Unforeseen Feedback

When there is a balance between several elements, acting on one element automatically leads to reactions of the other elements in equilibrium, which run counter to the desired effect.

Example: An insecticide is spread to eradicate mosquitoes in a city. The decrease in the number of mosquitoes leads to the weakening of their predators, which can no longer reproduce. The scarcity of predators makes the remaining mosquitoes much easier to reproduce. The final result is that mosquitoes have paradoxically multiplied as a result of insecticide. If the operation is repeated, they eventually adapt to it, the product becomes inefficient, and the birds become intoxicated.

This type of phenomenon often appears when measures are taken to eradicate ecological disorders. One acts on a symptom without predicting feedback that can result in even more damage.

To avoid this kind of bad surprises, there is only one solution: to act on the causes. When mosquitoes invade a inhabited area, it is necessary to look for what human errors may have caused their proliferation: stagnant wastewater, bitumen holding puddles after rain, tires constituting water pockets where larvae multiply, destruction of birds by rats or cats, etc.

If these first level errors are corrected, the symptom disappears without the need to act directly on it and without the side effects of any destruction action. The rule applies to all ecological or physiological disorders: to avoid effet-pervers and vicious circles, we must act on the root causes.

As Hippocrates taught: to seek the cause of causes…