When we experience a problem, our natural inclination is to fix it. When the item is a small thing like a broken lamp… item fixed, job done. However, as the scale gets bigger and more complex, so do the consequences, and not always the intended ones. The law of unintended consequences has come to be used as a warning in a day and age where we have the technology to be able to address many problems but all too often we don’t have the luxury of foresight to understand the impact our actions will have on our lives and the world.
For example, when towering smokestacks were installed to decrease pollution in local areas, the result was the spread of pollution to a higher altitude and the formation of acid rain on an international scale. The apparent solution to the problem made the situation even worse. This serves as a cautionary tale of the mythical belief that humans are capable of controlling the world around them.
THE INFAMOUS PARACHUTING CATS OF BORNEO
The use of the toxic pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethan
During the 1950s, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an indoor spray campaign to control the spread of malaria on the island of Borneo. While it was well-known during that time that the use of pesticides was associated with serious health problems, according to those who were in charge, the risks were worth the rewards. Similar to many governmental, environmental, and health initiatives, these types of decisions are justified as necessary evils.
The campaign used DDT and benzene hexachloride (BHC), which is another pesticide, to cover the walls of buildings so that when the mosquitoes landed, they would die and not be able to transmit malaria to people. This strategy worked and the number of malaria cases dramatically dropped.
Unfortunately, there were many unintended and disastrous ecological side effects of spraying DDT. The caterpillars living in the thatched roofs of the homes in Borneo were able to detect the DDT and did not eat the sprayed thatch, but the parasites that kept the caterpillar population under control were killed by the DDT. Subsequently, there was a dramatic increase in the caterpillar population that ate and destroyed the thatched roofs, which eventually collapsed onto the people living in the homes.
However, the most significant consequence of the use of DDT in Borneo was that a huge number of cats died from ingesting lethal doses of DDT they had licked off of their fur. The decrease in the cat population caused the rodent population to spike. This also led to an increase in the number of rodents that were carrying diseases amongst people as well as a surge in crop destruction. An article published in the New York Times in 1962 stated, “American DDT spray killed the cats that ate the rats that devoured the crops ….” In order to try to combat this unintended consequence, the now infamous solution that caught the world’s attention, involved parachuting cats onto the island of Borneo with the hopes of getting the rat population back under control. Imagine the cats’ joy when they landed to find an authentic all-u-can eat rat buffet.
This whole situation resulted in ecocide, the unfortunate destruction of the natural ecology. In other words, what was meant for good, turned out to be a disaster. Similar to many other man-made chemicals that have been used with the intention of helping to improve a situation, the consequences of using DDT has affected people, animals, and the environment. Even though the chemical killed the disease-causing entity (the mosquitoes), in the long term, its use caused the natural ecology in Borneo to become out of balance and it ended up harming rather than saving lives. The moral of this story is that the cure is often worse than the disease.
THE BORNEO-EFFECT: WHEN WE INTERFERE WITH OUR BODY’S ECOSYSTEM
What does Borneo have to do with you?
The ecology of the planet works exactly like the ecology of your body. In many cases, the cause of our biggest health problems is man-made inventions with consequences that have not been well thought out. The strategy tried to solve a problem, but in the end, only caused interference.
Most of the planet is excited about the next vaccine. Sadly, it will be yet another toxin introduced into the system that can only have a Borneo-effect, further disrupt our ecology, and get piled on to the ongoing chemical assault on human health.
We define a toxin as any substance that can alter the homeostasis of the body. Our body isn’t just a body, it is an ecosystem. Toxins disrupt our inner ecosystem because the body not designed to be interfered with by adding man-made chemicals. When you do, you get the Borneo-Effect. Whether it be medication, food additives, air pollution, or chemical fertilizers used to grow our food, our body’s ecology becomes poisoned and there are always a series of unintended consequences as a result.
With mankind’s interference, the oceans, ozone, rain-forests, and many species of animals, plants, survival-critical insects, and men and women themselves start to die. Remove mankind’s interference and the oceans, ozone, rain-forests, and many species of animals, plants, survival-critical insects, and men and women themselves start to flourish.
Only you can save the world
Dr. Ben
