Butterfly Effect

In Carson’s chapter called “Nature Fights Back,” she discusses some of the uplifting features of nature, and its ability to self regulate. In her closing words, she brings up a philosophical quote from a Canadian entomologist, G. C. Ullyett. He states,

We must change our philosophy, abandon our attitude of human superiority and admit that in many cases in natural environments we find ways and means of limiting populations of organisms in a more economical way than we do ourselves. (261)

This quote is all too true, and as the quote says, the way we attempt to control nature and bend it to our will is incredibly egotistical. We think with our intellect that we can change  things that we actually know very little about, and obviously this leads to things backfiring on us. In reality, it’s not really possible for us to get what we want that easily, especially when it comes to meddling with our environment.

As unimportant as one “measly” bug may seem, you can’t just erase its existence and then expect nothing to happen, as changing one thing will affect the entire area’s ecosystem. It’s the butterfly effect. It’s brought up many times in this chapter, but whenever humans tried to eradicate a species, things usually turned out much worse than expected. For example, after blackfly spraying in Ontario, the insect became seventeen times more abundant, and a similar story occurred with spider mites in the west (252). Taking away one bug often leads to killing many others, including things that would prey on the original target. With most competition and predators gone, the targeted bug can come back in bigger numbers with a vengeance, and ultimately wreak much more havoc.

As smart and all-knowing as we think we are, humans seem to make a lot of mistakes. Remarkably so in regards to the environment. I think for our continued survival and comfort in the long-run, I think we should take a backseat and let nature do its thing.