbury Park, California: SAGE Publishing: 57–73. doi:10.1177/009059177900700104. JSTOR 190824. Engels, Friedrich (1946) [1886]. "Part 4: Marx". Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy. Progress Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4102-2345-6. OCLC 45655872. Retrieved May 16, 2023 – via Marxists Internet Archive. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) Saint-Upéry, Marc [in French] (March–April 2015). Cucchi, Silvina; Grieco, Florencia (eds.). "Tres derroteros del marxismo: pseudociencia, historia, ontología" [Three paths of Marxism: pseudoscience, history, ontology] (PDF). Nueva Sociedad (in Spanish) (256). Buenos Aires: 145–163. ISSN 0251-3552. Retrieved May 19, 2023. The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action by Robert K. Merton, American Sociological Review, Vol 1 Issue 6, Dec 1936, pp. 894–904 Unintended Consequences entry in Concise Encyclopedia of Economics Unintended Consequences of Green Technologies Mica Adriana, Peisert Arkadiusz, Winczorek Jan (eds), (2011), Sociology and the Unintended. Robert Merton Revisited, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main. Huesemann, Michael H., and Joyce A. Huesemann (2011). Technofix: Why Technology Won't Save Us or the Environment, Chapter 1, "The Inherent Unavoidability and Unpredictability of Unintended Consequences", Chapter 2, "Some Unintended Consequences of Modern Technology", and Chapter 4, "In Search of Solutions I: Counter-Technologies and Social Fixes", New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada, ISBN 0-86571-704-4, 464 pp. Edward Tenner, Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences, Vintage Books, 1997. Tomislav V. Kovandzic, John Sloan III, and Lynne M. Vieraitis. Unintended Consequences of Politically Popular Sentencing Policy: The Homicide-Promoting Effects of 'Three Strikes' in U.S. Cities (1980–1999). Criminology & Public Policy Vol 1, Issue 3, July 2002. Vulcan, A.P., Cameron, M.H. & Heiman, L., "Evaluation of mandatory bicycle helmet use in Victoria, Australia", 36th Annual Conference Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, October 5–7, 1992. Vulcan, A.P., Cameron, M.H. & Watson, W.L., "Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Use: Experience in Victoria, Australia", World Journal of Surgery, Vol. 16, No. 3, (May/June 1992), pp. 389–397. "Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use"
== External links == Unintended Consequences blog